Spring is special, mother earth is coming to life after a long and dark winter. For us living up north this is a special time of year. Nature provides for the seasons and we humans have adapted. If it is planned or just serendipity I don’t know, but with spring comes the spring cheeses. For me the spring cheeses are the many varieties of chèvre. I do know that some of them are made all year round, a fact I willingly ignore. I believe in seasons. Spring comes with spring onions, asparagus and of course the spring cheeses par excellence; chèvre. With a glass of Sauvignon blanc, French if I may be so arrogant. With chèvre from the Loire I think the French variant pairs the best. There is of course chèvre from other areas, in France and the rest of the world, not to mention, but when it comes to the spring cheeses I prefer the Loire cheeses. Could be there is a connection to the Sauvignon blanc which I find especially tempting in the spring. And as they say; what grows together goes together.

Read more about the various chèvres of France.

Spring cheeses – vibrant and full of life

What makes these spring cheeses so vibrant is their lactic appearance. Although characterised as such, this is not fully true. The milk is of course acidified, but most add a touch of rennet at the end to speed up the coagulation. That does not remove neither their freshness nor their acidity. I prefer them rather young, and they are so delicate with a milky palate, fine saltiness and as already mentioned the very attractive acidity. I leave the more mature chèvre till later in the year. And to this, as said, a fine Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé. On the terrace, in the sunshine. Happy springtime folks.

Valentine Cheeses to look for

Happy Valentine 💓 Perhaps a little late, but if you’re rill going to serve valentine cheeses on a first date today, then you’re something of a geek, or you’re pretty certain about your date’s preferences. The latter could of course be the case. For me, having been married for more that 20 years, I know my wife’s likes and dislikes. Champagne is absolutely OK, but I think the cheese has to be part a selection of tapas. Pure cheese is too much my job for her to be any romantic. So which cheese would be included? Not the ordinary tapas cheeses, some of them are excellent and others dull. Manchego for instance can be anything from magnificent to pretty dull. So we have to come up with something more exciting. Like Langres for example. Easily recognisable from the well on the top and and yellow colour, not to mention the wrinkled rind. Most of them are small, perfect size to share between two.

A few Pleasing Valentine Cheeses to impress your dateRead More »

It’s snowing outside. I am not a winter person. January and February are the worst two months of the year, in my opinion that is. Usually they’re cold, but most of all they’re dark. Event though I do not particularly like snow it does lighten up the darkness. It’s on such days as today, not to mention if you have a broken heart or something, Brillat Savarin is the perfect comfort cheese. It’s almost minus 10 degrees centigrade outside and as I said, snowing. The other thing is that this cheese works well with a glass of red wine – a fruity one, with body though. No oak or tannins. There you go, out searching for cheese and wine. I love white wines, but right now the weather is a bit too chilly for that, eagerly awaiting spring. Into March it helps, it’s not that bad after all. And February is a short month.

Brillat Savarin – A hearty cheese for a snowy winter’s dayRead More »

I don’t think you can expect the Langtang yak cheese to come your way. That said, this was exactly what happened to me. I have been fortunate to borrow a cheese for tasting, i.e. I can eat some of uit for tasting purposes and documentation of course and pass it on to its legitimate owner. The cheese belongs to a friend of us, who again has a friend currently residing in Nepal. So this cheese is a Christmas present.

The story behind Langtang Yak Cheese

Langtang Yak cheese for the adventurous turophilesRead More »