• Asia,  Cheese,  Dutch cheese,  Food,  Travel

    It’s Not Easy Being Green Cheese – Wasabi Cheese

    Let’s be honest, cheese and Japanese food aren’t the most obvious bedfellows. But horseradish and cheese are a actually match made in heaven, so why not wasabi and cheese? I spied this cheese in the dairy section of my local Lulu Hypermarket already sliced (it was the last of the lot apparently). Not the prettiest cheese to photograph, being green and sliced and all. Not actually from Japan, this wasabi cheese hails from Holland. Made by Basiron it claims to be extra strong, but is actually kinda mild. I like my wasabi to blow my head off and cure the sinus allergy caused by our regular dust storms. This gouda was actually quite mild.…

  • Australian Cheese,  Cheese,  Dutch,  European Cheese,  Food,  Gouda,  Travel

    Amongst Gouda Friends

    Sometimes a gal just needs a home cooked meal. And thanks to my friend Ruth, I enjoyed a little taste of that when she whipped up a spicy treat of Chilli Crab and a Prawn Curry last night. But my end of the bargain, as always, was to bring the cheese. No wonder I get invited to a lot of dinners…hmmmm Still working my way through the cheese accumulated from my European trip, I brought along a Gouda from my friends at Wijngaard and Reypenaer in Amsterdam. This was from their specialty cheese range, which infuses other ingredients like herbs and truffles. The Affiné Zontomaat Bieslook (Affiné Cheese with Sun-Dried…

  • Cheese,  European Cheese,  Food,  Gouda,  The Netherlands,  Travel,  White Cheese,  wine

    For a Gouda Time, Head to Amsterdam

    I’m scratching my head. I’m a well traveled, adventurous woman. Why haven’t I been to Amsterdam before? This is a city that is tailor made for me – everywhere is walking distance, stunning art galleries, chilled vibe and more importantly, a cheese loving populace. My home for my quick visit was the seriously stylish Andaz Amsterdam, located on the edge of the funky Nine Streets area and frankly, one of the most fabulous hotels I have stayed in. The Netherlands is not known for its cuisine, but it is known for its cheese. Gouda to be more precise. Now I have been scornful of this cheese in the past, until…

  • American Cheese,  Cheese,  Travel

    Melting Pot – Fun, Friends and Melted Cheese Five Ways

    I have a theory that in a previous life, I hailed from the deep south of the US. I love the food. Don’t mind a bit of New Orleans Jazz and can say “y’all” with aplomb. The handful of times I have been south of the Mason Dixon line, I felt very much at home. One trip to New Orleans some time in the early 2000s, I was traveling with my friend Allan, who contracted what we would later find out to be pneumonia (which also necessitated an Emergency Room visit while in DC). We stayed in a huge southern mansion which had been converted to a guest house and…

  • Aged Cheese,  Dutch,  European Cheese,  Gouda,  The Netherlands,  Travel

    East of Edam…aka Pass the Dutchie

    OK, so my last post about my apparent dislike of Gouda cheese caused a bit of a firestorm of protest from Dutch blog readers and friends. Apparently I insulted their national icon. Various other words were uttered, they may have been bad, all Dutch words sound dirty to me, so I wouldn’t know. I should have been a diplomat. In the spirit of reconciliation and being able to show my face around town, I searched for the famed aged Dutch Gouda cheese many had told me about. I found it at Dean & Deluca here in Doha – two year aged cheese from Wyngaard. The Reypenaer VSOP Gouda is aged…

  • Cheese,  Dutch,  Gouda,  The Netherlands,  Travel

    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…