Cheese Shop

Just a short filler today as I went out for lunch (when I normally write and publish my entries).

When I constructed this blog, I raced through the profile questions, putting 'cheese' down as my interest, and this has met with some surprise and even concern. I was being silly, but I do appreciate that for some people, you simply cannot be funny about cheese. Truth is that I do like cheese a lot, so here is my Cheesy Top 5 for all to share.

• La vache qui rit (Laughing Cow): As a kid it seemed so exotic to have different flavours of Dairylea. I didn't even know what shrimps were...
• Stinking Bishop: Very sticky soft English cheese that certainly does smell, although the name actually comes from the pears fermented to make the perry wash. Wash-rind cheeses use either alcohol or brine to encourage the growth of bacteria. The result is sticky cheese with attitude. Recently referred to in the Wallace and Gromit movie, which makes it a lot harder to get hold of now.
• Touraine Goat Cheese: Another a general fave, goat can often be a bit 'pissy' as Jane puts it. The best goat cheese I have had was made by a French artisan cheese maker in Touraine and was very dry, almost crumbly in texture. Fantastic.
• Torte di Dolcelatte: A guilty pleasure this one, dolcelatte is a sweet Italian cheese made from cow's milk, and is effectively Gorgonzola Lite as it is manufactured in the same way. The 'torte' part is a variation where dolcelatte is alternately layered with marscapone. Spread liberally on crusty bread as you would Philly.
• Vacherin Mont D'or: Another soft cow's milk cheese of Swiss / French origin. Nice on its own, or warmed as an indulgent fondue. Soft, piney and light.

The wooden spoon goes to all manufacturers of cheddar cheeses 'variations' that simply involve chucking something else in, such as herbs, cranberries, a bit of colouring or some 'smoked favour'. Grrrrrrrr....