Cheese V crack cocaine – it’s a close addiction call

I like cheese. Scrap that, I LOVE it, but even I was overwhelmed by the sheer sense smack when we walked into the International Cheese Awards judging tent housing the Stiltons, though much of it was wrapped up! And there was me thinking The Hoff was the king of cheesy judges, he’s got nothing on these guys. How they could stay in those tents, even air-conditioned, for hours was beyond me 🙂

Corrie actor Sean Wilson was presenting his local to Lancs wares with a cheeky smile. Fab that all his cheese is made from milk sourced entirely from within the one PR3 postcode and has such a sense of place. I remember being called a Smelly Apeth as a child by my nan, it’s now Sean’s flagship medium soft blue, smelling much the same as mucky kids socks do 😉

We did have some favourites of our own to add to the ones in my first post, as of course the best test for any food is to see which ones end up in your shopping basket! All of the below are now in my fridge, with the exception of the pickle one which has already been scoffed, hence the empty wrapper….

I’m not normally a fan of cheese with stuff added but the Isle of Man Creamery manage to create the perfect blends, their Cracked Peppercorn and Ploughman’s Pickle were beyond moreish. The Castello Reserve Prast in the black wrapper is a Swedish hard cheese launching soon in the UK and it was a little parmesan like, with a smooth texture but a salty kick – best eaten in huge chunks 😉 Mr M was partial to the family run Keen’s cheddar, can’t see that lasting long in our fridge either!

I’m very partial to a stonking Gruyere & smooth alcohol filled fondues – these both by Emmi Kaltbach hit the spot. They had the blow-up cave in my previous post, as their cheeses are aged in natural sandstone caves in Lucerne, Switzerland. Their web-site is a testament to Cheese Love, something we all felt all day.

We were desperately in need of grapes, melon or water after all that cheese and Wiltshire company Tracklements provided the sweet sharpness we needed to clean our palettes, Damson, Gooseberry and Quince preserves, mmmmmmmmm. Another lovely web-site if you’re a bit of a foodie, btw.

All in all we did marvellously, with consistent and perpetual hand to mouth motion for over 5 hours, it was like an Italian lunch. I tried cheeses I hadn’t tasted before and, as food has a tendency to do, was surprised by new flavours.

One day after the event…. *looks in fridge at cheese mountain and smiles with addict’s glint in eye*