I am organising the next British cheese and wine evening here in Tokyo. It is next wednesday 17th October from 7.30 until 9.30

Drop me an email if you want to come along. afootintokyo@yahoo.co.jp

I have a farmhouse cheddar, Lyburn gold, old winchester, Wingreen, alderwood, Black eyed susan, vipers grass, indian blanket, goldilocks and a Mature stilton.

regards

Hi cheesefans, it's time for this weeks Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. This week off of Italy. I like this one. (Surprised?!)

Taleggio

Buttery, delicate, semi-soft and subtlety sweet cheese from Italy made from cow's milk. It usually has a square shape. The cheese has a special taste and aroma. The crust is pinkish-gray and the paste is white, supple and fruity. It ripens in 25 - 50 days and has a fat content of 48 per cent. There is also a cooked-curd version which is firmer and bears a resemblance to Mozzarella. Taleggio is also known as Stracchino (from the Italian stracche (fatigued) which referred to the cows of the area after travelling back to the valley from their grazing season in the high pastures. Taleggio is an excellent dessert cheese that goes very well with a robust wine.

Just had a big bowl of salad with blue cheese.
Satisfied, oishi desu desu.

Hi Cheesefans, it's that time again - Cheesemans Cheese of the Week.

This week a special one from France.


Tamie

This cheese has been made since the 12th century in the Abbey of Tamie in the Bauges area of Savoie by Trappist monks. It is traditional, semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese has a fine, leathery, washed rind that changes its color when the cheese ripens. At first, it has a sweet, nutty taste that becomes more pronounced with age. Similar cheeses include Reblochon and Chambarand. Affinage takes one month and the cheese is regularly washed in brine twice a week.

Cheeseman, did you see the video my student dedicated to you? Check the Black Pearl thread!

Cheeseman, do you try all these cheeses?

Thank you me jane I saw it. I think she should elaborate a bit more though.

BagOfCrisps - I certainly try to. The ones I recommend I have tried.

Hi Cheesefans. It's time for Cheesemans Cheese of the Week

This week over to Italy and a lovely cheese called Ragusano.

Ragusano

One of the most favorite Italian cheeses produced in Sicily. The cheese usually has a shape of a brick and it is made from unpasteurized cow's milk. The curd is heated and stretched until it is rubbery. Then it is pressed into rectangular moulds and the cheese is left to dry. Salted and rubbed, the cheese is ready for affinage that takes six months. During this period of time it is regularly rubbed with a mixture of oil and vinegar. After this period of time the cheese hardens and the taste becomes stronger and more savory.

shape of a brick? good building material for a cheese house.

A cheese house! Sounds like a good idea cheeseman.

We will have to make plans.

can you two talk to each other directly? hate to think there's trouble in the marriage.

A bit different this week, Cheesefans. How about Cheese Poems as well as the Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. As it is snowing:

Oxford Cheese Ode


The ancient poets ne'er did dream
That Canada was land of cream,
They ne'er imagined it could flow
In this cold land of ice and snow,
Where everything did solid freeze,
They ne'er hoped or looked for cheese.

A few years since our Oxford farms
Were nearly robbed of all their charms,
O'er cropped the weary land grew poor
And nearly barren as a moor,
But now the owners live at ease
Rejoicing in their crop of cheese.

And since they justly treat the soil,
Are well rewarded for their toil,
The land enriched by goodly cows,
Yie'ds plenty now to fill their mows,
Both wheat and barley, oats and peas
But still their greatest boast is cheese.

And you must careful fill your mows
With good provender for your cows,
And in the winter keep them warm,
Protect them safe all time from harm,
For cows do dearly love their ease,
Which doth insure best grade of cheese.

To us it is a glorious theme
To sing of milk and curds and cream,
Were it collected it could float
On its bosom, small steam boat,
Cows numerous as swarm of bees
Are milked in Oxford to make cheese.

James McIntyre

Hmm, I missed this one. Nice....

Hi folks it's time for Cheeseman's Cheese of the Week.

This time, a nutty American cheese.

Monterey Jack Dry

Very hard, aged, dry version of Monterey Jack Fresh with delicious nutty flavor. The cheese is used in cooked foods or grated onto pasta or salads. Created 'by accident' in 1915. A wholesaler found himself with an over-abundance of Jack Fresh. He had to store it for a long time. In order to protect it he hand-salted each one of cheeses. A few weeks later he discovered that the cheeses were fruity and rich in taste. Monterey Jack is also produced in Canada.

Hi folks it's time for Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. This week over to sunny spain for a nice cheese called >>

Queso Iberico

Queso Iberico is a cheese that comes from Central Spain. It is a hard cheese made from the mixture of cow's, sheep's ot goat's milk and that is why the flavour has elements of all three. Sometimes Queso Iberico is mistaken for Manchego. The affinage usually takes from one to six months. According to its texture, it ranks among hard cheeses. It is a table cheese but could be perfectly used for grating and grilling.

I don't want to steal your thunder Cheeseman, but as you mentioned a Spanish cheese I thought I should mention a lovely cheese I tasted back in the summer.

Cabrales

A rough-rinded Spanish blue cheese. A renowned blue cheese from Northern Spain (region of Asturias) Cabrales is made from blended cow's, goat's and sheep's milk (not in winter when only cow's milk is available) . It is matured in naturally-formed caves and has a creamy texture, a complex flavor and a powerful bouquet. Cabrales is salted, wrapped in foil and matures for 6 months in natural limestone caverns. The locals are known to admire this cheese when it's almost totally blue and con gusano (with maggots) [There are different points of view on subject of maggots. We were contacted by some people from Spain and they denied the presence of maggots in Cabrales]. Similar cheeses include Picos de Europa and Valdeon.


It was delicious, though I didn't try it "con gusano"
There is a cheese museum in Cabrales where you can learn how it's made. It would be next to impossible to find in Japan I think, I can't even get hold of any in the UK.

I'm sure Cheeseman won't mind threep.

Not at all! Cheese is a food for friends and fun for all.

Anyway, this week lets check out good old Red Leicester cheese.

Leicester

Leicester cheese, usually called Red Leicester, is an English cheese, made in a similar manner to cheddar cheese, but is crumblier; it is coloured orange by adding annatto extract during manufacture. The fairly mild flavour goes well with most food and wine or beer, and is good for Welsh rarebit.

Red Leicester is a cow's milk cheese, originally from Leicestershire in England. It has a firm texture, which makes it suitable for grating, and it is a good choice for use in cheese on toast or with a baked potato. Compliments fruit, pasta, and crackers. Often used in tarts or quiches. At its best, it has a slightly nutty taste. Even though it is called Red Leicester, there is no white or purple or yellow Leicester -- all Leicester is red. The rind is reddish-orange with a powdery mould on it. Although Red Leicester can be young or "old, aged anywhere from 4 to 9 months, the young Leicesters at the start of that range will be very mild: they really want at least 6 months to develop a tang. Farmhouse versions are also available. Farmhouse makers will mature it in cloth, the old way, to allow better flavour development. Versions of Red Leicester are also made in America now.

Cooking Tips: Melts well. Bit tricky to slice owing to its crumbly nature.