I know, it’s been a while between drinks and cheeses. I can give you many reasons including illness, hysteria and related dramas. But essentially a gal needed a break from the dairy overload. I will admit, I have been cheating on cheese with Asian flavors. But here I am, I am back with a vengeance. Last week I judged my outfit far too cute for just the office, so I rounded up some usual suspects for a wine and cheesefest at Opal by Gordon Ramsay at St Regis Doha. Meeting friends for the Thursday download and judgement session at the bar, Chef Elias whipped up this special pizza which featured…
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The Way the (Cheese) Cracker Crumbles
In Louisiana, not only do they have great food and music, they also have their own language. A part of their lexicon is a fantastic word – Lagniappe. It means a little something extra (pronounced LAN-yap). This could be an extra few slices of meat at the deli, a free dessert at the restaurant or a chocolate treat on the pillow at your hotel. Mark Twain called it “a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get”. He wrote in his chapter about New Orleans in his Life on the Mississippi – “When you are invited to drink, and this does occur now and then in New Orleans — and…
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Making the World a Cheddar Place
They say that familiarity breeds contempt. This is perhaps why I always forget about cheddar as a legitimate contender in my own pantheon of great cheeses. I mean, it’s one of the first cheeses we come across in our lives. I remember cheddar cheese sandwiches on white bread as a child and learning to smother them in mustard. I also remember Saturday lunches, when after doing the shopping, Mum would fill the dining table with cold meats from the local deli, freshly slices tomatoes and of course, slices of cheddar. We would then make our own sandwiches on fluffy white rolls. I came across this cheddar Jones the Grocer, and…
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Daylight Robiola – An Italian Christmas Affair
Technically, I should have done a Christmas post. But that would be cliched. However this post come to you courtesy of my not-so-traditional Christmas dinner at Grand Hyatt Muscat. Christmas in the Middle east can be a complicated business. It’s a work day for most people and many of us are away from our loved ones (expat orphans). So we all usually opt for a hotel catered event. This year, at the urging of GF, we took the road less traveled, leaving the extensive buffet to the families and taking an Italian adventure at Tuscany Restaurant. The feast included ravioli stuffed with fois gras, braised beef cheeks, plates of cured…
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Never Get Feta Up With This Cheese
Ahhhh Feta. Not only is the sharp yet creamy taste something to savor, you can basically to anything with it – salads, sandwiches, stuff it into things (other food I mean you evil people), drizzle it with oil. Back at Grand Hyatt Muscat for the weekend, I managed to convince them to serve up one of my favorite breakfasts -feta, olive oil and tomato on bread. I’ve written of this before, but the cheese on this occasion was a kind of feta I haven’t come across before. It was firm yet creamy and you can see the ripple marks from the basket it was brined in. There was no comparison…
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Hard to Brie-sist
Many of my American and British friends believe much of the Australian vernacular is made up. They allege they are just jumbles of ridiculous sounding vowels meant to bamboozle non-Australians, that it’s one big in-joke at the expense of other lesser nationalities. “That is NOT a real word,” my friend Alicia exclaimed once, upon hearing the place name “Wharoongha”. Fair suck of the sav indeed. This post came to be thanks to my friend Brooke who recently hosted a gaggle of women, a lot of wine and a slew of Australian cheese. Much was discussed over cheese and wine in her “Secret Garden”, including sport, men and bad bad boyfriends.…
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Feeling Feta About It
What follows is a tale of greed, lust, violence and of course, cheese. It started innocently enough – three female friends having a quiet Thursday night dinner at our “local” restaurant Opal by Gordon Ramsay at St Regis Dohaafter a complex week in the vineyards of truth. I spend a lot of time at Opal, because it has simple and fabulous food, great staff and an outdoor terrace. It’s the closest place I have to a neighborhood brasserie. I know I can go there, have a terrific meal, a glass of wine and usually little drama. they also have a hard core commitment to cheese in all its form. It’s…
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Fast Food Notion
In spite of my complaints, my life is pretty good at the moment. I live in an interesting place, I have a great circle of friends, I have the job of my dreams and as for my love life, well my mum reads this blog. Enough said. So why I felt compelled to plunge head first into the vortex of self loathing as I did yesterday, is beyond my comprehension. You see, McDonalds, in its pursuit of ruining all is great in the world, has turned its attention to cheese. Not just any cheese, Camembert. Behold my dear readers, the Camembert Bite (also known as the Cheesy Dipper). Five small…
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All White on the Night
Sometimes a girl needs a home-cooked meal. And in the absence of a husband or even a knight in shining armor, basically anyone, that task often, okay always, falls to me. Last week, faced with a fridge full of cheese and a chicken breast, I had to get creative. In a not especially creative moment, I picked up some White Castello cheese at the supermarket. Castello is a brand name and its’ influence spreads around the globe. White Castello is a white blue cheese. It has the strong taste of blue, without the confronting veins. The cheese tself is a Danish White Mould full fat soft cheese. The consistency matures…
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The Great Halloumi Shortage of 2013
Start hoarding folks, even if you don’t like it because times are tough in Cyprus. That great Cypriot cheese, Halloumi, which can only be authentically made on part of this small island, is seeing demand outstripping supply. This foodie crisis is outlined in the link below. Meanwhile those who can’t live without it, can try making their own according to Cheesemaking.com Halloumi Shortage