Oops - better make that 104

My accounting standards have been found sadly wanting - at least three extra cheeses have been found - all dating from another boozy wine and cheese night.

So here they are

Lochilean Triple Cream - a magnificent centrepiece  of a cheese - cow's milk, brie style from Shepparton (or thereabouts).

 Rolf Beeler selection Gruyere - over the year its these aged mountain cheeses that have become a  big favourite of mine.

Ski Queen Gjetost cheese - Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!!

#101 Meredith Ashed Chèvre

Sharing honours with the Lancashire bomb to make up the ton tally, the Meredith Ashed Chevre was, as the name suggests, a soft goats cheese with ashed rind.

It had a lovely sour smell, goaty flavour with a slight hint of lemon. The texture was beautifully creamy and light.



Is cheese is good

#100 Lancashire Bomb

Wow - this was it - one hundred cheeses in a year.

The Lancashire bomb shares honours with the Meredith Chevre for number one hundred.

Appropriately enough they were eaten on boxing day 2013 with the Australia v England cricket on in the background. And even more appropriate for the cricket backgound, the Chevre was ashed. (Some might say unkindly the bomb shape was also appropriate for the English teams series efforts).

The Lancacshire bomb looks like something the coyote buys from ACME that will inevitably go off in his face.

The surface is wax and envelopes a light, soft texture that's super crumbly and buttery pale.

It had a mild sharpness at the back of the palate.






yellow


Is cheese is good

#99 Will studd cheddar

One of the "Will Studd selects" range. The cheddar was typically waxy with a deep, golden colour. I swear I got some citrus flavour from this.


Is cheese is good

#98 Capricorn Goat Brie by Woodside cheesewrights

Another regular in the ton tally, Woodside of South Australia make a fine goat's milk here in the style of a camembert (but yes they call it a Brie).

The Capricorn has won a handful of gold and sliver medals at cheese competitions across Australia.

It was pale, white and creamy with a strong goat flavour.





Is cheese is good

#97 People's Republic of Brunswick Haloumi (Home made by me)

I didn't have to go down this path but it's too late to turn back. I'm cheese making and the first style I aspired to butcher was haloumi.

It's hard to review your own cheese efforts - it tasted like haloumi - that's the benchmark I set myself and that's the benchmark I met. Mission accomplished

Going through the process was relatively painless and rewarding for the insights into how cheese is made (at least one small batch in a home kitchen. The surprise with making haloumi is that it's boiled as a final step in the cheese making process. I'm now one week into the creation of Camembert, but there a 4-5 weeks before maturity when I can share the results and, sadly it will play no part in the ton tally.

Here's some Haloumi pics.

 Is cheese is good.

#96 Coulommiers

Made in the Seine-et-Marne region of France from cow's milk, Coulommiers is largely indstinguishable from many other french bries (at least to me anyway). Our tasting was very ripe (check out the ooziness in the photo), and had an intense butter flavour with a very faint taste of mushroom.









Is cheese is good