L: Le Massadel (£2.20/100g); C: Taleggio (£1.75/100g); R: Beenleigh Blue (2.85/100g) One goat's milk cheese, one cow's and one sheep's; one hard, one soft and one blue; all unpasteurised - this is a great selection, chosen as always by Robbyn Linden of The Cheeseboard. When people say they don't like goat's cheese I reckon they're recalling the acrid aftertaste at the back of the throat of one of those aged and wrinkly crottins. Le Massadel is nothing like that - it has a lovely, subtle and more-ish taste with a texture reminiscent of a mild cheddar. We all know Taleggio - soft, melting, unthreatening, ideal as a pizza topping - but probably that's mainly the pasteurised, factory versions available from any supermarket. This one was much superior - complex and distinctive and redolent of the farmyard. The Beenleigh is a wonderful blue cheese, both creamy and salty (I believe it is based on a Roquefort recipe); the texture reminded me of a Wensleydale. It is my favourite blue of the moment. The three chunks shown in the photo cost me £6.94. N.B. Just in case you didn't know, the term 'affineur' (as used by Robbyn in her notes below) is someone who selects, ripens and matures cheeses - Hervé Mons being the most famous exemplar in France, Neal's Yard Dairy here in Britain. le massadel Goat's milk, unpasteurised This is a brand new cheese that our French suppliers were very excited to introduce to us, and we immediately loved it. It is a farmhouse cheese handmade by Jean-Marie Ompraret and his son. The Ompraret family herd cows and goats 1800 metres up a mountain called Col de Soulor in the Pyrenees. They make about 10 cheeses per day. Once a week the local affineur, M. Calendri, selects cheeses from the farm, and matures them for 3-6 months. Massadel is the name given to people living in the town of Massat near Lourdes. taleggio Cow's milk, unpasteurised This cheese was originally made by families during the 10th Century in the Val Taleggio which is near Bergamo in Lombardy, although it wasn’t called Taleggio until the 20th Century. The cheeses are washed in brine to prevent unwanted moulds from growing. This brine gives the cheese its signature pinkish-orange colour and also encourages the barnyard aromas and flavours associated with Taleggio. It has a supple texture and melts in your mouth. This texture makes it ideal for cooking: try it in a tart or sliced into a polenta dish. beenleigh blue Ewe's milk, unpasteurised
Beenleigh, one of only three blue ewes' milk cheeses made in Britain, is made at the Ticklemore Dairy in Sharpham Barton just outside Totnes in Devon. It was created in the 1980s by former banker Robin Congdon who used his previous experience making Roquefort in France when creating this creamy and crumbly ewes milk blue cheese. He made it with his wife Sari for many years, and it is now made by Ben Harris. The rough, crusty, natural rind is slightly sticky and has some patches of gray and white moulds. It has a moist and crumbly texture with a patchwork blue green mould running through an ivory paste. The flavour is rich and slightly sweet, we love to have it for dessert on its own with some fruit and nuts. It is matured for six months and is available from early summer through to winter.
8 Comments
europhile
17/6/2012 08:58:57
Ah. I'm one of the goat's cheese haters but I'll keep my eye out for this stuff.
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The Skint Foodie
17/6/2012 11:04:26
You might also like the Childwickbury and the Tomme Bluette in this earlier post: http://www.theskintfoodie.com/1/post/2012/05/a-plate-of-cheese-no-3-rocamadour-childwickbury-and-tomme-bluette-chevre.html
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14/6/2013 06:01:57
cheese adds up to the flavor of a dish. There are many people who doesn’t like to have cheese and here I got to read on a wide variety of products that are made of cheese. I loved reading them all. Thank you
The Skint Foodie
17/6/2012 14:42:59
It's a great cheese isn't it? Thanks are due to Robbyn for the choice. But as she's in Madrid at the moment, attending a recital by her fellow American, Mr Bruce Springsteen, I'll take the credit.
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Surack
18/6/2012 08:27:15
We are a retired couple with the same philosophy as you regarding food -' good food simply prepared, on a budget'. We thought you might be interested in our perspective from Shropshire. We buy as much as possible from local shops, who in turn source their produce from local family farms and veg growers and help to keep both in business. We go on a weekly foray to Shrewsbury market - to Appleyards for excellent cheese, bacon and sausages, Barkworths for fish, Corbetts and Maddocks for eggs, fruit and veg. Whatever else we need is from Marks, Sainsburys and Little Waitrose but we don't spend much at any of these.
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Love le Mastel! It knocked Morbier off its 'my fave cheese' pedestal when one of my preferred stallholders in the Cours Saleya offered me a taste ... mmm. And so, given the date: bonne Bastille!
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The Skint Foodie
14/7/2012 14:59:25
And bonne Bastille to you too!
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