Gourmet Cheese guide

Gourmet Cheese As I said in an earlier post in the competition I really not sure why I am here. I must admit I have been inspired somewhat by a couple of recent episodes of Master-Chef but more by importantly by tripping over Jules of 'Jules_stone soup' fame. Jules has a food blog which was inadvertently promoted by a comment on 'Twitter' by Leigh Sales co-presenter of the ABC Australia TV programme Lateline. Jules posted a note to the fact that she was looking for a last minute stand-in companion for a dinner-date at the 'World number No 1 Restaurant' called of all things- el Bulli in Spain (only trouble was you had to make it there under your own steam). I would have loved to have gone but the timing and Airfare was more than prohibitive. So there you have it. Enjoy reading the post I put up please on the food competition ! If you like them please vote them up and or comment. If you don't move to the next one I am sure there will be lots of hubs to meet every one's taste.

Easy guide to being a Gourmet Cheese Buff - Until about 48  hours ago all I knew about cheese other than some takes strong some bitter but most were bland. Since that time I've spruced up my knowledge thank's for the most part to Google search engine.

Did you know for instance that the French eat 20 kilograms of cheese per person per year. Australians eat just 12 kilograms - and 60 per cent of that is cheddar. These are a couple of facts amongst the hundreds of facts and figures that surround the topic of cheese.

Cheese as you probably know is nutritious food made mostly from the milk of cows but also other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, reindeer, camels and yaks. Around 4000 years ago people have started to breed animals and process their milk. That's when the cheese was born.

There are hundreds of different types of cheese that can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by the animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel.Cheese is made in most countries in the World France and England in particular have what are now world famous varieties.

Stilton is a type of English cheese, known for its characteristic strong smell. It is produced in two varieties: the well-known blue and the lesser-known white. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission, together one of only seventeen British products to have such a designation.

Beaufort This cheese is made from the province area of Savoie in the French Alps. It is created from the milk of cows known as Tarines, a herd of animals that originally came from Indo-Asia and crossed into central Europe centuries ago. In order to produce such fine quality of cheese, special care is taken for these cows. During the winter, they are kept warm in sheds and are not allowed to eat any silage or other fermented fodder, according to the rules of the AOC. Beaufort “winter” is white in color, unlike Beaufort “summer” which is yellow. This cheese is made industrially by large corporations and by hand in small farms. It's fat content is 36.3%. Very similar to Gruyere, it goes well with white wine.

Gouda Considered by many as one of the world's truly great cheeses, popular for its mellow and rich caramel taste that pairs well with just about anything, and makes Gouda a great table cheese, guaranteed to please all palates. Imported from Holland, Gouda is highly recognizable for its red waxy rind (not edible) and smooth, supple pate. Pair with a dry red wine, or go for lovely contrast with a fruity white wine.