Listen, it’s a fact. I don’t like my cheese tampered with, adorned or prettied up. In my view, this usually means the cheese itself is bland and in need of some “styling”. And so it is with this creation – Rambol Walnut Cheese. I may have been feeling a little desperate, stuck in a generic supermarket and keen to get my cheese obligations done for the week. In a moment of weakness, I bought it, as you can see, I deigned only to try the smallest piece the deli girl allowed. I mean I love cheese, like walnuts, what could be so bad? It’s a processed cheese with layers of…
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Cheddar the Class
Cheddar. The but of many jokes, yet one of the most versatile and loved cheeses in the world. I had meant to do this earlier, but didn’t want to resort to generic, supermarket brands. Finally, I stumbled across this beauty at the soon-to-close (perplexing as that is) Dean and Deluca in Doha. Hailing from Glastonbury, the home of that rain-soaked celebrity spotting music festival each year, this smoked cheddar is a thing of beauty. Made by Greens of Glastonbury it has a strong, powerful flavor which is the result of 12 months of aging. Perhaps my new heros, the Green’s have been making cheese for four generations on the Somerset…
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Heavy Breathing – I Just Want (Brin) D’Amor Cheese
Well before this blog came into beng, I would frequent the cheese counter of a food hall within a hotel in Doha called La Cigale. I would spend Friday afternoons, and a good chunk of my earnings from several jobs, there. But as happens, familiarity bred contempt. I went there too often. I started to notice they weren’t taking care of the cheese. The staff weren’t as helpful. And we fell out of love. Actually, if I am pressed, I do say the main reason I stopped going was that the valet parking there is rubbish (white girl problems anyone?). But, in a fit of nostalgia (homesickness and missing people),…
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The Italian Job
In honor of the looming Papal Conclave, this post is dedicated to those two great Italian staples – Mozzarella and Parmesan. Mozzarella has to be one of the most abuse cheeses in the world – how many of us have had bad mozza on a pizza or in a ubiquitous “Caprese Salad” (usually served at a Baltic temperature). I like my Mozzarella white and of the Buffalo kind and I found this fairly good interpretation in the dairy cabinet at my local supermarket. While not exactly fresh, it was creamy and the perfect addition to my grand Italian plan. Friends know that I have somehow rediscovered or unearthed my latent…
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Shake, Ricotta and Roll – Or Why Ricotta is the Yanni of Cheeses
In a couple of weeks, Yanni is coming to the city that I live in for a concert. You know, Yanni. The Greek composer born Yiannis Hryssomallis and the architect of such memorable ditties as ummmm…quickly looking up Wikipedia….Keys to the Imagination…allegedly. He calls himself “new age”. Look, Yanni’s most interesting claim to fame is that he was in a relationship with Linda (Khrystal Carrington) from Dynasty – she of the shoulderpads and the fight with Joan Collins that ended in a pond. Stick with me, there is a point. Yanni remains popular for all his NEw Age metrosexuality in spite of his blandness. Ricotta is the Yanni of Italian…
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The Loving Spoonful
It had been a tough start to the week in the vineyard of truth. I was having technology problems, clients were being demanding and well, it was Tuesday. And it was March. When I heard about the new Grapes and Cheese night at Gordon Ramsay’s Opal at St Regis Doha, I am not one to pass up the opportunity to sample up to different types of wine and matching cheeses. After all, it was Tuesday. And it was March. The wines took center stage with a selection prepared by Sommelier Ashwin Tillousing who took us through wines from France, South Africa, Spain, Chile and New Zealand. Bearing in mind it…
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Get Your Frico On
In view of the upcoming Papal Conclave to elect a new Il Papa, and because the eyes of the world will soon be trained on Rome, I thought I would spend a couple of posts exploring the rich and tasty world of Italian cheese. Dean & Delcua in Doha is very helpful when it comes to identifying its’ cheeses, with little national flags printed on the name and price tags. This was recommended by the cheese counter guy, who later admitted he was actually the deli counter guy moonlighting because cheese guy was “working late” “This one looks good,” he said, pointing at the large round on Montasio, a cheese…
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Going Whey Back…Evidence of Cheese Making Dating Back Thousands of Years Unearthed
Going Whey Back…Evidence of Cheese Making Dating Back Thousands of Years Unearthed What is it with Poland these days? Milk extracts have been identified on 34 perforated pottery vessels or “cheese-strainers”, which date back 7,500 years have been excavated in Poland. The only other written evidence for cheese-making activity occurs much later in the archaeological record, around 5,000 years ago. That’s some aged goodness…
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Was it Gouda For You Too?
I have to be honest with you, I may have met a cheese I do not like. Gouda cheese is so harmless it’s almost, well, offensive. /p> I decided to give it another try, buying some pre-sliced Gouda from my local French supermarket. Even on a white plastic tray, covered in cling film, it looks bloody boring. apparently the cheese is dried for a few days before being encased in the wax it is famous for. Depending on age classification, it can be aged a number of weeks to over seven years before it is ready to be eaten. As it ages, it develops a caramel sweetness and sometimes has…