The Cheese Club: New Cheese Thread

grumpygrapefruit · #1 06.02.2008, 16:12

Hello again all Cheese Lovers!

Thanks to everyone for your support in helping me get the Cheese Club going in December. Just to remind you of what we are trying to do...

The philosophy for the Cheese Club is to supply unusual cheeses from small family dairies all over Europe (but concentrating on the UK and Switzerland), either BIO (organic), un-pasteurised or just rare individual styles. We also have tasty crackers, breads and chutney's as well as cheese themed gifts and, coming soon, kitchen tools and books. We can also make up specific gift packs for your clients or friends.

We got off to a flying start just before Christmas, our star cheese by far being our Colston Basset Blue Stilton. This was overshadowed, surprisingly, in January by our Gorwydd Caerphilly - the only Farmhouse Caerphilly made in Wales. We have just sold out (it was very popular with a certain chef around here...) but there is more on the way as I write. Other British Cheeses coming later this month will include isle of Mull Cheddar from Scotland, and a Cheshire Cheese from Appleby's farm near Whitchurch in Shropshire. Cheshire is Englands oldest recorded cheese going back at least 1000 years.

Our Tasting Pack this month consists of 4 BIO Cheeses from St Gallen and Graubünden together with a BIO fruit bread from the village of Santa Maria. The cost is 47 CHF plus delivery of 9.50 (free delivery over 120 CHF or you can collect). More details here

Yesterday we received some serious quality cheese samples from Dublin which will form our March Tasting Pack of Irish Farmhouse cheese. From the first tasting last night, the star is Cooleo Extra Mature (on the right below) from Co Cork. A 12 month plus matured hard cows cheese, golden coloured with strong flavours of butterscotch. Other possibles will include St Gall (named after the 13th C Irish saint who founded the abbey in St Gallen) and Desmond, made in West Cork by American Bill Hogan who studied cheese making here in Switzerland. Here are the samples before I got started on them... To our Irish members here, please feel free to offer your opinions.

Finally our Cheese Cellar is open to visitors where you can sample some Cheese Tasting plates with a glass of wine or 2, a perfect way to round off a skiing or hiking trip

We're easily reached by public transport, contact me to arrange a visit.

I'll be posting more cheeses on this thread in the coming months as and when they come in. If you have any requests, please let me know and I wil try to source them

Happy Cheese Munching!

www.cheeseclub.ch

grumpygrapefruit · #2 12.02.2008, 12:27

Want an unusual Last Minute Valentines Day Gift?

Order this months Tasting Pack of 4 Swiss BIO Cheeses by Midnight tonight and we will deliver them to your loved one on Valentines Day (in Switzerland only) and include a complimentary box of Lindt Pralines in a heart shaped metal tin (62 gram size) as well as a personalised Valentines Day card if required.

See the cheese selection here and don't forget to include your personalised message at the checkout. Contact me for any special requests!

Xenon · #3 12.02.2008, 20:10

Hi,

Just to confirm, I've just ordered for Valentines day. Please don't forget the chockys, otherwise my wife will wonder why I'm sending her cheese instead of flowers.

Martin Knott

grumpygrapefruit · #4 13.02.2008, 14:01

	Quote:	Xenon
	Hi, Just to confirm, I've just ordered for Valentines day. Please don't forget the chockys, otherwise my wife will wonder why I'm sending her cheese instead of flowers. Martin Knott

It's just left, and the chockys are right on the top! I hope she enjoys them

hugh_abu · #5 13.02.2008, 14:18

You know what Grumpy... I would love to parttake in this cheese club. But the thing that is putting me (and probably a lot of EF members off) is the fact that it would take me 24.3 years to get through all that lot

grumpygrapefruit · #6 13.02.2008, 14:33

	Quote:	hugh_abu
	You know what Grumpy... I would love to parttake in this cheese club. But the thing that is putting me (and probably a lot of EF members off) is the fact that it would take me 24.3 years to get through all that lot

Do you not share your cheese Hugh? Seriously though, the 800 gram tasting packs (the photos BTW show the whole and half cheeses before cutting, even I would struggle with that much) are mostly bought for dinners and parties but as most of the cheese we sell is hard it will last for some weeks in the fridge, if you can control yourself.

We also sell 200 gram wedges individually for amateur cheese munchers! In 2 weeks I'll have about 6 British cheeses in stock including Single Gloucester.... it's made with skimmed milk so you should be fine with that

grumpygrapefruit · #7 26.02.2008, 21:44

Six new Farmhouse British Cheeses just arrived. Some of these will be available for an informal tasting tomorrow night (Wed 27th Feb) at the Rappi Brewery Rapperswil - cheese tasting is free, the fantastic beer isn't though I'm afraid.

The six are:

Appleby's Cheshire. The only Farmhouse Cheshire cheese still made from un-pasteurised milk
Isle of Mull Cheddar. Slightly softer than an English cheddar, often compared to a fine malt

Cornish Yarg. Wrapped in stinging nettles which imparts a minerally, spinach like flavour
Beenleigh Blue. Blue Sheeps cheese from Devon. Our all time favourite cheese!
Woolsery Goat. A mild, fudgy goats cheese from Dorset. Great for breakfast.
Smart's Single Gloucester. The lesser known brother to Double Gloucester, and a lower fat content.

All of above apart from Isle of Mull are made with Vegetable Rennet. Find them all here

We also have Colston Basset Blue Stilton and a return of Gorwydd Caerphilly, the only farmhouse Caerphilly still made in Wales

Also just arrived are four amazing cheeses from Co Cork on the west coast of Ireland. The Tasting Pack can be found here

Happy Cheese Munching!

Jack · #8 26.02.2008, 22:15

	Quote:	grumpygrapefruit
	...a return of Gorwydd Caerphilly, the only farmhouse Caerphilly still made in Wales

Good news indeed...what a nice cheese!
Jack

BHBT · #9 26.02.2008, 22:21

Hi Mike,

Can you post more details about the Rappi cheese tasting tomorrow? For example when it starts etc. I couldn't find it in the social/commercial events nor on the Rappi Bier website.
Thanks,
Barbra

grumpygrapefruit · #10 26.02.2008, 22:33

Hi Barbra

sorry, it's been a long day! We'll be starting between 6.30 and 7.00, I didn't post it as an event as it's a last minute informal thing. Not sure how long the cheese nibbles will last, depends on how hungry people are. Hope you can make it!

EastEnders · #11 21.03.2008, 13:53

well I just got my first order delivered from the Cheeseclub and boy oh boy am I happy that there is not a shop in the vincinty of my home otherwise my weekly food allowance for the family would be used up before anyone could say MOO

I want to recommend Mike's Cheeseclub to you all and consider to order from him.
Service is excellent and he goes out of his way to ensure that you are satisfied,which is not common and deserves to be praised!!

I am now happily munching through my ordered Stilton and the other cheeses and will certainly be back for more!

Happy ( cheesy) Easter!!

grumpygrapefruit · #12 08.04.2008, 14:26

Wallace & Grommits favourite Wensleydale is coming back this week as well as 2 very interesting cheeses from the very far north of Scotland. Strathdone Blue from Rosshire and Grimbister Orkney (er... from Orkney) - details on this preview page.

We also have a small (450 grams + crackers) British Blue tasting pack for 35.00 CHF here consisting of the best (IMO) Stilton, the above mentioned Strathdone Blue and my all time favourite cheese, Beenleigh Blue from Devon.

We now ship with invoice and payment slip if you don't want to bother with credit cards etc and will cut any of our cheeses to any weight for you (minimum 100 grams).

EastEnders · #13 09.04.2008, 08:39

Thanks for the info Mike, I am looking forward to order soon again

Is it possible that u have forgotten to send me the flyers

I have talked so much in the ECB about the Cheese I got, they really wanna know more.

Cheerio

grumpygrapefruit · #14 07.05.2008, 12:45

I was in the UK last week tasting and buying cheese and came back with some Godminster Organic Cheddar from Somerset. This is different to our Montgomery and Isle of Mull Cheddar as it is wax wrapped. Some cheese purists do not approve of this as it doesn't let the flavours develop properly but it does keep in moisture which gives a creamier more gentle cheese. If you are not a fan of strong mature cheddars, then this might be for you!

I also visited Sparkenhoe farm in Leicestershire next to Bosworth Battle field to try some real Red Leicester. They make the only un-pasteurised Red Leicester, the only farm made Red Leicester (with milk from their own cows), and - more surprisingly - the only Red Leicester made in Leicestershire! If you like Red Leicester but have only had supermarket versions then you are in for a treat. An interesting BBC article about the dairy here

Now that we are buying more of our cheese direct from the dairies and organising the shipping ourselves (as opposed to using distributors) our costs are coming right down and this cheese will be our cheapest British cheese so far at 39.00 CHF /Kilo. Neither of the above will be on the web site until the weekend but e-mail me to reserve some - I only have 10 kilos of Leicester and 16 of the Godminster at the moment.

Finally, a last minute good value Mothers day present with the mild Godminster Cheddar as the centre piece. 400 grams total of the Cheddar, Woolsery Goat (a hard sweet and fudgy goats cheese from Dorset) and creamy Cornish Yarg with Charcoal crackers and Lindt Heart chocolates, all for 39.00 CHF including guaranteed delivery Friday within Switzerland. E-mail me your order by midnight tonight with any special instructions, payment by e-banking or payment slip.

Happy cheese munching!

BHBT · #15 11.06.2008, 10:36

Can definitely vouch for the Sparkenhoe Red Leicester...it was excellent, as was the Val Müstair Naturgereift BIO !!

Excellent choices, thanks Mike!

Barbra.

Nickers · #16 11.06.2008, 12:51

	Quote:	BHBT
	Can definitely vouch for the Sparkenhoe Red Leicester...it was excellent, as was the Val Müstair Naturgereift BIO !! Excellent choices, thanks Mike! Barbra.

Yep agree about the Red Leicester, it was fantastic, have you got any more in yet Mike?

grumpygrapefruit · #17 11.06.2008, 13:30

Glad you both liked it! I still have about 3 kilos of Sharpenhoe left but it has been so popular that I will be buying double next month. I will also be visiting the Lincolnshire Poacher dairy, they make a cheddar style very mature un-pasteurised cheese, again from milk from their own cows. It was always a favourite of mine in the UK and I can't wait to get my hands on some. Having a connection between the pastures where the cows graze to where their milk is turned into cheese is very important to me, it does make a big difference if the milk can start to become cheese within minutes, instead of days! The big cheese factories will buy the cheapest milk possible and have it shipped half away across Europe into the UK. How can they then call it English cheese?

Good news for Stilton lovers, I will be visiting Cropwell Bishop just outside of Nottingham as well next month to see the cheese being made. They have agreed to supply us direct from the dairy (as opposed to other companies who have pre agreed contracts with exporters) which means the cost will come down a lot. There are only 7 dairies allowed to make Stilton and Colston Basset (our current cheese) and Cropwell Bishop are the best so quality will not be compromised.

On the subject of Stilton, in the early 80's the British Government announced that they were planning on banning production of cheese from un-pasteurised milk on health grounds. That same day the Small Cheesemakers Association was formed to fight this proposal. Stilton panicked however and announced that from then on all Stilton would be made from pasteurised milk (most of it already was I understand) but the Small Cheesemakers managed to persuade the government that un-pasteurised cheese was safe if made and matured correctly and the government backed down (it doesn't happen often!)

But last year an American, Joe Schneider, teamed up with Neals Yard dairy to make an un-pasteurised Stilton style cheese in Nottinghamshire called Stichelton (good article here in the New York Times sent to me by Jack). I visited them 2 months ago and it is good but even they had to admit they are some way off getting to Stilton standards. I'm sure they will get there though, so watch this space!

Stephanwolf · #18 11.06.2008, 13:39

	Quote:	Nicky
	Yep agree about the Red Leicester, it was fantastic, have you got any more in yet Mike?

Red Leicester is good, but nothing IMHO beats the Strathdon

Mike I sure hope you can find some again as I am addicted to it...

The two best things that have come to me through the EF in 2008 are:

Mike's cheese. www.cheeseclub.ch
massages with EmmaG

A very good local cheese brand/maker is "Natürli"- my favorites there are the "Atzmännig" and the "Sternenberger" - but I have yet to eat one I did not like. I am not a fan of Emmenthaler, but theirs is made the way it used to be made before it was commercialized, so I must say I did enjoy that....

grumpygrapefruit · #19 11.06.2008, 13:54

	Quote:	Stephanwolf
	A very good local cheese brand/maker is "Natürli"- my favorites there are the "Atzmännig" and the "Sternenberger" - but I have yet to eat one I did not like. I am not a fan of Emmenthaler, but theirs is made the way it used to be made before it was commercialized, so I must say I did enjoy that....

Thanks for that - I am always looking for recommendations for small traditional cheese makers for our web site but also there are some cheese retailers in the UK who want me to source unusual Swiss cheeses for them, we'll check this dairy out. In the UK you can generally only get 4 or 5 Swiss cheeses apart from a girl in Borough Market who specialises in Swiss, if anyone knows her please put me in contact with her, I can't find her name on the net anywhere.

I sold the last piece of Strathdon this morning - apart from 300 grams which is reserved for lunch on the 28th....

grumpygrapefruit · #20 27.06.2008, 11:19

Only one new cheese to announce, Shropshire Blue, made by the Colston Basset Stilton dairy. Difficult to believe, but this is almost better than Stilton. It's extremely smooth, rich and creamy and has a peppery/citrus flavour. I've only got one 7 kilo truckle and I'm reserving most of it for the events at The Pie Shop and the Rappi Brewery Ploughmans in July. I expect though that I will be getting more of this regularly.

If you're a cheese lover in Zurich you'll be pleased to know that from 11th July, the The Pie Shop just off Schaffhouserplatz will be stocking some of our British cheese for use in some dishes, as well as for resale.