Cheesemans "Cheese of the Week"

[afootintokyo 0]

Hey Thursday

Am I right in reading your location is Hong Kong ?

Have you visited the cheese cave over there ? Heard they have a good selection of British cheeses you can try

[thursday 1]

Must admit I've never been to a cheese cave, nor any other cave, 'cept the places in Lan Kwai Fong where you find all the monkeys.

 

It's so hot here, the cheese would melt and we'd have a cavein, or it would be too humid and the place would go all mouldy.

[2pints-mate 0]

I wouldn't mind going to that actually (the one in Bristol), must find out more. Thanks for letting me know.

[Kraut_in_HongKong 0]

 Originally Posted By: afootintokyo

Hey Thursday
Am I right in reading your location is Hong Kong ?
Have you visited the cheese cave over there ? Heard they have a good selection of British cheeses you can try

There are a number of places with excellent cheese (or any other import food) selection. City Super, Sogo Food Hall, GrEat and a few more. For a price though....

[cheeseman 1]

OK cheesefans it's time for Cheesemans Cheese of the Week.

 

This week over to Wales. Do you know this one me jane?

 

Llanglofan Farmhouse

 

Llanglofan Farmhouse is a traditional, welsh, hand-made cheese with a rich yet dry, almost crumbly texture that melts in the mouth. The maturation lasts from two to six months and the fat content is 45%. This cheese ranks among vegetarian, hard cheeses and is made from cow's milk. Sometimes chive and garlic are added.

 

[afootintokyo 0]

Hi Thursday

The shop s called the Press Room. Here is the article.

If you go please let me know how it is

 

regards

 

HONG KONG (Reuters Life!) - A little gourmet cheese shop in Hong Kong, peddling platters of stilton and cheddar from select British dairies, has been quietly converting Chinese palates in a city not known for its great love of curdled milk.

 

While fromageries are ubiquitous in Paris, and popular in New York and London, specialist cheese shops even in cosmopolitan Asian cities like Hong Kong and Singapore are a relative rarity due to a lack of broad-based demand.

 

But last November, a popular brasserie, "The Press Room" offered what its owners describe as the first walk-in, temperature and humidity-controlled cheese room in Asia.

 

"You'll only find something like this in world cities like New York and London, and now Hong Kong," said Matthew Siegel, who runs the establishment, tucked into a small gourmet food store at the side of the main restaurant.

 

"Very clearly there's a niche in the market. The premise that Asians don't like cheese is a fallacy," he added. "We see at least 80 percent of our clientele is Asian. The community is recognizing the virtue of cheese."

 

Entering the chilly room, with its humidifiers puffing up wisps of steam, the first thing that hits you is the powerful aroma of the huge wheels of cheese piled on the wooden shelves.

 

Customers can shave bits from some 20 cheese varieties from specialist British dairies and farms -- including Crozier Blue from Tiperrary in Ireland, Colston Bassett Stilton and Montgomery's Cheddar from Manor Farm in Somerset.

 

Cheese platters are then quaffed down with fine wines in an adjoining "cellar" replete with wooden benches.

 

"Most of my friends who like cheese are either those who weren't born in Hong Kong or aren't Asian," said Porcia Leung, an overseas educated Hong Konger, who's now a cheese room regular.

 

"Asians tend not to like cheese that much," she added.

 

What some have called a risky culinary gambit has paid off handsomely for the owners, offering a fresh alternative to the basic supermarket cheese-buying experience.

 

"The cheese has taken off ... we're definitely going to grow," said Arnold Wong, one of the owners.

 

"It's magic. We have daily conversions," added Siegel about the cheese room's success in luring Chinese clients.

 

"It's like a rite of passage. Like asking a gweilo (a foreigner) to try eating a durian," he said, referring to the stinky and spiky Asian fruit which is either loved or loathed.

[me jane 0]

Nope, don't know it. Will look out for it next time I'm home!

[muikabochi 208]

Sounds nice

 

"almost crumbly texture that melts in the mouth"

 

Like that.

[afootintokyo 0]

I am organising the next British cheese and wine evening here in Tokyo. It is next wednesday 17th October from 7.30 until 9.30

 

Drop me an email if you want to come along. afootintokyo@yahoo.co.jp

 

I have a farmhouse cheddar, Lyburn gold, old winchester, Wingreen, alderwood, Black eyed susan, vipers grass, indian blanket, goldilocks and a Mature stilton.

 

regards

[cheeseman 1]

Hi cheesefans, it's time for this weeks Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. This week off of Italy. I like this one. (Surprised?!)

 

Taleggio

 

Buttery, delicate, semi-soft and subtlety sweet cheese from Italy made from cow's milk. It usually has a square shape. The cheese has a special taste and aroma. The crust is pinkish-gray and the paste is white, supple and fruity. It ripens in 25 - 50 days and has a fat content of 48 per cent. There is also a cooked-curd version which is firmer and bears a resemblance to Mozzarella. Taleggio is also known as Stracchino (from the Italian stracche (fatigued) which referred to the cows of the area after travelling back to the valley from their grazing season in the high pastures. Taleggio is an excellent dessert cheese that goes very well with a robust wine.

[Ewok 2 1]

Just had a big bowl of salad with blue cheese.

Satisfied, oishi desu desu.

[cheeseman 1]

Hi Cheesefans, it's that time again - Cheesemans Cheese of the Week.

 

This week a special one from France.

 

 

Tamie

 

This cheese has been made since the 12th century in the Abbey of Tamie in the Bauges area of Savoie by Trappist monks. It is traditional, semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese has a fine, leathery, washed rind that changes its color when the cheese ripens. At first, it has a sweet, nutty taste that becomes more pronounced with age. Similar cheeses include Reblochon and Chambarand. Affinage takes one month and the cheese is regularly washed in brine twice a week.

[me jane 0]

Cheeseman, did you see the video my student dedicated to you? Check the Black Pearl thread!

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Cheeseman, do you try all these cheeses?

[cheeseman 1]

Thank you me jane I saw it. I think she should elaborate a bit more though.

 

BagOfCrisps - I certainly try to. The ones I recommend I have tried.

[cheeseman 1]

Hi Cheesefans. It's time for Cheesemans Cheese of the Week

 

This week over to Italy and a lovely cheese called Ragusano.

 

Ragusano

 

One of the most favorite Italian cheeses produced in Sicily. The cheese usually has a shape of a brick and it is made from unpasteurized cow's milk. The curd is heated and stretched until it is rubbery. Then it is pressed into rectangular moulds and the cheese is left to dry. Salted and rubbed, the cheese is ready for affinage that takes six months. During this period of time it is regularly rubbed with a mixture of oil and vinegar. After this period of time the cheese hardens and the taste becomes stronger and more savory.

[thursday 1]

shape of a brick? good building material for a cheese house.

[rach 1]

[cheesewoman 0]

A cheese house! Sounds like a good idea cheeseman.

[cheeseman 1]

 

We will have to make plans.

[thursday 1]

can you two talk to each other directly? hate to think there's trouble in the marriage.

[cheeseman 1]

A bit different this week, Cheesefans. How about Cheese Poems as well as the Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. As it is snowing:

 

Oxford Cheese Ode

 

 

The ancient poets ne'er did dream

That Canada was land of cream,

They ne'er imagined it could flow

In this cold land of ice and snow,

Where everything did solid freeze,

They ne'er hoped or looked for cheese.

 

A few years since our Oxford farms

Were nearly robbed of all their charms,

O'er cropped the weary land grew poor

And nearly barren as a moor,

But now the owners live at ease

Rejoicing in their crop of cheese.

 

And since they justly treat the soil,

Are well rewarded for their toil,

The land enriched by goodly cows,

Yie'ds plenty now to fill their mows,

Both wheat and barley, oats and peas

But still their greatest boast is cheese.

 

And you must careful fill your mows

With good provender for your cows,

And in the winter keep them warm,

Protect them safe all time from harm,

For cows do dearly love their ease,

Which doth insure best grade of cheese.

 

To us it is a glorious theme

To sing of milk and curds and cream,

Were it collected it could float

On its bosom, small steam boat,

Cows numerous as swarm of bees

Are milked in Oxford to make cheese.

 

James McIntyre

[thursday 1]

Hmm, I missed this one. Nice....

[cheeseman 1]

Hi folks it's time for Cheeseman's Cheese of the Week.

 

This time, a nutty American cheese.

 

Monterey Jack Dry

 

Very hard, aged, dry version of Monterey Jack Fresh with delicious nutty flavor. The cheese is used in cooked foods or grated onto pasta or salads. Created 'by accident' in 1915. A wholesaler found himself with an over-abundance of Jack Fresh. He had to store it for a long time. In order to protect it he hand-salted each one of cheeses. A few weeks later he discovered that the cheeses were fruity and rich in taste. Monterey Jack is also produced in Canada.

 

[cheeseman 1]

Hi folks it's time for Cheesemans Cheese of the Week. This week over to sunny spain for a nice cheese called >>

 

Queso Iberico

 

Queso Iberico is a cheese that comes from Central Spain. It is a hard cheese made from the mixture of cow's, sheep's ot goat's milk and that is why the flavour has elements of all three. Sometimes Queso Iberico is mistaken for Manchego. The affinage usually takes from one to six months. According to its texture, it ranks among hard cheeses. It is a table cheese but could be perfectly used for grating and grilling.