Well how about this for an idea. A different cheese each week, recommended by yours truly. I think it's a good idea to take us through those nasty summer months and in the run up to the new season.

Anyway, here is my first one. Perhaps not well know this one, but definitely worth a try.

Mamirolle (France)
It is a washed-rind cheese of brick shape first made by students of the Ecole Nationale d'Industrie Laitiere. The flavor of this cheese is sweet and it has uncooked, semi-hard elastic pate. Mamirolle is very similar to Limburger and the period of maturation takes at least 15 days. During this time the cheese is washed in brine with annatto. Other producers of this kind of cheese is the Union Agricole Comtoise at Besancon.

Actually, that one sounds very familiar...

Yes the description comes from there, that's no secret.

Have you tried this particular cheese, Goemon?

Not to my knowledge; is it available in Japan? I've been in a bit of a cheese rut lately and am open to your suggestions!

> Feta is solid, but crumbly with some fissures.

Like a good turd then really.

That 'Feta' made with cows milk in some Scandinavian country far from Greece that you can get in jars with oil here is pretty good as salad dressing. Just don't let the children eat one of the red seeds or they'll cry until bedtime.

Ocean, you know your Feta.
Personaly i like the danish feta better than the one coming from Greece.
a few years back there was the great Feta war,
read about it here
http://www.american.edu/TED/feta2.htm

Cheeseman, lately I have been looking into making cheese at home due to the lack of variety available in my area (like a decent mozzerella pref buffalo). Do you have any advice or suggestions about where to start, good recipes etc.

Thanks for your comments. Cheeseman is actually not very well today, got a really bad cold all of a sudden. He said to all you cheesefans that he'll be back hopefully by Monday.

cheesewoman

Good of you to let us all know cheesewoman. Tell cheeseman to get better.

Get well cheeseman!

Do you approve of fruits in cheese?

Perhaps you should eat some cheese, cheesman. After all, they are delicious and nutritious! So I've heard Get well!

He will be back tomorrow. Thank you for your comments!

Cheeseman, I am a big cheesefan...

I have in fact tried Mamirolle and I love it with a bit of quince paste...

Have you tried st agur (fav blue cheese) or Brie de Nangis (fav brie?)

Thank you for the feedback and I'm feeling much better now thank you. Cheesewoman really looked after me the sweetheart.

I have tried those cheeses yes save, I've never not liked a kind of brie. Yum.

sakebomb. Making cheese? That sounds excellent, believe it or not we do not have much experience at all in that.

There's a few international cheese shops on the web that we often buy from. It's pretty expensive, but we can't live without our varied cheeses.

Hi cheesefans

Here is the Cheese Of The Week for this week. A popular cheese back in the UK and also popular with Wallace and Grommit.

Wensleydale

Description:

Traditional, hard cheese made from cow's milk. It has a shape of cylinder with natural rind. Wensleydale can be used as table cheese and is very tasty with apple pie. This cheese is based on the recipe that can be traced back to the Cistercian monks who came over with William the Conqueror in the 11 century. There are two types of the British classic Wensleydale: White, a flat disc that is highly-pressed and has a honey flavor to it and Blue or Yorkshire, which has blue veins, double cream and is a cousin of Stilton - the blue variety comes in large drums. Good Wensleydale has a supple, crumbly, moist texture and resembles a young Caerphilly. The flavor suggests wild honey balanced with a fresh acidity. It matures in two to four months and has a fat content of 45 per cent.

I like Wensleydale. I had some once that had cranberries (I think), and apricots in it. Really nice it was.

Good one, like it.
Also like Wallace and Grommit - they're having their first movie later this year did you know? There may be a starring role for some Wensleydale.

Wensleydale is nice. I like crumbly Lancashire as well... how do you rate that one cheeseman?

This weeks cheese, another favourite.
We'll go onto some more obscure less well-known cheeses from next week.

Camembert de Normandie

Description:
A very famous French cheese, Camembert dates back to the 18th century and is named for a Norman village in which there is a statue of the creator of this particular variety (Marie Harel). Originally, this cheese was dry and yellow-brown, but after a few modifications it became softer and more earthy. In 1855 one of Marie Harel's daughters presented Napoleon with a piece of that cheese, saying that it came from village called Camembert. He liked it a lot and from that moment Camembert became known by its contemporary name. At the beginning of its ripening, Camembert is crumbly and soft and gets creamier over time (usually 2-3 weeks). A genuine Camembert has a delicate salty taste.

Love it.
cheeseman, how do you categorise cheese?
Generally, how many types are there?