Thanks for visiting. I do take the opportunity to wish you a very happy and prosperous new year. I think we all long for more normal times and circumstances that we can take control over ourselves. Take care and see you back here in the new year.
Do also read here to allow yourself to dream a little bit.
I Wish You a very Happy and Prosperous New Year Read Post »
I wish you a most wonderful and joyful Christmas celebration. I am very grateful for you popping by and hope to see you next year as well. Do take care in these uncertain times and stay safe.
I wish you a most wonderful Christmas🎄 Read Post »
“It’s the most wonderful time of the year..” the Christmas prelude, aka advent, filled with anticipation – and stress, and planning and a lot of other things like buying Christmas presents and blue cheese of course. Blue cheese and also Edamer for some of us. What’s your favourite? I suppose you were singing those first few words above? Where I sit we’ve had a spell of very cold weather, then some snow which is now about 10 inch deep. Very christmasy. Well, this week-end we’ll have the traditional mild weather, so all the snow will go away. Typical pre Christmas.
So why is the blue cheese and in particular Blue Stilton so popular for Christmas? I think, generally, is has something to with the time of year, it’s winter in the northern hemisphere, we need something robust with fat and salt and lots of taste to protect us from the cold weather, the winter storms and the deep snow. Well perhaps not as dramatic as that, but still now is a rather cool and dark time of the year. Of course it adds to the pleasure or comfort if you like that this type of cheese pairs very well with sweet wines. Sugar – calories gives some sort of protection and comfort as well. When it comes to Blue Stilton there is another reasons as well, at least that’s how the story goes. The second growth – grass that is – is particularly lush and juice. Good fooder for the cows making extra good milk. Taken the time of the year for the second growth, the time for making and maturing Blue Stilton, ready for the market in time for Christmas. Due to the quality of the grass and consequently the milk this Blue Stilton was extra good. How the particular pairing with Port came about, I do not know. However Port is a strong, sweet and warming wine also particularly good throughout the wintertime. The cheese is fat and salty, the wine is sweet and has a high alcohol content which work well with the fat and salt in the cheese. A Christmas tradition was perhaps born?
There is white Stilton and there is Blue Stilton. A total of 7 dairies are allowed to make Stilton, only 6 of them can make Blue Stilton. Any Stilton can only be made of cows’ milk in the counties of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire or Leicestershire. Name comes from the town of Stilton in Cambridgeshire where the cheese first emerged, though in quite another style. Both types has a PDO and must be made with pasteurised milk (unfortunately).
Of course, whatever you fancy. I would like an Edamer style cheese, very common where I live. A Brie, very good with bread for your Christmas brunches. A few firm cheeses such as Beaufort, proper Cheddar or, if you can get hold of it, Salers Tradition. And what about a meaty Munster. Well you cab have them all or you should choose a few according to your liking. But as I said, the Christmas staple food is blue cheese. You can also select a local one. I will. In addition to Stilton and a piece of Stichelton I will have to local blue cheeses: Fønix from Stavanger ysteri on the south west coast of Norway and Råblå from Grindal ysteri in mid Norway. Two handcrafted cheeses very well made by artisan cheesemakers. Both made of organic raw cows’ milk.
What a wonderful time of the year for blue cheese Read Post »
I must admit I have always thought of raclette as something very much belonging to the seventies. Most things tend to go in circles, at least what’s fashionable or not, and it seems like raclette is on its way back on to the dining tables. It’s a fine thing and it is a very social meal. Especially these days when we have hit november, it’s dark outside, the autumn has sort of ended but it is not really winter yet. November is something in-between, at least at the latitude I live. I was also inspired by a request from one of my followers to make one of my Thursday streaming one about raclette, I asked my cheese distributor if they had some. They did and off I went to purchase one. I love cheese and have not had raclette for more than 20 years i am sure, so I am really excited about this.
When I say raclette you might think of these round irons or perhaps they technically are grills as well, that you put on the table in the midle and everyone around the table have their own “scoop” or spoon that they fill with cheese and put underneath to melt. No, this is different as you can se from the picture above. There is a grill element underneath the horizontal arm melting the cheese and then you scrape it off on to a plate filled with whatever you fancy to go with raclette.
As it is I am about to make a video how this works. I am so looking forward to inaugurate my grill. You can check out that later. The fine thing is you can use up to a half wheel, depending on the size of the cheese of course. That will definitely impress your guests. So where does this raclette tradition hail from? Some say Switzerland while others say France. I think most people think of Switzerland when raclette is on the agenda, but it might actually just as well be from France. My cheese in the picture is French. And it is a French word.
I have bought myself a beautiful new Raclette grill Read Post »
