The Big Cheese – 2010 Nantwich International Cheese Show

COMPLETE WINNERS’ LIST

28 July 2010 Last updated at 06:15 ET

By Jon Kelly BBC News Magazine

As tens of thousands are expected to flock to a major cheese fair, why have Britons started taking this once-humble foodstuff very seriously indeed?

Everywhere you look, one yellowing, waxy sight dominates the landscape: cheese, and tonnes of it.

In a marquee the size of one and a half football fields, all you can see – and smell – is great pungent hunks of the stuff: Brie, Wensleydale, Cheddar, Stilton, Yarg.

Slowly, deliberately, teams of stern, white-coated judges purposefully make their way through this array – fingering, sniffing, and finally tasting each sample.

Behind the stalls surrounding this main arena, barely suppressing their anxiety, the producers who have crafted the produce look on.

In sombre, reverent tones, their talk is of curds, creameries and coagulation. Here, cheese is a very serious business indeed.

Welcome to Nantwich, Cheshire, home to the Palme D’Or of the cheese world, the Oscars of the dairy industry: the International Cheese Awards.

For complete article, please click here.

The Long Quiche Goodbye by Avery Aames

The Lady and I became intrigued when we first “met” (on the web) Avery Aames and she told us she was developing a new cozy mystery series set in a cheese shop… “The Cheese Shop Mystery” Series. Avery further caught my personal attention when she said the book would include a cat that hung out in the cheese shop… hey it’s fiction…don’t worry about the health department busting her shop…

In the first installment of The Cheese Shop Mystery Series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, a cheese shop in a small town in Ohio is changing ownership with a grand-daughter, Charlotte, and her cousin, Matthew, buying the shop from their grandparents. After extensive renovations and the addition of a wine annex, the shop is ready to make its entrance (Mr. DeMille) with a grand re-opening celebration.

Big surprise, after all, it is a mystery… a murder takes place during the festivities; their grandmother is accused and Charlotte sets out to solve the crime…

Before this book came into my feline life, I didn’t even know what a “cozy” mystery was: The story usually takes place in a small town and the crime-solver is more-often-than-not a woman with a college degree or enough “life-skills” to give her the necessary knowledge to solve the crime (and no criminal law training).

The Lady and I liked the book.

It kept our attention to the end but there were a few flaws. The biggest flaw being that Rags, the cat, wasn’t featured prominently enough. He was treated more as window-dressing when as a fellow feline; I know he could have contributed far more to both the plot and the “color” of the story. Heck, he probably could have solved the murder… but maybe I’m a bit prejudiced on that subject…

Another flaw was that Avery made a few cheese “mistakes”; all of them minor, but to a card-carrying cheesemonger, incorrect none-the-less. One error was referring to Humboldt Fog as a cheese that normally sat on a display table. Humboldt Fog is a fragile cheese and should be refrigerated at all times. You can’t sit it out on display. A small thing, but one that caught The Lady’s cheese eye.

Other than Rags, the grandmother was my favorite character. Her avant-garde productions for the local theater would get me there on opening night.

We wish Avery well with the series and look forward to more Cheese Shop Mysteries…

I give The Long Quiche Goodbye 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

You can buy the book by clicking here.

Lapellah Restaurant

The Lapellah Restaurant located at Grand Central in Vancouver, Washington is a farm-to-table restaurant that is locally owned and operated. The word Lapellah comes from the “trade” language used in the 1800s and means “roasted” or “to roast over a fire”.

The first thing The Lady noticed when she entered the restaurant was the pleasant, aromatic smell of food cooking over a wood fire. The Lady and The Man were greeted by a two employees and immediately shown to a nice booth in the back of the restaurant near a wall of windows which made the area feel open and airy.

Their server, Heidi, appeared within moments and asked about drinks. The Man ordered a martini and  The Lady chose a glass of a red wine blend from Washington State’s Beresan Vineyard.

The Lady and The Man were there to celebrate the signing of contracts on the sale of The Man’s first book… woohoo… They don’t eat out much for several reasons; the most important one is that they discover too often that the quality of the food doesn’t justify the final tab on the check when presented… or as The Man likes to say, “The Lady cooks better than 99% of the chefs in the Portland-Vancouver area.” (I, too, love The Lady’s cooking but since there is some silly law banning guests of the feline persuasion eating in restaurants, I have no comparison…silly humankind laws… I’ll put my clean and well-groomed body up against any humankind, any day of the week… humankinds bathe daily, hopefully… this Feline Foodie bathes several times a day… you do the math…) But I digress.

Their visit to Lapellah was for lunch and when The Lady opened the menu she felt that perhaps they had found a winner. The menu had several appetizers and entrees that included specialty cheeses. For example, the lunch special that day was grilled Coho salmon with caramelized onion, tomato, arugula and Manchego cheese on a house made bun ($12.95). The Lady had not seen Manchego on a menu since becoming a cheesemonger. She was thrilled.

Heidi was quite pleasant and accommodating when The Lady began asking specific questions about the various cheeses on the menu, making numerous trips to the kitchen to ask the chef questions about the cheesemakers.

The menu has a section in the middle titled “Homage to our Farmers” and is a list of the local farmers whose foods they use: Gus & Company Farm (Ridgefield); Polar Farm (Woodland); Dancing Chicken Farm (La Center); Carlton Farm (Carlton); King Fisher Farm (Nehalem); Peak Forest Fruit (Banks) and Flamingo Ridge (Gaston). The Lady was impressed; The Man, not so much… he likes to keep his options open when it comes to food…

The Lady and The Man decided to order several dishes and share the bounty.

They started with “The Wedge” ($5.95): Iceberg lettuce, green onions with a dressing of Gorgonzola Cheese from the Wisconsin Amish of Salemville. The Lady visited their plant on her recent Wisconsin Tour. The Lady and The Man agreed that the dressing was divine. Wedge salads are always a favorite of The Man. According to The Lady, he swooned…

The Lady ordered Corn Fried Oysters ($7.95) with red pepper remoulade and pronounced them tasty and perfectly prepared. Although The Man is becoming more adventurous in eating, he has a ways to go before oysters reach his lips… oh well, more for The Lady.

For their entrees they both ordered sandwiches:

The Man ordered the Lapellah Hamburger ($10.50 plus $1.50 for cheese added)made from house-ground Carlton Farms Oregon beef with lettuce, mayo, pickles and onion served on an old fashioned bun. The Man also had a slice of Tillamook Cheddar added to the top of the burger. Although The Man has never met a burger he didn’t like, he was especially taken with this one and ate the whole thing except for a morsel he shared with The Lady.

The Lady ordered a Grilled Chicken and Brie Sandwich ($10.95) served with arugula and tomato. The Brie was French Miramont and mild and paired well with the Dancing Chicken Farm grilled breast.

Other “cheesy” items on the menu included a mac n cheese dish using Tillamook ($9.95), another local co-op cheesemaker from the Oregon Coast; a grilled veggie wrap ($9.95) with herbed goat cheese from Mary Keehn’s Cypress Grove Chevre. The dinner menu also used Mary’s goat cheese in a grits dish that was paired with pork chops. I suspect The Lady will order the grits on her next visit.

In addition to great food and excellent service (one of the wait staff asked if he could take a plate while The Man was away from the table. When The Lady said The Man was still eating, the young man pleasantly said, “No hurry, we’re open until 11pm tonight.”), the décor was open, airy and bright. The partition between the two rows of booths included pieces of Depression Glass glued to glass. The Lady loved that as she has owned many different patterns of the glass over her lifetime – another winner for her!!

Most appetizers are under $10.00; on the lunch menu the most expensive entrée/salad/sandwich is $14.95 and on the dinner menu most of the entrees are in the $20-25 range with the ribeye topping out at $28.95. The desserts are all $5.50 and $6.50. Wine by the glass is in the $7-10 range and offers quite a nice selection.

The Lady pronounced Lapellah a 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (even though she has none…) restaurant.

In addition to Lapellah, the owners have two other local farm-to-table restaurants: 360 Pizzeria and Roots Restaurant and Bar. (The Roots menu includes an Artisan Cheese Plate for an appetizer and several dishes that incorporate various cheeses.)

Lapellah is located at Grand Central, 2520 Columbia House Blvd., Suite 108, Vancouver, Washington 98661. Phone: 360 828 7911

Appleby’s Raw Milk Cheshire from Neal’s Yard Dairy

Raw Milk and Vegetarian-Suitable

As mentioned on occasion, The Lady likes to visit and check out the competition (think: spying) and she recently wandered into Whole Foods in the Pearl District of Downtown Portland. This is a nice store with a terrific cheese kiosk. The Lady likes to check out their small morsel basket for cheeses she and I haven’t gotten to know. On one of her recent adventures making the rounds with The Man who, if truth be told, doesn’t really think much of these trips but humors The Lady because… well, with 30 years of marriage, The Man had to learn to tolerate certain traits and The lady has “traits” that require “tolerating”… but I digress…

She brought home a small morsel of Appleby’s Cheshire, a traditional English cheese that dates back to the Twelfth Century and Roman occupation. Gary Gray and the Appleby Family continue to produce this raw milk cheese on their farm milking their own Friesian-Holstein cows.

This cheese is a bright orange color (annatto seed is added) and is crumbly and even a bit flakey, in a good way, of course, not in a Lindsay Lohan flakey kind-of-way…

Because it is a raw milk cheese, you can taste the minerals and grasses of the land in the Hawkstone region of England where the Appleby Family Farmstead cheese making operation is located. The taste is full-bodied and savory and melts well on the palate.

The Affineur for this fine cheese is Neal’s Yard Dairy which buys cheese from about seventy cheesemakers in England and Ireland which they sell from their two London shops to shops and restaurants around the world.

I give Appleby’s Cheshire 3 paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: You can do most anything with this cheese: it’s great on a cheese plate; you can cook with it; you can melt it on toast… it’s a very versatile cheese.

Wine Pairing: This full-bodied cheese needs a full-bodied wine like a Pinot Noir or a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Beer Pairing: Pilsner or Lager

Source: Raw Cow Milk

34° Whole Grain Crispbread Crackers

Before I begin this review, I must step aside for a moment and address my critics and let those same critics in on a secret… unless a cheese or cheese “accessory” is so bad that I cannot (in good conscience) withhold such information from my loyal readers, I rarely give out bad reviews.  I follow some sage advice I received from The Brain when beginning my blog journey, “If you can’t say something nice, then keep your paws to yourself”. So to those of you who are criticizing me for only saying “nice things” in my reviews, there are plenty of cheeses and other items that ended up in the litter box and not in the blog. Rest assured that if I say “nice things”, that means that “nice things” were earned… and let me add, you might find something important to worry about and not how I write my blog… after all it’s my blog and not yours… but I digress…

Robert from 34° Crispbread did a demo of his crackers at The Lady’s store recently and sent a box of their new 34° Whole Grain Crispbread Crackers home for your favorite Feline Foodie (that would be me) to taste and possibly review.

As many of you know from earlier reviews of 34° Crackers, they are a perennial favorite around the manse and for good reason: they are a perfect “cheese accessory”. They don’t overpower the cheese with too much flavor and yet you always know they are there and carrying their fair share of the load.

The Whole Grain is yet another fine example of 34° knowing how to make one fine cracker. Each serving of these Whole Grain Crispbread contain 12.86 grams of whole grain which is the equivalent of 15% of the US RDA. Each serving consists of 8-10 crackers and contain only 35 calories. That is 0 points on Weight Watchers!! And there are only three simple ingredients: 100% Whole Wheat flour, cheese and salt.

With that profile, let me ask you: what’s not to like about this healthy little crackers?

AND they’re yummy!!

This Feline Foodie gives 34° Whole Grain Crispbread Crackers 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got… and it’s all I need to get the job done…)

Serving Suggestions: The Lady served these with those also yummy goat cheeses from Rhonda Gothberg and Gothberg Farms.

FTC Full Disclosure – The cheesemaker/manufacturer sent me their product, hoping I would review the product/cheese.

Gothberg Farms’ Goat Cheese Plate

Not far from the US-Canadian border, in the Skagit Valley, is the unincorporated town of Bow, Washington. Bow is located on Samish Bay between Seattle and Bellingham. Depending on your sea level, you can view the San Juan Islands of the Puget Sound; you can enjoy the view of Mount Baker, Chuckanut and on a clear day you can see the Olympia Range to the South and the Canadian Coastal Range to the north.

This is where Rhonda Gothberg and her family live and Rhonda makes her premium, farmstead goat cheeses.

Rhonda grew up in the area and it was her dream to own a goat and make cheese for her family. In 2001, she and her husband, Roy, began to live her dream when they became the “Stewards” of 40 acres of flat, fertile farmland. The farmhouse required lots of repairs and renovations and the family lived in RV-style trailers for months and rented “honey wagons”… yep, Rhonda and Roy were “living the dream”. A new barn was completed in 2003 and that’s where Rhonda does the milking and cheesemaking of her 22 purebred, registered Lamancha does. (Of course it started with only a mother and doe kid pair in 2002 to be used for family milk… and from there it grew…that’s the way it is with passions…)

Recently Rhonda, The Lady and I all became Facebook friends… what???… Of course I have my own Facebook profile and fan page…and this surprises you why???… I have my own blog, why wouldn’t I be on Facebook… I had my own Twitter account for awhile but The Lady and I “negotiated” and it was decided we would consolidate both our accounts into just the one cheesemonger…it’s that opposable thumb thingie again that makes The Lady the Alpha Cheesemonger around here… I do the heavy lifting and she takes all the credit… humankinds… but I digress… The Lady says I do that a lot… it’s called feline free association… aka… annoying The Lady… but I digress…

Rhonda sent The Lady and your favorite Feline Foodie…that would be me… her Chevre and five wedges of her cheeses for me to taste and share with you my thoughts…

Let me start with the evolutions of The Man and The Lady. As I reported last week, The Man has evolved into trying new sausages that The Lady buys at the Hawthorne Fred Meyer. Also, as reported here over the life of my blog, The Lady has not been a big fan of goat cheese but she is little-by-little realizing that there are goat cheeses and then there are goat cheeses… Rhonda’s cheese fall into the latter category…

The Lady prepared a plate of the six Gothberg cheeses Rhonda graciously shared with us.  The first cheese was Rhonda’s fresh Chevre. While The Man was busy swooning, The Lady and I were busy sharing our delight at this amazing cheese. The Chevre was creamy, smooth and had a light, lemony taste. You can taste the goat; but in a good way (unlike that English Goat Cheddar I reviewed last year). We spread this cheese on 34° Whole Grain Crispbread Crackers and it was a perfect pairing. The cracker added rather than detracting from the enjoyment of the Chevre.

With plates, I usually reserve my Paw rating to the entire plate; but this time I just have to rate each cheese separately. I give Gothberg Farms’ Chevre 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

The second cheese on the plate was the fresh Feta. As you may recall, The Man is not a big feta fan. Well, the swooning continued. He loved this cheese. The feta (as with most goat cheeses) is a stark white (think Mediterranean stucco houses) with a smooth texture and a mild taste with just a bit more pleasant bite than the Chevre. Rhonda has another winner with the feta. The Lady drizzled our second tasting of this cheese with a little honey and it was divine.

I give the Gothberg Feta 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause… well you know… that’s all I’ve got).

Next up were 3 Goudas: a Raw Milk Gouda, a Young Gouda and an Aged Gouda. The raw milk Gouda was grassy and earthy; the Young Gouda was very smooth tasting and the Aged Gouda was sweet and nutty. Of the 3, the Aged was a hit with The Lady; The Man was quite taken with the Raw Milk version. As for me…I liked them all and I give them 4 Paws…

The last cheese on the plate was the Aged Cheddar and this one turned out to be The Lady’s favorite of the six. This cheese was creamy and the taste was simply perfect. Again, we have a 4 Paw winner.

Overall, I must give the entire Gothberg Cheese Plate 4 Paws out of 4 Paws. And I commend Rhonda on finding her bliss and these cheeses scream her passion and love for her goats and her cheeses.

You can become a fan of Gothberg Farms on Facebook and you can learn more about Rhonda and her cheeses on her website/blog.

You can buy Gothberg Cheeses at Sheri LeVigne’s new Seattle Cheese Shop, Calf and Kid in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. You can also buy them at the farm and a few Farmers’ Markets. A list is available by clicking here.

FTC Full Disclosure – The cheesemaker/manufacturer sent me their product, hoping I would review the product/cheese.

How to Cut a Clothbound Wheel from The Cellars at Jasper Hills

This is a very helpful vide; especially for all the cheese mongers out there:

Beemster Goes Pink For Breast Cancer

October signifies a time for individuals and products alike to rally in the fight against breast cancer by going pink. Beemster, the only official cheese sponsor, will be going pink for the second year in a row by partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer research.

It’s time to toast your wine glasses to this empowering movement while pairing your cheese accordingly!

The limited edition Pink Ribbon Vlaskaas cheese will be available from September 15 through October 31, and for every pound sold, Beemster, will donate 50¢ to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After donating $23,308 in 2009, the Gourmet Dutch company is pledging a minimum of $25,000 in 2010 and has set a goal of $40,000.

For more information about Beemster Cheese, please visit their website .

Black Diamond Extra Sharp Black Cheddar

 

The Lady carries Black Diamond Extra Sharp Cheddar on her cheese island which is adjacent to the Cheese Kiosk in her store. The cheese island also carries lots of specialty cheeses that come pre-cut and wrapped (the cheese in the kiosk is all cut and wrapped on the premises). As you may have gathered from reading my blog, cheddar is a perennial favorite around the manse.

The Tall Guy (aka The Lady’s father) worked for a dairy (as did his father) when The Lady was a baby and as a result The Lady didn’t grow up eating Velveeta but grew up eating quality cheeses, especially cheddars. (Later The Tall Guy was a meat salesman so again, The Lady grew up eating quality meats… huh… no wonder she turned into a foodie… what choice did she have???)

But I digress…

Cheddar is the cheese du jour around the manse and The Lady is always searching for another quality cheddar… and she has found another winner in Black Diamond Extra Sharp Cheddar. This white cheddar is distributed in the US by DCI Cheese, but it was the first “Brand Name” for Canadian Cheddar (in the 1930s) and is now manufactured by Parmalat Canada.

This crumbly, full-flavored cheddar melts well and also is a terrific addition to any cheese plate. The Lady served it first as a tasting for The Man and me on the latest creation from 34° Crispbread Crackers, a Whole Grain Cracker. The Black Diamond has that bite that you only get from quality cheddars and leaves a satisfying after taste as well.

After my special tasting, The Lady used the rest in one of her World-Class Mac n Cheese dishes and again delivered another winner.

I give Black Diamond Extra Sharp Cheddar 3 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got).

Serving Suggestions: You can never go wrong when you serve Black Diamond on a cheese plate. This is a cheese that will add that extra gusto to any casserole that includes cheddar.

Wine Pairing: 2005 Pepper Bridge Walla Walla Merlot (Washington State)

Beer Pairing: Pike Brewery’s Pike Entire (Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout)

Source: Cow Milk

The Hawthorne Fred Meyer Meat Counter Has Got It Going On

The Lady shops a lot of places in the Portland, Oregon area but she now only buys fresh sausage from Greg at the Hawthorne Fred Meyer located on the corner of 39^th and Hawthorne in Southeast Portland.

If you haven’t been in this particular Fred Meyer… well, it’s time to make a trip to check it out. The store, originally built in 1939, underwent a major remodel last year and added a lot of specialty departments including a Sushi Train in the expanded upscale deli; a specialty cheese kiosk; a Moonstruck Chocolate Café; a produce department that boasts the largest organic selection in all of Portland (and that’s saying a lot); and recently a specialty Hot Dawg Bar was added in the deli area.

But it’s what’s happening over at the meat counter that sent The Man swooning and giving standing orders that the only sausage and bratwurst allowed at the manse are the handmade variety that Greg, the new meat manger, is turning out. (Even the Zenner’s Bratwurst, an up-till-now manse staple that The Man LOVES is on life-support…)

Greg took over a few weeks ago as the new meat manager and was given a long leash to experiment with product, especially the sausage and bratwurst that he makes fresh daily on the premises. Mark, the seafood manager, is getting in on the act as well, coming up with a couple of new combinations also.

Here’s a few The Lady has brought home:

Artichoke and Garlic Chicken Bratwurst. This was the first one she brought home and she didn’t tell The Man they were made with chicken (He’s a beef-kind-of-bratwurst guy…). He swooned and as you know, The Man only swoons when the food is really to his liking.

Spinach and Feta Bratwurst – another winner and another first for The Man. He doesn’t eat much feta. The Lady made these two ways; she served them with pasta and olive oil; she also chopped a couple of them up and put them in a quiche she made using Golden Glen Creamery Cheddars.

Raspberry Chipotle Sausage. This sausage has fresh raspberries, pork and a special spicy sauce that Greg created. The Lady thought this combination might be too hot for The Man but he thought they were great. He had his on a sandwich with a cranberry mustard and bam… he wanted more. The Lady sliced her share and sautéed it with Walla Walla Onion and a green bell pepper and olive oil. Another winning combination.

But this morning took the cake so to speak. She bought Greg and Mark’s latest creations: breakfast sausage: Denver Omelet Sausage and Blueberry Sausage.

The Denver Omelet Sausage had all the ingredients of the omelet minus the eggs.

The Blueberry Sausage had fresh blueberries, vanilla and cinnamon and chicken. (This one was Mark’s creation.)

She served them with French Toast that she stuffed with a cream cheese filling (see how she worked cheese into the meal… she’s good at that…). The cream cheese filling consisted of 8 ounces of cream cheese, a handful of chopped Georgia pecans, a few blueberries, and vanilla and Equal (hey, she tries to cut the calories when it’s realistic….)

Greg continues to try new combinations including some with cheese. One he made used Ilchester Beer Cheese. The cheese melted out of the sausage and collected in the pan. The flavor was extraordinary and The Lady used the cheese drippings to make a sauce for the fresh asparagus she served with the sausage. So even though it didn’t quite work perfectly; it tasted divine and made its own cheese sauce…

Greg’s adventure with sausage and bratwurst is turning The Man into a much more adventurous Foodie, an evolution The Lady and I enjoy watching… I guess you can teach an older, very distinguished dog new tricks…

It’s a new week at Hawthorne Fred Meyer and that means Greg will have at least a couple of new selections for The Lady to bring home.

I give Greg and Mark 4 Paws out of 4 Paws (cause that’s all I’ve got) and I commend Fred Meyer for letting the guys be creative. If the manse is any indication… I’ll bet sales are soaring!!

Next time you are anywhere near the corner of 39^th and Hawthorne, stop in and visit the meat counter. Tell them that Portland’s Feline Foodie (that would be me) sent you… you won’t be sorry… and that’s a promise!! (BTW, the seafood counter is also awesome…). Some sausages may NOT be available except on week-ends. You might want to call before dropping by and ask what’s been made that day… 503 872 3300.