When I was a kid, my mother was seen as an adventurous (and fabulous – still is) cook because she used garlic. This was the 1970s in suburban Sydney and while everyone went to an Italian restaurant for a “big night out” and every suburb had a Chinese takeaway (our two were called Happiness Inn and Foo Du), we were still finding our foodie legs. Now, Australia is a foodie paradise – those Chinese and Italian places sit shoulder to shoulder with Thai, Turkish, Lebanese and a slew of other cuisines. On my recent trip to Melbourne I ate my way around the city, but also had the opportunity to…
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- American Cheese, Blue Cheese, brie, British, Cheddar, Cheese, Cyprus, European Cheese, Feta, Food, France, Goat Cheese, Gouda, Greece, Italy, Ricotta, Sheep Milk, Swiss, Travel, Unusual Cheeses, Washed Rind, White Cheese
Honor Roll – Huff Post Lists Best Cheeses
Every day I say a small prayer to a higher power for not being born lactose intolerant. I mean, it would have been difficult to do this blog in the first place. More importantly, what would I talk about at parties? I get asked a lot what I think the best cheese in the world is. The beauty is, there are thousands. The Huffington Post has a similar view to me, in that there is no such thing as a bad cheese. but they have also compiled a list of the 20 best cheeses (in their humble opinion). I agree with all the listed ones, maybe not the order. Check…
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I’m Nacho Friend
There comes a time, in every girl’s life, when she must go to places that polite people don’t talk about at dinner parties. In Doha, one of those places is Paloma. The blurb says “where Texas meets Mexico”. It’s more like “Where Drunk People Meet More Drunk People”. Before 8pm, it’s a somewhat decent Tex Mex Restaurant. After then, when the hotpants-wearing Columbian band takes the stage, it becomes something different. I was there to celebrate a friend’s birthday and perversely because I had never been. And because we also had a coupon. The menu stretches the full gamut of tacos, enchiladas and some good looking fajitas. Spotting the opportunity…
- Aged Cheese, Artisan Cheese, Cheese, European Cheese, Food, France, French, Goat Cheese, Restaurant Reviews, Travel, Unusual Cheeses, Washed Rind, White Cheese
100 Cheeses Down – You Cheddar Believe It
It seemed like a good idea at the time, but let me tell you this whole caper is trying 365 cheeses in 365 days is no easy feat. Which is why I am celebrating milestones where I can. What started as a simple catalogue of cheese i have eaten and the occasional good meal thrown in, has now evolved into something more – travelogue, food porn site, political commentary, restaurant review and general whingefest blog. That’s the beauty of a blog I guess. So the journey marks it’s first significant moment – my 100th cheese. This tranche of cheese moments is brought to you by my friends at Grand Hyatt…
- American Cheese, Blue Cheese, Cheese, European Cheese, France, French, Italy, Sheep Milk, Travel, Unusual Cheeses, White Cheese
Wheel of Cheese Fortune
The thing I love about having a blog dedicated to one topic, rather than random musings (I have Facebook and Twitter for that), is that my friends near and far collect the most amazing stuff for me. This comes in the form of websites, newspaper stories and infographics like this one which came from the lovely Sarah Rabbani (who I want to be when I grow up) That’s a chart of 66 of the world’s favorite cheeses and yes, I have already pre-ordered one for the bedroom. For more information check out Pop Chart Lab or here at our friends Buzzfeed Food
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Are You Going My Whey?
I thought I had exhausted the repertoire of Cheeses of the Middle East. That is until I came across Baladi cheese. Baladi is a soft, white cheese originated in the Middle East. It is known Jibneh Khadra or Jibnah Baladi in Arabic. In local language, Baladi means local cheese made from a flock of “baladi” goats. Alternatively, it is also called ‘cheese of the mountains’ because it is made in high mountains all over Lebanon by the local shepherds. Since Baladi is made from unpasteurized mixture of goat, cow and sheep’s milk, it has to be consumed within three days. The cheese appears similar to Akawie, but it has more…
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Curd You Really Drink This?
It’s the cult food from Canada – Poutine. Basically cheese curds with gravy and chips. the perfect storm of carbs, fat and salt. I think this stirs a particular series of nostalgic emotions in me. When I was a poor student at Sydney University, my friends and I would buy chips and gravy from the cafeteria at Wentworth and sit around solving the world’s problems. all that was missing was the curds. But as always seems to happen with something so wonderfully perfect, someone had to go and take it one step further. A Canadian drinks company, Jones Soda Co, has created what it alleges is a poutine flavored soda.…
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Homage to Fromage
Like Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster and finding a decent coffee in the US, I believe I have unearthed the ultimate urban myth – a Frenchman who doesn’t like cheese. I have a friend, Dom, who must be the only real Frenchman in the history of Frenchiness…who does not like cheese. For him it’s not the taste, but the smell that he finds off putting. Despite this character flaw, he has am amazing sense of humour and will tolerate the consumption of even the stinkiest cheese in his presence. Which I recently did…at length. Dom and his wife Laila joined me for one of my weekend jaunts to Oman with…
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Oh Deer…Is Cheese from Bambi the Next Big thing?
Bambi has a lot to answer for. Inspired by the Donkey Milk Cheese phenomenon, some guys in New Zeland think they have hit upon a sure fire money making. Scientists and a cheese maker from Oamaru in New Zealand have produced what they believe may be the world’s first cheese made from the milk of farmed red deer. What’s more, laboratory tests have identified unique bioactive compounds in red deer milk that they say could improve the immune system of humans. You can read more about it by clicking the link below Deer milk cheese offers health benefits
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Kofta-esque Fantasy – Show Me the Curry!
I will go to great lengths to get my hands on a cheese dish, regardless of its availability. This is what happened on my recent trip to Mumbai. I had been craving Malai Kofta, a vegetable and cheese dumpling in a creamy curry sauce, from the minute I booked my ticket to Mumbai. What I didn’t count on was this amazing dish being from a different part of India. And we all know how justly parochial Indians are about their cuisine. Luckily for me, the chef at the Grand Hyatt Mumbai where I was staying knew how it make it. And the results didn’t disappoint. Kofta are balls made from…