work, life, and travel
Fluer de chevre – a light mild and creamy goats cheese from France.
A new cheese and a new cheese shop. La Fromagerie just off Marlybone High Street. Their cheese room is climate controlled and only allows 6 customers at a time inside (lest our body heat bother the cheese!).
These people are serious about cheese!
Did you think I forgot about this segment?
How can I forget about cheese!
In this 3rd installment of my 500 or so part series: For the Love of Cheese I profile Swiss Mountain cheese:
On the right, the white cheese is a very soft Ziegenkäse which literally translates to goats cheese. This cheese had a nice light flavour, and a distinct squeakiness that most mountain cheeses have. It tasted great with tomato.
On the left, we have Alpkase a nice lightly smoked cow’s milk cheese. I found that the thick rind had an overpowering taste, but Jason seemed to enjoy it. The flavour was much stronger than the Ziegnkase, but well balanced with the smoky notes. A fine cheese to enjoy on it’s own, or with a pint of German beer.
Both cheeses make for excellent snacks during a long hike and are best enjoyed at altitudes of approximately 1700m. It was particularly nice to walk past the cows and the goats and give them a silent thank-you:
We walked over to Angel today to visit HSBC (a bank that’s open on a Saturday!). I’m happy to report we’ve been granted the privledge of a credit card something Barclays wouldn’t give us. So goodbye Barclays. It’s not us, it’s you.
But I digress.
Today’s cheese, another first for me: Morbier from France
Apparently the bottom layer below the black layer of ash consists of the morning milk and the upper layer is made of the evening milk.
Supposed Tasting Notes: It’s a buttery, pungent cheese with hints of fruit and nuts. I would add that it tastes a bit leathery.
Not my favourite, but quite delicious.
I went to Angel this morning to grab a latte and finish my book. I went to the Tinderbox Espresso Emporium which was not as great as I thought it would be.
I did pass through the Angel market on the way home and noticed that as expected, it’s bigger on Saturdays. BUT there are quite a few fine cheese shops on weekends such as this:
They seem to always to be run by some authentic little French man with a thick accent. Or perhaps they’re run by hustlers with seemingly believable fake French accents. Either way their cheese selection is awesome. I was thrilled last week to find Valencay Chevre from the Loire Valley in Portobello Market. Wait… thrilled probably doesn’t quite cover it. Jubilant is more accurate. This is a cheese I used in a wine and cheese engagement party I hosted a few years ago for a good friend of mine. I visited every major cheese store in Toronto and only found it in ONE store, one of the famed Five Thieves actually, and it was $28! ( I bought it anyway, and it was incredible. Since then I saw it again at the Leslieville Cheese store and at the Rushton on the cheese plater when my friend Kyle was the executive chef)
Here in London that same pyramid was £3! And it seems almost every little cheese shop has at least 5!
Today’s cheese choice?
Langres. A cheese I’ve never seen or had before. I snuck a photo of the display so that I would remember the name:
Looks a bit weird eh? And it was a stinky cheese. One description online said dense texture and rich, creamy flavor offering distinct notes of sour milk and a long finish. Agreed on all counts. And I would add, I could taste the stink.
Delicious!