Christmas cake and cheese… why not?

[Mick F]

Wensleydale is nice but Lancashire is better ........ but they are similar and I'd be hard pushed to succeed in a blind tasting.

Talking of plastic wrapper cheeses, we can only get them here. Mrs Mick F was up in Lancashire a month ago visiting here sisters and she brought back a good sizeable piece of Lancashire - real cheese, not supermarket mass-produced stuff.

Lidl Wensleydale is quite nice, but not a patch on the real stuff.

Fruit cake of any persuasion with a good bitter cheese is always good.

[PH]

Wensleydale is nice but Lancashire is better ........ but they are similar and I'd be hard pushed to succeed in a blind tasting.

Talking of plastic wrapper cheeses, we can only get them here. Mrs Mick F was up in Lancashire a month ago visiting here sisters and she brought back a good sizeable piece of Lancashire - real cheese, not supermarket mass-produced stuff.

Lidl Wensleydale is quite nice, but not a patch on the real stuff.

Fruit cake of any persuasion with a good bitter cheese is always good.

Cornish Yarg ought to be similar, have you tried it with cake?

[Mick F]

No.
Yarg IME is a firmer harder cheese, not crumbly like Lanc. and Wens.

There's a cheese shop in Tavistock but they only sell Westcountry cheeses.
http://www.countrycheeses.co.uk

[PH]

No.
Yarg IME is a firmer harder cheese, not crumbly like Lanc. and Wens.

How odd - the British Cheese Board describe it as a Wenslydale type recipe, which is creamy under the rind and slightly crumbly in the core. That's my experience, though I've only tried it once when the cheese shop recommended it over a Caerphilly (Which would also be good with cake)
http://www.britishcheese.com/cornishyarg

There's a cheese shop in Tavistock but they only sell Westcountry cheeses.
http://www.countrycheeses.co.uk

Thanks for that, some on there I'd like to try.

[Pastychomper]

I know Wenslydale is probably the most traditional, but IMO you're more likely to find a good Caerphilly to go with fruit cake.

I'd probably lean the same way since Caerphilly tastes like a stronger version of Wensleydale to me, admittedly that's based on supermarket versions of both.

I have been fortunate enough to try a few home-grown cheeses, there's a strong strain of blue cheese mould in my area that's generally underused. Then there's crowdie, but that belongs in another thread.

[Mick F]

Caerphilly, Wensleydale and Lancashire are similar.
White-ish and crumbly.

[Mick F]

Talking of Caerphilly, I often wonder if there's a road sign telling you to drive carefully in Caerphilly.

[Tangled Metal]

I see that one of the delights on offer is Yorkshire Cheddar

The EU has a lot to answer for. One of the biggest transgressions is not protecting real cheddar cheese with geographic designation like the Cornish pasty, Lakeland herdwick, beacon fell traditional lancashire cheese, Cumberland sausage, etc.

They turned it down basically because it hadn't been protected and has been embarrassed by cheddar cheese mass produced around the world without restrictions or protection of quality. True cheddar cheese is a special food item the match of anything protected IMHO.

It's like saying we can't protect champagne because fizzy wine is made everywhere. The french would tear down wine warehouses to pour anything not champagne away until it got protection.

The real issue is the UK government decided it needed to homogenise and modernise cheese production during WWII to feed the war effort. So they came up with the rule that only one cheese is allowed. A mass produced bilge loosely based on cheddar cheese. They marketed it as cheddar. It got sent round the English speaking world to get produced there too as cheddar. But it's not cheddar. Real cheddar is a product of the lands it's milk is produced from. A product of the local storage. It's a regional as anything that is truly good to eat from the great food production areas. Is parma ham really any better than a good, real cheddar? No!

Sorry for the rant!

PS is the protected Cornish pasty real? I thought the real Cornish pasty of the miners had a sweet side for desert and you didn't really eat the pastry because it's the packaging really.

Will mick or others please educate me on this. Is the Cornish pasty as protected under EU geographic rules authentic to the origins as food to be taken down the mines of Cornwall? If not then why is that even protected when real cheddar cheese isn't? Sorry to pick on pasties it's just that I don't think it was a fairly applied system.

[Tangled Metal]

Any takers for beacon fell traditional Lancashire cheese? Get yourself up to Garstang. There's a good cheese shop there (used to be at least) that sells good local cheeses including this one. Lovely taste and well worth the geographical protection it has. Sold in Sainsburys locally at least.

Anyone eat cheese with the various fruit jellies like quince or damson or membrillo? Get some but if you forget about it and find it all hard in the bottom of your cheese drawer in your fridge don't throw it out. Even if it's rock hard on the outside it's still edible and nice inside. Keeps for ages too. Cheese and fruit jelly is quite nice. Apple and cheese too. Then don't forget Stilton and port! Xmas is truly a blessed time for cheese eaters!

[mjr]

No.
Yarg IME is a firmer harder cheese, not crumbly like Lanc. and Wens.

How odd - the British Cheese Board describe it as a Wenslydale type recipe, which is creamy under the rind and slightly crumbly in the core. That's my experience, though I've only tried it once when the cheese shop recommended it over a Caerphilly (Which would also be good with cake)
http://www.britishcheese.com/cornishyarg

I agree with Mick F. In my experience, Yarg is much firmer and creamier than Lancashire. I can't remember the last time I had Wensleydale alone, so won't comment on that.

I see that one of the delights on offer is Yorkshire Cheddar

The EU has a lot to answer for. One of the biggest transgressions is not protecting real cheddar cheese with geographic designation [...]
The real issue is the UK government decided it needed to homogenise and modernise cheese production during WWII to feed the war effort. So they came up with the rule that only one cheese is allowed. A mass produced bilge loosely based on cheddar cheese. They marketed it as cheddar. [...]

So it's the UK's fault, not the EU's...

If you want a really unjust cheese naming rule, note that Stilton may not currently be made in Stilton, or indeed anywhere in Huntingdonshire. https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/s ... on-2482294

[Cyril Haearn]

'Why not?'
Seems no-one is against
Are we not normal?

[ambodach]

I have just been up to the farm and bought a “ Farmhouse Cheese” from Isle of Mull Cheese. This is fabric wrapped and looks interesting but will have to wait as it is a gift for a friend. I fully expect to taste it in early January when I deliver it. They also of course do the waxed stuff but this is the real cheese. Made on the farm it is rather good cheese.

[thirdcrank]

The world is a smaller place. Once upon a time, anyone returning from faraway places with strange sounding names brought back the local specialities as gifts, but not much point if they are already available in the local supermarket. And then, anything can be made anywhere, more or less.

[drossall]

Wensleydale is nice but Lancashire is better

I discovered Swaledale when we stayed there on holiday a few years back. Trouble is, it's quite hard to get hold of outside, er, Swaledale. Really good cheese though.

[Cyril Haearn]

I love white 'feta' cheese, made locally, not from Greece