You know me, I love everything French, even their water. The perfect palate cleanser with French cheese!
-
-
A Hard Days’ Bite
In the scheme of things, last week was pretty draining. And I’m not talking about #whitegirlproblems, although I did learn my hairdresser is closing down. But that’s another story. Come Friday, all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch with a glass of red wine and Netflix. But my friend Alicia had other plans. She rounded up the homies for some mac and cheese and a viewing of the magnificently awful Sharknado. Margaritas, stretchy pants and a wooden Tara Reid. How can I resist? Alicia made her mac and cheese using a recipe gleaned from her friend’s blog Kitchen Thymes which involved using odds and ends of…
-
Baguette About It – French Cheese Wrapped in More Than Bread
I don’t know about you, but I love eating things that are wrapped in something else. Be it bread, pastry, cheese or even bacon. It’s like getting two tastes in one bite. Cheese has been wrapped in things besides bread (ahem baguettes) for centuries. At a recent cheese and wine night at Grand Hyatt Doha I came across this beauty – Banon à la feuille, it is an unpasteurized cheese made from goat’s milk. This pungent uncooked, unpressed cheese consists of a fine soft white pâte that is wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia prior to shipping. It hails from the region around the town of Banon in…
- British, British cheese, Cheddar, Cheese, Comte, European Cheese, events, Food, France, French, Media, Middle East, Restaurant Reviews, Travel, wine
Fromage to Eternity
As we slide (or stagger) into the business end of the year, I find myself looking for distractions. So when I got a message via the Twitter that went something along the lines of “We have a new menu Market at W Doha, there are 20 new items. There is lots of cheese”, I declare a “Distraction Action” and head westwards. And the Twitter doesn’t lie. The new menu has cheese. Lots of it. And other amazing things as well. Starting with these balls of deliciousness. Cheddar chilli fritters. Give me cheddar and add some green chilis then deep fry it? Yes please. This is what I like about cheddar,…
-
Creating a Munster
So it seems that cheeses can also have an identity crisis. I have previously written about that great American icon Muenster cheese. Little did I know it has a European cousin. Munster-géromé, is a strong tasting, soft cheese made mainly from milk from the Vosges, between Alsace, Lorraine and Franche-Comté in France. A big thanks to my friends at St Regis Doha whose monthly Grapes and Cheese night not only gives me an excuse to catch up with friends, but also fuels my blog. Munster géromé is at its best in the summer and the autumn, when it is made from milk from the haute chaumes (“high stubble”) of pastures…
-
My (Goat Cheese) Tart Will Go On
Remember Cher’s character in Mermaids? Where she only fed her kids cocktail snacks for dinner? That is my idea of heaven. I love a cocktail bite, at any time of the day. This could be because of simple maths, small bites don’t have as many calories right? Being of socialite tendencies, I am an expert in the field of food on a stick or in a napkin. And if it can incorporate cheese into that equation, heaven awaits. Ahem. The following morsels were served to me at a recent drinks function at Grand Hyatt Doha The creamy goats cheese tart was literally coin sized and the pastry on the right…
-
Basque (ing) in the Glory of Meatza
I’m on a diet. There are undiscovered tribes in Papua New Guinea that know this fact. I have been telling everyone about it. Even the guy who pumped my petrol the other day. “You are very glamorous madam, like a Bollywood star,” he said in response. That guy earned a BIG tip. I’ve already lost just over 5kgs in a couple of weeks thanks to tennis, kickboxing and the most un-relaxing yoga classes I have ever experienced, and being the impatient inner child I am, I want it to go faster. So, I quizzed my friend and diet buddy Brooke (check out her fab blog Babbling in the Desert) about…
-
Guest Post – Be My Brebis
And so folks, we have our first ever guest post! And who better to write the inaugural one, than my friend and fellow blogger Nat. Check out Nat’s witty blog Bright Lights, Little City for more musings… Most people have to be dragged kicking and screaming to see their in-laws. But not me; mine are permanent residents in the south of France, which means that every visit is a thinly-disguised excuse to eat, drink…and then eat and drink some more. So when I mentioned to Rachel that I’d be spending a good chunk of my summer holiday with them, she saw the potential for both a guest post, and the…
- 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…
-
Taking a Pont (L’Eveque)
Summer has well and truly enveloped the Gulf region. I know this for several reasons: 1. It’s really hot. Like 46 degrees hot. Hotter than Satan’s private beach hot. 2. It is so hot it’s that time of year when expats take photos of the temperature readouts in their car and post them on Facebook/Twitter/everywhere 3. There is no traffic in Doha 4. I feel perpetually sniffly because of the Baltic air conditioning in buildings 5. There is a brisk trade in swapping and “borrowing” of the latest box sets and illegal film and series downloads among friends. It’s summer. It’s 46 degrees. What you gonna do? 6. I get…