Say Cheese: Stilton

Mmmm....cheese.

If you are a regular reader, you've picked up that I, in fact, am part mouse...which is probably a good explanation for my (ahem) towering stature. It's definitely in the running for my obsessive cheese cravings...well, that and My Dear Little Cardamummy adores cheesey goodness...come to think about it, so does My Equally Dear Not Little Carda..daddy (goodness, that makes him sound like some sort of mutant winged insect, doesn't it?...must come up with a different name at some point).

Alas their cheesey love doesn't seem to be as broad as mine. Cheddar and mozzerella, Swiss, cream cheese and cottage cheese are also good and satsify them quite nicely. Me, I gobble them all down, but also feta, halumi, brie, marscapone, anything studded (peppercorn, fruit, juniper, truffles), anything soused (whiskey, port, stout)...but I think above all, everything bleu.

So when our wonderful Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once announced Say Cheese, I knew I'd be participating. Not only does it celebrate her 700th post, it also celebrates cheese. To participate, all we were asked to do was photograph and post about our favourite cheese. A non-cooking food event (Yay as I'm not in much of a cooking mood right now).

Hmm...easier said than done, I think. Asking me to narrow down my favourite cheese down to one is like asking me to weed my cookery library to 100 titles or select my most favourite pair of vampily-heeled shoes, or narrow down my list of foods to eat before you die to just 10. Yeah I can't just choose one.

So I chose a family of cheeses: Stilton.

Mmm...that blue-veined English dairy marvel. It's not for the feint of heart, but it's also not to be feared. I love its creaminess--both in colour and texture--and how the sharp blue veining is such a flavour contrast. It's a little salty and I suppose very hearty. One of my favourite uses is to mix it with butter and let it melt over a thick, juicy steak: sheer delirium.

Oh nummy nummy nummy.

But I recently found out there's more than blue out there. My preferred local swankyfooderie has one of the best (if not the best) cheese case in town...and there I found some of what I think of as the traditional Stilton's siblings.

There's White Stilton which is the cheese without the blue veining and fruit Stiltons which have puréed fruit injected into the plain cheese. I picked up some Apricot Stilton, but they also had a few wedges of cherry in the case. All are good--I'd say if I couldn't have blue, I'd go for the salty-sweetness of apricot. But by my palate, they are all good.

Haalo will be posting her round up in a few days, please check back to her site to see what other cheesey wonders people have posted about.

cheese! OOPS. I mean cheers!
jasmine