Four Fine Cheeses...

When it is difficult to afford the time and money to dine out (even with Valentine’s day on the horizon) it may be best to prepare a good home cooked meal and finish with the flourish of a great cheeseboard - a very occasional indulgence which can satisfy the soul without affecting the waistline too much!  The high fat saltiness of cheese is something to savour in very cold weather…

Clockwise from top: Roquefort Tropeau, Chênes d'argent, Ribblesdale Blue.
(Stinking Bishop never made it to the plate - already consumed!)

We recently visited the Welsh Food Centre at Bodnant which keeps an excellent cheese counter.  The staff are very friendly and are happy for you to taste before you buy so it is a great way to extend your knowledge before committing to a couple choice purchases.  It is pretty expensive but you can select small samples of what you like and know you will be in for a treat. 

We chose three that we particularly enjoyed.  The first was Stinking Bishop, which we had heard of (probably from the Wallace and Grommit film Curse of the Wererabbit) but which we have never tried before.  It has a pale orange rind which causes the ‘stink’.  Once this is discarded the cheese has a lovely firm creaminess and rounded savoury quality like a brilliant camembert.  We would definitely sample again!  Find out more at the Stinking Bishop Cheese website.

We also tried Ribblesdale Blue Goats cheese.  This has a firm almost waxy texture and is very mild and sweet – a good introduction to blue cheese if you want to sample its flavour, as the texture and nuttiness of the cheese tempers the burn (which is reminiscent of a mild Danish blue).  It is not immediately obvious that it is a goats cheese either as there is a slight cheddar quality to it.   A skilful and very delicious cheese.

More info about Ribblesdale Specialist Cheesemakers at their blog where you can find out more about how the cheese is made and they also offer cheese-making courses.

Our final choice on this occasion was the classic Roquefort Tropeau.  A sheeps milk strong blue cheese from France it is most excellent for those who love it (like us) and it was great to find one so well kept and flavoursome.  It is like the Laphroaig of blue cheeses!  It has a sea saltiness quality to crave and a garlicky blue cheese burn that is so satisfying when sampled with a good red wine.  This had none of the wetness often present in plastic-packaged ‘mass-market’ versions but did have a creamy, slightly crumbly texture that seemed just perfect.  As close to a sheep’s udder on a French plateau as one can hope to be these dark winter nights…

More information about Roquefort can be found at the Cheese-France website.

A fourth cheese we sampled alongside came from…Lidl.  Yes there are good cheeses to be found in supermarkets too for a reasonable price and this was a soft goats cheese from France called Chênes d'argent.  It was very fresh and soft and mild, a foil to the strong selections we had made, one which would be excellent in a roulade or with garlic and olives.  One the children can enjoy too!

We hope our lyrical flights have inspired you to go try and discover some new favourites of your own as there are so many good cheeses and good cheese shops to explore.  Enjoy…