I'll be there. Can't wait. Thanks so much!

They look great! When I first made English muffins, I had the same problem. Ended up sticking them in the oven to finish cooking inside.

For pity's sake, just make the damnėd things, they're really not that difficult; Made my own crumpets..
Then grumpy can concentrate on the really serious stuff; like sourcing Gubbeen for LiB.

Bloody good first attempt and it can only get better!

This article nails the doughiness and is worth a read.

https://life.spectator.co.uk/2016/12...fect-crumpets/

As much as I'm sure Lib feels pampered (pun intended) by your fierce protection, I met grumpy today and had the impression, he easaly can do both - and more at the same time.

Thank you Anjela, at last somebody who cares.

So I savoured my first crumpet in like .... for ever. Hand made by the cheeseman.
Yes, the yeast has almost an alcoholic touch, I think when I eat one tomorrow I might get drunk on it
But absolutely: Not far off pretty damn good, nope, pretty damn good actually! Thanks again.

I seriously think more people should side me on this. His new idea of maybe having crumpy Fridays () at the mouse-trap is super ..... and after everyone can move on for the TGIF-party - at The International Beer Bar. LOL, nope, I'm not getting payed for this.

I'll advertise the <<great value tasting pack of 1 Kg of cheeses for only 35.00>> when I tried them all.

Glad you enjoyed it. Often thought about making some myself- but honestly, they are so so cheap to buy in UK- so we always buy loads when we go and freeze them. Just taken some out now

You cheeky little witch
Yes we know all about how spoilt the Brits are concerning crumpets. No need to rub it in.
From the sound of it, yes it seems to be a lot of work, so you're definitely better off buying them in the shop. Who knows, there might be a shop in Viadukt soon where we can buy them too

Afraid I must be the exception. After 15yrs of making the damned things, and doing the quality control on them (16-24 holes per sq inch = geek!), can honestly say I haven't touched them in 14yrs. I'm crumpeted out. Hope grumpy continues with his experiment though, and expands into cheese crumpets. Great way to use up any crumbles from the day job. Remember we tested making bacon crumpets, but it's incredibly difficult to do on an industrial scale.

So, the crumpets are gone .... eaten more likely ..... but I sure hope all trains from Arnhem to Schiphol will leave late this week-end

However, my taste-buds are well taken care of by the <<great value tasting pack of 1 Kg of cheeses for only 35.00>>. Which was a darn good price I found out via grumpy's website (when it worked again )

In spite of having spent a lot of time in England in the past, British cheese is new to me. Yes, of course, we all know about cheddar and cambozola .... but no big deal really, are they. Thinking back, my then BF's folks were not much of a cheese family so I was deprived of the experience. (Being Swiss asking for cheese there didn't make sense to me).

However, I got seven types of cheeses in that packet. I will not describe each one as the Brits know what their cheese tastes like and the others take my advice at the end of this post.

My favourite out of the choice was definitely Harrogate Blue from North Yorkshire, England. I WANT MORE! The one I liked the least - okay, I did not like it - was the Dudieswell Bio (didn't say where it was from). It hardly has a taste but the little it has I don't like. Hope nobody is gonna red pebble me for that but hey! taste is subjective. Oh, and the Garstug blue was an experience! I had the feeling, all my taste buds were roused ... not only that, I seemed to have taste buds where I never suspected any. Weird? LOL, Try it! It's very nourishing as well though, I had to take a break in my degustation for a while after this one.

Conclusion: Yep, the Brits know how to make cheese. And better still: They make their own type (while most of the French cheese is not much different from the Swiss).

So to the non-Brits: Head to Viadukt, have a cider and a bagel (they have to be steamed .... that's why the ones from Coop are crap *) at the mouse-trap, get your cheese selection and have a chat with grumpy, during which you will learn stuff like this: *.

This was my personal advertisement for the British cheese center - and again I don't get payed for it
If you order on-line you'll miss out on the laugh and the extra information but grumpy might be glad if we don't all show up in person, stealing his time

That is complete nonsense - especially where the soft cheeses are concerned.

You've had your English cheese education and discovered how fantastic they are but now you need some French cheese education.

Nice to meet you the other day, and glad you liked the crumpets (and thanks for the plug), I'll let you know when I've improved the recipe and go into production!

Glad you liked the Harrogate, very creamy blue with an almost mushroom taste in the blue. The Duddleswell is from Sussex on the south coast and is made from sheeps milk, I do find many Swiss will not eat sheep or goats cheese as the flavour can remind one of the smell of the animal. It is quite mild but with fresh grassy flavours, I really like it!

I wouldn't say French cheese is so similar to Swiss. For me, Switzerland is famous for hard Alp cheeses, and although the French do make some in this style, they are really famous for soft cheeses packed with flavour and aromas. Generally, Britian is most famous for Blues (and Cheddar styles as there is no cheese made in mainland Europe with this type of flavour).

I've often said that the best French cheese on any given day will probably be the best in the world, although the UK is catching up with them in regard to soft cheeses. Next time you come, ask if I have any raw milk Baron Bigod from Suffolk - I hope to get more in a couple of weeks. It is incredible, something halfway between a Brie and a Camembert but with far more interesting flavours. Before Christmas an elderly French gent declared it to be the most spectacular cheese he had tried in years and he couldn't believe it was not French.

And for any fans of Whisky and cheese, the Hotel Londres in Brig are hosting a Whisky tasting with my Scottish Fondue evening next Saturday (11th March). I'll be there to help serve the fondue but unfortunately they are insisting I wear my kilt.

If you're interested, please contact the hotel directly to get costs of the evening with or without accomodation. (and for the record, the hotel is wonderful!)

Hotel Londres.

Damn, I was in Suffolk last week and not so far from Bungay. Managed to go to "Emmets of Peasenhall" had a lunch time breakfast of a slice of toast with their own cured ham on top, a fried egg and 3 rashers of their own cured bacon. Along with a mug of tea it came to £2.75!
2 packs of bacon and a slab of Montgomery cheddar came back with me. Bacon sandwich Sunday morning and cheese on toast today, heaven

In general I do like goat as well as sheep cheese. This one I didn't Taste is not really arguable though.

Well, we do Brie and Camembert etc. etc. too here, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. And many French cheeses are wonderful .... just never been such a different experience to me like some of these British ones.
By the way a Camembert Suisse tastes the best on a 30°C migdnight snack in Niamey .... all creamy, trying to escape you

I'll try to remember that. If I don't we can always look up your post on EF while I'm there.

I need to adopt a new mindset, so far it has always been a sacrilège to me to use any one of my Single Malts for anything else than enjoying it in its pure liquid state out off a glass.
I just can't get my head round to it to use it for any proper cooking purposes.....other than flavouring (just a few drops with a PIPETTE!!) a special gravy.

I wonder and have a question too.
I for one enjoy Whiskies the most..... the peatier, smokier, oilier and saltier they are..don't these flavours get lost in the longher cooking process e.g. Fondue in this case...or OTOH, overpower the cheesy flavour completely.

I may sound stupid with this question, I just can't imagine it.

Just back from the Viadukt, have now some really nice cheddar, goat and sheep cheese :-)
Unfortunately my diet plans fell apart when I saw the scones and clotted cream......

And I´m with you EE, single malt for cooking?

For the fondue, just a few drops of a blended whisky added at the end is all you need, for bread dipping again a blend is fine, but most people like to splash out on a single malt. Personally I don't like the smoky ones anyway and so yes, I think the flavour would overpower the cheese. But try different ones. But beware, dipping bread in whisky and then cheese fondue is so addictive you can easily end up under the table.

Sorry I missed you yesterday, hope you enjoyed the scones!

Thank you Grumpy, I knew I could rely on you to give me a proper answer! TAa muchly!!

Okay, if it is only a few drops one needs (from the pic the cheese looked quite very brown, so I thought it needs much more)

Actually, I do the dip bread in Kirsch and then into the melted cheese thingy(maybe it's a Swiss thing I don't know) but, definitely wouldn't do that with a Single Malt, but why not with a run of the mill Jack D. or Johnny W.....