Friday, April 16, 2010

CHEESE-eee SENSES


I do not think that I am a connoisseur of cheeses, however, I do know what I like and when it comes to Cheddar type cheese, I like a really good strong one. Probably, what I like is off the scale (based on a scale of 1 - 5). The most glorious farm Cheddar cheese I have bought in recent times, is made in England and I can only obtain it about 90 miles from where I live.

My local store was offering the customers a taste of dainty squares of cheese on a cocktail stick. The cheese was called a Strong Canadian Cheddar. How did it impact on my senses;

1)Smell - a cheese smell of the type I recognise, not a 'soft' nondescript one.
2)There was a slight crumbliness. This could have been due to drying out a bit in the air. As it turned out, quite likely.
3) In its favour, it was a yellow cheese, not coloured orange.
4) The initial impact on the taste buds, very powerful.
5)Texture - not what I expected, the core of the piece was rather rubbery.
6)After-taste. suffused the mouth with acid, so much so, I resorted to a piece of peppermint chewing gum to get rid of the 'coating' and flavour, and to cleanse my palate.

Verdict:

This cheese was a factory processed cheese, which arrived in large refrigerated vacuum packed blocks. The product was an acidic assault on the taste buds and my system.
From me, it gets a definite thumbs down. :no: 

There are superior processed and farm cheeses made here in the UK. If I can get them, I would far rather have an excellent, well reputed British farm produced product. There's nothing like it. :yes:

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i do like a nice bit of Cheddar but my tastes in cheese tends more towards Stilton or Danish Blue...
just perfect with a drop or two of red wine!

Anonymous said...

I can only eat mild cheeses nowadays sadly. I agree wholeheartedly with your last paragraph. Flighty xx

ZACL said...

Hi Ax.

I like eating a range of cheeses which appeal to my palette and taste senses. The ones you comment on, if made in reputable places, are excellent, but can be equally as awful as that Canadian Factory produced Cheddar, I commented on.

If the red wine suits, Stilton, a tart-ish apple together, is wild! I have found some of the Danish Blue that cheeses are imported are, usually, quite good, but I reckon there would be a whole different experience if one could try a shelf of them in a specialist cheese shop, or even in Denmark.

That's excuse for a trip methinks. Take your apples with you!

ZACL said...

Hello Mr F,

I eat mild cheeses too. Maybe I am fussy, even about them. I tend to try first. I guess you could call it 'a taste and palette' hunt.

I enjoy Manchego, a mountain sheep's cheese, I think, from the Pyrenees.

French log goat's cheese is the only one I will buy in a supermarket. It is versatile, whereas the look-alikes from parts of the UK are much more limited in their flexibility and I do not enjoy the flavours. I did try one UK goats cheese, which did please me. I can't remember where it was from.

Edam, these days, you have to be so careful with. Some of them are over salted. Gouda appears to be constant.

There are some lovely mild crumbly cheeses, like Grimbister from Orkney. I used to buy a Welsh one, the name escapes me since I haven't been able to get it. Then there are the lovely single and Double Gloucesters, best bought in a cheese shop.

You can probably obtain the joys of a specialist shop every now and then to try out some of the wonderful UK cheeses. I wish I could.