CHEESE OF THE DAY: BEAUFORT

Beaufort is a French cheese made in Beaufort (hence the name) - up in the French alps. They use only milk from local alpine grazing cows that help to give Beaufort its creamy flavour and slightly nutty/fruity finish. It falls somewhere between a Comte and an Emmental in both flavour and texture. I found it slightly unusaual in the fact upon imediate tasting I wasnt bowled over by this cheese, but I kept going back for another taste. I think if you love Comte - then this cheese will be a new favourite for you!!!

CELEBRICHEESE: ISY SUTTIE

Better known as Dobby from Peep Show - Isy Suttie was eating cheese in her first episode as "she brings her own cheese" Dobby. So as a cheese loving character we thought we's ask if the real Isy Suttie also enjoys cheese - yes - she loves Stilton!

CELEBRICHEESE: MELISSA GEORGE

Readers of a certain age will remember Melissa George as the lovely Angel from Home and Away, but it seems that having shrimps on the barbee in Summer Bay just wasn't enough so she headed to America and is now a successful actress appearing in plenty of hollywood movies. Now she only eats her cheese with truffles - ooooooh, but strewth she's only gone and given us a winky face - maybe there is still a bit of that Aussie "charm" left in her!!! ;)

CHEESETUBE #9

A crazy news story from New York - a hotel hires an "artist" to cover one of their rooms entirely wirh cheese - is it art or just a cheesy mess???

CHEESE OF THE DAY: SNOWDONIA RED DEVIL

Snowdonia cheeses are all pretty decent - however this Red Devil is a particular favourite flavour of mine! Its a Red Leicester - full flavoured with a slightly saltyness to it combined with chilli and crushed pepper. Its got a nice decent heat to it that leaves your mouth watering and wanting more. The heat is well infused into the cheese without turning the cheese acidic like with some chilli infused cheeses you get. It is hot though, so is best served with a sweet chutney or relish to counterbalance it! I had mine with some sweet fig relish and it was so good I eat the whole block in one sitting! Yum!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: TOME OSABA

Unfortunatly I dont have much information about this particular cheese other than that on the sign - its an unpasturised sheeps milk cheese and its bloody delicious! It has a nutty taste like that of an Emmental, but without the sweetness. Texture wise its quite a hard but smooth cheese like a Comte. I picked up a wedge of this at the Christmas market in Manchester outside the town hall. I can say it didnt last long & if you are visiting the Manchester Christmas markets to keep your eyes open for this Sheeps milk beauty! Delicious!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: SAINT ALBRAY

After a trip to the Manchester Christmas Markets - I picked up some nice cheeses at a fantastic cheese stall - amongst which was this smelly delight! Yes its a real stinker (almost clearing the bus with the smell on the way home), but despite its extreeme odour, Saint Albray is a delicious rich and creamy cheese with a taste not unlike Camenbert. It is produced using pasturized cows milk and formed into a flower shape, and first made in 1976 in the Basque country and Bearn region of southwest France. A very nice if not pongy soft and creamy cheese.

CELEBRICHEESE: PHIL SPENCER

Its been a bumper crop of celebrity cheese tweets lately and the latest is TV property guru Mr Phil Spencer. It looks like when he's not flirting/bickering with Kirsty he's chomping on some cheese. Glad to hear he's partial to all cheese (but looks like if pushed he would opt for some strong Cheddar!

CELEBRICHEESE: ALEXANDER ARMSTRONG

Another "Pointless" celebrity - comedian & TV host Alexander Armstrong enjoys a bit of epoisses - looks like we've set him off thinking about it mmmmmmmmmmmm!

CELEBRICHEESE: DERMOT O'LEARY

We asked popular radio & TV personallity Dermot O'Leary what cheese had the X-factor for him. Looks like he found it a tough decision, but the 2 cheeses Dermot voted through were a mature Wexford Cheddar & Vacherin.

CHEESE OF THE DAY: AMBER MIST

The Snowdonia Cheese Company do a range of really good cheeses, I have a nice selection of 3 to sample - so here is the first one "Amber Mist". Its a slighty sweet & salty softer cheddar with a hint of whisky. I think what is good about this cheese is they have got the balance right - all the attributes of a good cheddar with a slight taste of whisky. I think if it was a stronger whisky taste it would have completely over shadowed the excellent taste of the cheddar. Lovely with a chutney with a bit of heat to it (I had it with apple, fig & chilli chutney) - another very tasty cheese from the Snowdonia Cheese Company!!!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: REBLOCHON

Reblochon is a French cheese made in the Haute-Savoire in the French Alps. It is a semi-soft rich creamy cheese with an earthy aftertaste. At room temperature it starts to soften and starts to ooze a little bit - its at this point it is best to eat - fully releasing its flavour. The name Reblochon translates as "to pinch a cows udder again" and is in reference to the fact that in the 14th century when this cheese was first produced, the landowners would tax the farmers according to how much milk was produced - so farmers started holding back milking until the milk was measured out for taxing each day - this produced a much richer milk from which this cheese was made. I certainly enjoyed "to pinch a cows udder again"!

TALKING CHEESE: THE OLD CHEESE SHOP HARTINGTON

 

Our new feature "Talking Cheese" starts with an interview with Claire Milner from the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington, Derbyshire.

Hi Claire, thanks for agreeing to talk to The Mighty Cheeseboard, how long have you been running the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington for?
Exactly 3 years. We bought the shop at auction when Long Clawson shut their dairy in the village. The shop had been their factory outlet and has been established for over 30 years.

What made you decide to make the leap from cheese fan to cheese shop owner?

Love cheese - what more can I say! And we couldn't see such a fabulous little shop close. It has such a history to it.

What Cheeses are your biggest sellers in the shop?

Definitely all the blue cheeses. We sell tonnes and tonnes of stilton.

What would you put as your own personal favourites?

Again blue cheeses but you can't beat a good extra mature cheddar either. Quickes is up there amongst the best!

I notice that aswell as running the cheese shop you are also involved with making cheese as part of the creamery - how did that come about & are you enjoying getting involved and the process of cheese making?

Two ex employees from Long Clawsons (who are well known in the stilton industry) approached us in the shop to ask if we would sell their cheese if they could get a factory up and running again in the village. We were so excited and keen to help that we joined forces with them. It has taken us a long time but finally we made our first cheeses in mid October. They will be ready soon which will be great for Derbyshire people as there is no real cheese making going on in the County on a large scale and we should hopefully be accredited to make Hartington Stilton again in the new year. We will then be the only stilton producer in Derbyshire and only the 6th stilton producer in the Country.To see the whole process from start to finish and actually be hands on has been a great learning curve and has only fuelled our passion more for cheese and everything it stands for!

What cheeses are you currently making? (We'd love to sample some for review sometime)

Our first cheese will be a crumbly white cheese called Peakland White and for Christmas we will be doing a cranberry and orange version. The blue cheeses will start rolling out in January hopefully.

In a few words sum up what cheese means to you?

Gosh that is a tough question. I am just so passionate about good quality food and sourcing (and now making) local cheeses it is hard to put it into a few words. I think PASSION is just the key to everything.

Thank you Claire.

So if you ever find yourself in Hartington or nearby - please make sure you make the effort to visit Claire at the Old Cheese Shop and get buying some of the fantastic cheeses that they offer. However if you cant get to Hartington then you can always visit thier website (www.hartingtoncheeseshop.co.uk) where you can purouse the cheeses from the comfort of your own home and order online, so there's no excuse - support the independent cheese makers and cheeseshops!!!

CELEBRICHEESE: ROSIE JONES

Who says models don't eat cheese! Glamour model Rosie Jones sure does. Having modeled for the Sun, Nuts, Loaded & recently been voted 4th in FHM's sexiest women of the world 2012, Rosie sure has revealed a lot about herself, but it's not til now she reveals her favourite cheese - looks like she is very fond of "halloumiiiiiii!" - we too enjoy Halloumi Rosie!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: TABASCO CHEESE SLICES

Aaaah the cheese slice - personally I'd tend to stay away from cheese slices in preference to getting a good block of cheese and cutting slices fresh....... but if you want a quality precut cheese slice to go on your burger or melted on top of your chilli or nachos then look no further than the offical Tabasco branded cheese slice. I has a nice full mature cheddar flavour with the hot peppery kick of Tabasco.  The famous pepper sauce brand has teamed up with the Long Clawson Dairy a cheese maker with over 100 years of cheesemaking behind them. If I were to have a nice juicy homemade burger I would be more than happy to top it with a Tabasco cheese slice!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: REYPENAER

The good thing about writing a cheeseblog is that when friends go away rather than bringing back the usual tacky souvenir trinkets, my friends bring me cheese! So when my neighbour & good friend Yasmin went to Amsterdam she bought me back this particular tasty treat! Reypenaer is a strong, creamy, mature Gouda style cheese. According to the notes this cheese develops its creamy yet complex taste (with exeptional aroma) down to its unique ageing evironment. It is aged in a 100 year old warehouse in the green heart of Holland (Woerden). The cheeses are washed once a week by hand and a system if vents in the old warehouse keep the air fresh and create its own microclimate. The cheese has the crunchy crystalls that develop in a lot of quality mature cheeses, and the creamyness against its strong full flavour make this cheese a true Dutch delight! Anyone off to Holland should try to get themselves a piece.
Thanks Yasmin!

CHEESETUBE #8

Even big scary monsters love cheese!!! :)

CHEESE OF THE DAY: WENSLEYDALE

Ooooooooh what a crackin piece of Wensleydale!!! pronounced Wallace from Wallace & Gromit fame. The Animated characters arent the only ones who enjoy this cheese - in an essay written by the author George Orwell entitled "In Defence of English Cooking", he rates Wensleydale second only to Stilton amongst British Cheeses.  It is a crumbly pale cheese with a fresh slightly lemony (it has a bit of acidity) flavour to it. Quite often Wensleydale will be made with fruit in it - Cranberry or Apricot seem to be the most common (the sweetness of the fruit is a good accompanyment to the sharpness of this cheese). But this delightful piece I had is just pure cheese & I have eaten most of this wedge in one sitting!!! Might save some for later - just hope I dont put on the Wrong Trousers.

CELEBRICHEESE: NEWTON FAULKNER

Recently I had the opportunity to interview singer/songwriter Newton Faulkner about music for another blog I run. But I still managed to sneak in a question about cheese for all the readers of The Mighty Cheeseboard - here is the excerpt from the interview:

Listen Up Manchester: Just to finish off with & also on the subject of food, I actually also run a cheese blog, and would love to know, are you a fan of cheese and what is your favourite cheese?

Newton Faulkner: I'm a big fan of cheese, I tend to go extreeme with cheese like a strong blue - I like Roquefort. And you really cant beat bacon with melted brie - possibly the best flavour combination ever!

for the full interview click here: http://www.listenupmanchester.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/in-conversation-with-newton-faulkner.html

CELEBRICHEESE: SIR PATRICK STEWART

Well beam me up! When he's not king of the Star Trek Enterprise, being all Shakespearian or checking out his family on BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, then Sir Patrick Stewart is eating cheese! Upon asking him what his favourite cheese is he told the Mighty Cheeseboard not only his favourite, but his favourite from each of the following cheese catagories, Blue, Hard & Sort cheeses (Colton Basset, Tickler Cheddar & Nettle Meadow Kunik respectivly) - its good to have such a thorourgh response & someone who knows his cheese! Thank you Sir & keep enjoying your cheese!

CHEESETUBE #7

Check out Pinky's Cheese roll call from the classic cartoon Pinky & the Brain!!! Enjoy!!!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: KILLEEN FARMHOUSE CHEESE WITH CUMIN

Another treat I picked up at the Great British Cheese Festival (http://themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-great-british-cheese-festival-2012.html) in Cardiff the other weekend was this Killeen Farmhouse Cheese with Cumin. Its was on the CAIS (the Association of Irish Cheesemakers) stand and made by Killeen Farmhouse Cheeses based in Ballinasloe, Co Galway in Ireland. The cheese they make is very much like a Dutch Cheese (the recipe based on a Gouda recipe), and this one in particular has all the flavour of a good mild Gouda with the added warmth from the Cumin seeds it is made with. An unusual combination, but one that suprisingly works very well without it just becoming a curry flavoured cheese. The cumin flavour comes through strongly, but works well with the Gouda style cheese - a lovely Irish cheese!
www.killeencheese.ie

LUNCH WITH GRANA PADANO

As a food blogger I was invited to a lunch with Grana Padano cheese at the Cheshire Cookery School in Altrincham on Tuesday 25th September 2012 with Chef Giancarlo Caldesi. So I thought "this sounds good"....... count me in!
I arrived and was swiftly given a nice glass of red wine which I enjoyed whist Italian chef Giancarlo Caldesi gave us a brief introduction to the Grana Padano cheese, and a explained why he is such a strong advocate of it - he truly believes in the product due to its very good quality & its versatility. He then handed over to the Italian guy from the Grana Padano consortium who costantly check the cheese from all the producers in the Grana Padano region of Italy for quality and will only brand the cheese if it meets thier exating standards. He gave us an interesting talk about the history (it was first made by the monks near Milan over 1000 years ago).

Grana Padano is the best selling PDO (Protected Designated Origin) in Italy & worldwide with 4.6 million wheels of cheese made each year. It takes 15 litres of milk to make 1kg of cheese, and each wheel of cheese is almonst 40 kilos.  Anyway, all very interesting, but it was time to hand over to chef Giancarlo who was ready to show us a handful of dishes he prepared with the cheese. He made some deep fried cheeseballs which were mixed up with breadcrumbs and parsley. Next up was some shaved Grana Padano with rocket wrapped in Bresaola (cured beef) and drizzled with a lemon juice, zest and olive oil. The third dish that Chef Giancarlo made for us was an absoultly delicious Grana Padano Risotto topped with a cheese ice cream. The fourth and final dish that was made was a Grana Padano Timbale (kind of like a cheese souffle). All the dishes were absolutly superb and made for a great free lunch for us (rather spoiled) food writers.

 

After eating all those wonderful cheesy dishes, it was time to hand back over to the Grana Padano Consortium guy to show is how to cut a whole wheel of cheese. A splendid lunch with some passionate people and a truly great cheese - I for one am converted & will be purchasing in the future. Just one final treat - as we left we were given a goody bag containing an apron, cheese knife, a cutting board and of course a humungous chunk of Grana Padano!

 

 

CHEESE OF THE DAY: CERNEY PEPPER

After the excitement of the Great British Cheese Festival (see blog post for full write up: http://themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-great-british-cheese-festival-2012.html), I came home with lots of lovely British cheeses to try out and review for the Mighty Cheeseboard, so lets start with this Cotswolds soft (it is very soft hence the deformed piece above that lost some of its shape squashed into a bag full of cheese!) Goats Cheese. It is lovingly made entirely from hand, and from the milk of "loved, cared for and preferably named" local goats. Its soft and very creamy and the Carney pepper is rolled in a coarse rainbow peppermix, which gives the cheese a nice peppery kick & counterbalances its creamyness perfectly. An award winner and a true delight to eat - possibly the best soft goats cheese I've tasted!!!
www.cerneycheese.com

THE GREAT BRITISH CHEESE FESTIVAL 2012

On Saturday 22nd September at 6am my alarm went off! Normally on a weekend I wouldn't have entertained the idea of getting out of bed so early..... but on this day it was different..... it was the day of............ THE GREAT BRITISH CHEESE FESTIVAL 2012!!! After a 7am bus and an 8am train to Wales, about midday we finally arrived in Cardiff - home to the GB Cheese festival. Every year in September the grounds of Cardiff Castle are host to this wonderful cheesy festival. As thier marketing says "a castle full of cheese, what's not to like!"

Upon entry we swiftly booked our cheese masterclass - the Award winners with Juliet Harbutt, held in the Hall of Champions! But that wasnt until later on in the afternoon, so more on that later. We hit the main market where all the independant cheese makers and producers set up their taster stalls and have all their finest cheeses on display to try & buy. For a cheese lover it is like being a kid in a candy store - all those delightful sights (and the smells), followed by tasting of sooooo many quality British Cheeses! Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!

The main cheese market tent does get a bit busy - and at times its a bit of a scrum trying to get to those tasters, having said that there are plenty of stalls and plenty of time to work your way round all the stalls. We did half of it then stepped out for a cider (there is also a beer & cider tent that serves only independantly made beers & ales, and homemade ciders from small producers - like a proper beer & cider festival in itself. I had a pint of Janes Jungle Juice and a pint of Old Bike to refresh my pallette between cheese eating! So after a cider and a sit down in the sunshine it was back in the tent for round 2 of the sampling in the market.

We tried cheddars of all kinds with added whiskey, spices, fruit etc. cheeses with horseradish, cumin, pepper. goats cheeses, both soft and hard, mature cheeses, extra mature cheeses, even stronger extra extra mature cheeses. Crumply cheeses, soft cheeses, creamy cheeses, blue cheeses, cheeses covered with wild garlic or nettles.... the list goes on! All the cheeses we tried we could have easily buyed too!!! However - a budget and the space in my bag dictated a limit on the amount of cheese I could actually buy and take home, so picking out some favourites from the day and making the purchase took some consideration. I did get a bit carried away and came home with a total of 12 cheeses which are all displayed out here: the top 2 were from my cheese companion Richey, but expect reviews on the Mighty Cheeseboard over then next few weeks of many of the others!

 

Anyway, after another cider, a bit of lounging on the grass admiring our cheese purchases, and enjoying the bands that played music on the bandstand it was time to head to the hall of champions for the finale to our day - a talk and taste of some of the highlights form the recent cheese awards.

The masterclass was given by cheese expert & judge Juliet Harbutt. It was an interesting talk and we got some good tips on cheese tasting and a little about each of the cheeses we tried as she talked through the tasting of each one. Everyone seemed to find what she said interesting and informative - and its always good to learn a little more about cheese! The 7 cheeses that Juliet had picked out for us to try were: (I will update this later as my cheesefriend Richey has the notes on which cheeses we tried - so will update when I get the info). All in all a splendid way to round off the day. Then all too soon it was time to get back on the train back home to Manchester to drift off and dream about cheese - and coming back to Cardiff next September!!!

Here are a few more pics and a write up from our friend the Cardiff Food Project - go check out her post and blog in general a good read if you're heading to Cardiff: http://cffoodproject.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/cheese.html

WHEN CHEESE GOES WRONG: PEPPERONI WRAPPED AROUND BRITISH CHEDDAR

So here is the latest in our "when cheese goes wrong" features - 24 Deli's Pepperoni wrapped around British Cheddar. Sadly the pepperoni tased cheap and the cheese tasted even cheaper - it was very soft and very 'processed' tasting cheese! We weren't impressed with the one we tasted...... now, what to do with the other 2 in the pack!!!

SAY CHEESE #3

Check out the custom cheese paintjob done on this car - in fact when we found this picture we stumbled across a whole blog article on cheese related cars - its brilliant!
See the article here: http://wednesdaysattic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/cars-and-cheese.html

CHEESE OF THE DAY: MONTEREY JACK

Monterey Jack is a hard American cheese although like many unprotected cheeses - can be made anywhere in the world and still be called Monterey Jack (this is a Welsh piece of Monterey Jack). It is similar to cheddar - with its slighly rubbery solid texture like a mild cheddar, but with a richer flavour of a more mature cheddar (although it doesnt have that sharp zing of a strong mature cheddar). The cheese originates from the the Mexican Friars of Monterey, California in the 19th Century, but was first commercially produced by Californian businessman David Jack who called it Jack's Cheese before it eventually became known as Monterey Jack. Also it is apparently a very good cheese for migraiane sufferers! Dont get a headache get some Monterey Jack!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: COULOMMIERS

A French cheese, Coulommiers is the less well known cousin of Brie (despite being produced for longer). It does have many of the same characteristics of Brie - being soft, creamy & buttery, but this had a slightly more lively fruity flavour to it. This particular piece from Coeur de Lion came in an individual bitesise portion - nice cheese chomp on the move! Mmmmmmm.

UPCOMING CHEESE EVENTS

So its nearly that time of year again - The Great British Cheese Festival!!! A must in the diary of any real cheese fanatic! Held in the grounds of Cardiff Castle on the 22nd & 23rd September, so it'll soon be upon us. Having been before I can highly reccomend it, there are cheese masterclasses you can attend, sooooo many amazing British cheeses to try & buy, even a cider and beer festival tent is included so after all that cheese you can wet your whistle. for further info and tickets click here: www.greatbritishcheesefestival.co.uk


Back home in Manchester - there is a cheese event coming up as part of the Manchester Food & Drink festival. This is run by local cider producers The Moss Cider Project. Held at Common on Tuesday the 25th September, this promises to be a splendid evening of eating cheese and drinking cider!

For an idea of this event here is a video of the last cheese & cider event they held: http://vimeo.com/24315392

The Mighty Cheeseboard will be attending both these events and bringing you a full write up of the goings on and cheeses sampled.



*** Please note online tickets for the Cheese and Cider night at common has now SOLD OUT - tickets are still available directly from Common on Edge Street in the Northern Quarter ***

CELEBRICHEESE: KRIST NOVOSELIC

Krist Novoselic played bass alongside Dave Grohl and Kurt Cobain in one of the most important bands of the last 30 years..... Nirvana.  Most Rock & Roll hero's have a vice of some kind, be it drugs, booze or whatever...... seems that with Krist its a nice piece of Manchego! Here at the Mighty Cheeseboard we heartily agree - one of our all time favourite cheeses! (I can feel a Manchego Cheese of the Day feature coming up soon!). Krist also likes cheese from the Island of Pag.
Here is a clip of Nirvana (featuring Krist) in action http://youtu.be/x6XBlkvTmv8 - Enjoy!

CHEESE OF THE DAY DOUBLE BILL: MATURE CHEDDAR & RED LEICESTER

Today I tackle 2 of the big boys of British cheese - a Mature Cheddar & Rinded Red Leicester.

We'll start with the Cheddar - this particular piece is from Green's of Glastonbury and is described as a mature farmhouse cheddar "From the Land where Cheddar Began!" - its been matured for 12 months (the "Vintage" that Green's make is 15-18 months) - being the most popular cheese in the UK and the second most popular cheese in the USA - most people will know the taste of cheddar, but this one has a full flavour with bit of a tang and ever so slightly sweet. A very tasty mature cheddar!

On to the Red Leicester - for this one I purchased a Farmhouse Rinded Red Leicester described as mature, rich & nutty, it is made by our good friends at Butlers cheeses (see our review of their wonderful Blacksticks Blue: http://www.themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/cheese-of-day-butlers-blacksticks-blue.html). Another of the very popular cheeses in the UK, it is not dissimilar to Cheddar, but is more mellow in flavour with a slightly nutty aftertaste, and a very different colouring (a strong orange/red achieved by the addition of Annato during manufacture) - hence its name of Red Leicester.

Two classic cheeses - both full of flavour and very tasty - with fine examples such as these, I think they fully deserve their popularity in the world of cheese.

CHEESE OF THE DAY: JARLSBERG

Like the Swiss cheese Emmental and the Dutch Cheese Leerdammer, Jarlsberg (a Norweigan cheese) is characterised by its large holes and sweet, nutty flavour. The cheese has a yellow, shiny surface and is usually coated in a yellow wax. Originally originating from the County of Jarlsberg (hence the name) which is about 80km south of Oslo from around 1855. About 100 years later this cheese was researched and developed by the Agricultural University of Norway into the cheese we know now - commercial production of Jarlsberg began in 1960 & has remained a popular cheese eversince.

CHEESETUBE #6

I think The Mighty Cheeseboard has found its anthem!!! Tim Minchin - you sir - are a genius! This is the best song ever!!!!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: BUTLERS BLACKSTICKS BLUE

"A taste of the unexpected" says Butlers cheese (makers of Blacksticks Blue) and it is indeed! A smooth and creamy blue cheese with an Amber colour - not only does it taste fantastic, but its colour would liven up any cheeseboard. In the words of celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, it's "undoubtedly the daddy of all blue cheeses, heaven!" - well Mr Rimmer - the Mighty Cheeseboard agrees!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: MOZZARELLA

Mozzarella! A lovely fresh moist milky cheese from Italy. It can be made from either cows milk or buffalo milk - if made from the later it normally bears the name Mozzarella di Bufala (or Buffalo Mozzarella). Due to its moist nature - its a cheese to eat pretty immediatly after production - or it can be kept in brine for up to a week. Its tearable, but not rubbery (a good Mozzarella should be softer than that), and it isnt a particularly strong tasting cheese, but does taste fresh and milky - making it a great cheese to eat on hot days in a nice tomato salad.

CHEESE OF THE DAY: GERMAIN LANGRES

Oh my god - this is cheese heaven!!! Its creamy, rich, luxuriant, slighty smelly, and so so good! You may have noticed I am very fond of this cheese. Its a French cheese from the Champagne-Ardenne region and has a smooth creamy buttery texture with a slightly more tangy crumbly core. Its rind is distinvtive & rippled with an orangy colour to it. There is a deliberate dimple in the top of the cheese as traditionally a small pool of Champagne is poured so when you cut the cheese the champagne infuses into the cheese - shame I dont have a bottle of Champagne knocking about!!!
If you want to try a truely delicious cheese - then this is HIGHLY recomended by The Mighty Cheeseboard.

CHEESETUBE #5

Eeeeeermmm - Cheez Whiz! Another example of "When Cheese Goes Wrong!"

CELEBRICHEESE: CARL BARAT

Todays celebrity cheese gets a bit rock n roll! Guitar hero Carl Barat (Libertines, Dirty Pretty Things & solo) tells The Mighty Cheeseboard he fuckin loves Isle of Bute! Now we know what keeps Carl rockin! Remember you can follow Carl on twitter @carlbarat music & keep following us for more celebrity cheese revelations! In the words of a Dirty Pretty Things song "YOU FUCKIN LOVE IT!"
http://youtu.be/SfcFjYFRWaw

CELEBRICHEESE: LISSIE

One thing I have learned recently is that everyone is very different in their cheese tastes, the latest in our celebrity cheese tweets is singer/songwriter Lissie Maurus who gave us a smiley face and told us she likes blue cheese, string cheese & baby bells!!! Here at the Mighty Cheeseboard we love Lissie's album and recommend you listen to her music - here's a taster for you: http://youtu.be/yRlXausKdiQ

CHEESE OF THE DAY: BURT'S BLUE

A locally made (Altrincham, Cheshire) blue cheese made in individual batches by independant cheese maker Claire Burt. Its made from milk sourced from a local dairy, and made in a small vat making each cheese "a labour of love". I found it to be a salty, rich blue cheese that was soft around the edges, and in the centre, creamy and slighly crumbly - I liked the fact it was not overly veigned throughout the cheese. A nice piece of cheese that is really tasty with a sharp or fruity jelly (I had it accompanied with some balsamic jelly, but a sweet redcurrent or cranbury jelly would go splendidly with it too. or just gobble the lot as it is! Always good to find a nice locally made cheese, "thanks Claire for your labour of love!"
www.burtscheese.co.uk

CELEBRICHEESE: MIKE JOYCE

For all the Smiths fans out there - its a real treat to hear back from drummer Mike Joyce - who enjoys a bit of "Roquefort accompanied with a crusty cob & a heady red" - now we know what keeps you going when pounding the drums Mike! (http://youtu.be/DYp2LGKOF_M)
Dont think we'll be asking Morrissey his views on cheese!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: MATURE COMTE

After one of our favourite celebrity tweets - Mr Rick Stien - tweeted us to say he loved comte (http://themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/celebricheese-rick-stein.html) we thought we'd best go out and get some to taste and feature on cheese of the day - so here it is!!!
Saw some nice looking Mature Comte in our local cheeseshop (www.cheesehamlet.com) so promptly purchased some! Its a hard, slightly sweet, slightly nutty flavoured cheese - and its got the odd nice crunchy crystalised bits in it (bit like a very mature cheddar gets).
Comte is a cheese from the Franche-Comte region of East France and has to follow some rigourous guidelines to be allowed to bear the name Comte. One of the particular rules is that only milk from Montbeliarede cattle is permitted and each cow must have at least 1 hecrare of grazing! Mooooooo!

CELEBRICHEESE: CAITLIN ROSE

Here's one for our American followers - it seems Nashville based singer/songwriter Caitlin Rose couldnt be pinned down to just one cheese. We do agree Caitlin - there are many great cheeses out there!!! For anyone who doesnt know Caitlin Rose's music we strongly urge you to check it out - here's a starter for you http://youtu.be/khZtHh0ituU
Enjoy!

CHEESE OF THE DAY: TINTERN

Oooooh another cheese from Abergavenny in Wales (for the other one see Y-Fenni blog post http://themightycheeseboard.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/cheese-of-day-welsh-y-fenni.html). Like the Y-Fenni, Tintern is another Cheddar cheese containing something else...... chives & shallots. The cheddar cheese is exactly the same as the Y-Fenni, its strong in flavour yet relatively soft and creamy, the chives and shallots do infuse with the cheese and work well (its a flavour match that works - basically cheese and onion - just ask walkers crisps! Classic combo!). On another note on its flavour - and I cant quite put my finger on it - there was a taste there that took me back to childhood - but not too worry - if it comes to me I will add an additional note to this blog post.
Apparently the name comes from Tintern Abbey an old monastry in Monmouthshire (South Wales), where the monks used to grow shallots in the grounds.

ITS OUR BIRTHDAY - HUZZAH!!!

The Mighty Cheeseboard has been running for precisely 1 month!
In our first month we have had 1205 page views - we would like to thank everyone for reading it so far and hopefully we can grow our readership too along with our cheese intake (but no more cheesestrings!!!). For anyone curious as to which cheese loving nations enjoy reading our cheese related nonsense here are the page view stats from our first month!

United States - 697

United Kingdom - 435

Russia - 47

Germany - 7

United Arab Emirates - 6

Australia - 4

Finland - 4

Japan - 3

Croaitia - 2

Spread the word people - and we'll keep bringing you regular cheesey updates!!!