Hello again cheese fanatics.  Back again with some more “Cheesepinions” to keep your cravings at bay.  This time around our resident agriculturalist (who actually just went back to Michigan to get his farm in working order….we miss you already, buddy!), Jess, is going to stop thinking about sustainable farming practices for twelve seconds and let you know what cheeses he is super keen about.  This week, Jess is really diggin’ on both:

Appleby’s Cheshire (a British raw cow’s milk cheese that is tangy, crumbly, and grassy)

and Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire (another British raw cow’s milk that is mild and buttery).

Apparently we at the cheese shop have an affinity for dairy products from the UK…  Apart from being delicious cheeses, Jess is into these two for more “sentimental” reasons.  Jason and Raef, two of our buddies from Neal’s Yard Dairy just popped over for a visit and it reminded Jess how great the mouthfeel of these milky, tangy, fluffy British cheeses are.  While Cheshire and Lancashire aren’t the strongest of cheeses, they are delicate enough to taste the subtleties of good cheesemaking.   You always loved a challenge, didn’t you Jess?  Jess thinks that his perfect lunch would be these two cheeses, some McClure’s Pickles, a dollop of mustard, and an English bitter (like Old Speckled Hen or Fuller’s London Pride).  Hey – maybe you and Dani should start providing British farm hands with gourmet picnic lunches?  Sounds….semi-lucrative.  Maybe stick to the cheese, boys…

On two completely random notes, I want to throw some cheese trivia at you fellow cheese dorks and appreciators that I personally found fascinating.

Fact #1: Appleby’s Cheshire is thought to be one of the oldest cheeses in Britain, with its recipe dating back to Roman times.  It is mentioned in the Domesday Book, which was sort of like the first census of England ever taken (well, if you count a census as the government only counting the wealthy and their sheep.  But what else REALLY matters.  Am I right???)  in 1086 for William the First!  Woah.  Totes old.

Fact #2: Mrs. Kirkham’s Lancashire comes from one of the best-named cheese producing places in the world.  Can you guess what it’s called?  Bet you can’t.  Ok, I’m gonna tell you.  It’s GOOSNARGH.  Fine, so maybe the majority of you “adults” out there won’t find this funny.  “Don’t make fun of other places for being different!”  Yeah, whatever.  But, for the rest of you out there who don’t function well in the morning, doesn’t this totally sound like the majority of words that come out of your mouth pre-cup of coffee?   Besides, if I ever saw this on a map I would probably think that I bought some weird Harry Potter wannabe atlas designed to make British children excited about geography.  Tru dat.

Oh. Hello there.

Welcome back, friends, to the dawning of a new Bedford Cheese Shop blog era!  We are sorry that we left you, high and dry, in the cheesy woods for a year, but guess what.  WE ARE BACK.  Oh yeah…

We have been coming up with new and exciting ways to get out our fromage knowledge into the Blogosphere and will be debuting one below!  We thought that you guys would want to know more about farmers, farms, and what we think – the Bedford Cheese Shop cheesemongers – about our products.  So today, we unveil our first installment of “Cheesepinions.”

Here, you will find the thoughts of one of our cheesemongers about the products we stare at and lovingly handle all day, every day.  So let’s get started with one of our star employees, Dani.

This week, Dani is on a real British Isles kick.  A sucker for hardy, “working man” cheeses, Dani has been noshing on foods that a farmer would take with him into the field to sustain him for the day.  Apparently, nothing is better for planting your rows of beetroot than your trusty hoe and a good wedge of crumbly cheese.  Trying to relive his pastoral glory days of the coal mines, he decided that his favorite dairy products in the store right now are:

Coolea (an 18-month Irish gouda),

Caerphilly (a crumbly, lactic and vegetal Welsh cow’s milk),

and Ardrahan (a semi-soft, washed rind, pungent cow’s milk from Ireland).

When asked what Dani would eat with his agronomist cheese plate, Dani responded with “A bottle of Rye, a can of Matiz sardines with Lemon, and some Brooklyn Brine Serrano Beans.  Because why not.”  Don’t forget your cup of tea and sticky toffee pudding, Dani.

Well that’s all from us this time!  Come on in and try out Dani’s cheese choices for the week and see what you think.  And if you have any comments or suggestions to the blog go ahead and let us know!  Pip, pip and cheerio!