Galet D’Albatre – Goats Cheese

Galet D’Albatre – Goats Cheese

Origin: Normandy, France Price: £4.65 per pebble What is it? A goats cheese that is mild and extremely fluffy with a sour edge What is in a name? The cheesemonger that furnished us with this beautiful, delicious cheese gave it a half-translated name of ‘le pebble normande’. ‘Albatre’ does exist in English (a pale, soft stone), presumably alluding to the surprisingly light and fluffy centre of this cheese. Guess he thinks the English aren’t as cultured as the French…so we’re going to call it Goaty McGoatface. cheese review The Cheese’s…

Mont D’Or

Mont D’Or

Origin: Franche-Comte region of la gaie France We Paid: Rien, but it cost out lovely friend Livi £10 (per rond) Quick Description: A stinky, smelly stunner, great for dipping bread in General Info: This one came from Borough Market in London. A lovely fromagier there once told us that the Mont d’Or season is fleeting. Production begins in August and runs through to April, but the majority are made mid-winter with raw milk (unpasteurised) when the cow’s milk is ideal for soft and squishy cheeses. We got ours on April 1st…

Munster

Munster

Origin: Munster We Paid: £1.50 per 100g.  2.04€ per 100g Quick Description: Christmas time, mistletoe and wein! During this fabulously festive period we present you with a (faguely) festive fromage – Munster, a gooey Alsatian cheese that stinks to high heavens. (If you’ll never get to heaven in a baked bean tin then you certainly won’t make it on this cheese because the smell would knock you out before you got there). Smell: It smells of feta when it’s gone off, wet socks and mouldy carpets. This ‘smell’ category has to come…

Dutch Farmhouse Cheese

Dutch Farmhouse Cheese

Origin: Nederland We paid: Nothing, it was a birthday present. Someone else paid €2.20 per 100g – only around £1.58 with the excellent (as long as you’re British) exchange rate at the moment. Brief description: A medium-hard cheese with an oily rind, both creamy and grainy texture and a strong classic flavour. WHAT THE DEVIL IS IT?: NOBODY SEEMS TO KNOW. It’s an oily cheese, claiming to be ‘FARMHOUSE MULDER PIQUANT’. After a few rounds of ‘This isn’t spicy though’, ‘why does it say piquant if there’s no chilli?’ we…

Black Cheddar

Black Cheddar

The night, dark corners, Izzy’s soul and… charcoal cheddar? Origin: Good ole motherland We paid: £2.12 per 100g The spookiest holiday of them all is upon us…Christmas!!! (Joking). In celebration, we made like Meg & Mog and flew our broomsticks to Chapel Allerton near Leeds to find some weird cheese. Please welcome to the stage English Cheddar mixed with charcoal (yes, actual charcoal). ‘Why?’ we hear you cry! Sorry fans, we have no idea. Freaky flavour: If Izzy was the North, and Ellen was the South Pacific then like Moses this…

Gruyère

Gruyère

Origin: Switzerland We paid: 2.43e per 100g Quick Description: A rubbery cheese often served melted. First sniff: This one only smells a little bit like old fridge which, compared to some stinky blues, is quite an achievement! Izzy even declared the smell as ‘appetising’, so it’s off to a good start as it certainly smells like something we want to eat. Strength: On a scale of one to the strength of the Incredible Hulk, we are putting this cheese on par with Neville Longbottom – although mild, it’s surprisingly powerful…

Figou

Figou

(The middle row of fig-shaped cheese is the figou!) Origin: Limoges – mid-France We paid: 5.10 euros per piece After many a trip to the, albeit vast, supermarket counter we decided to branch out and make the most of our final months in Bordeaux. After three months of gawping at the window of Fromagerie Deruelle on a little cobbled backstreet, and despite the infancy of this blog, we finally took a leap of faith and poured our souls out to Elodie. Luckily, she only thought we were mildly crazy and…

Comté (18 months)

Comté (18 months)

Origin: Eastern france We paid: 1.98e per 100g Texture: This is a perfectly medium-soft cheese with a spring in its step, akin to the Englishman’s best friend cheddar. Ours has basically melted in the 41 degree heat of Bordeaux… In the mouth it starts off solid but quickly dissolves into a soft, smooth velvet that tastes as expensive as Paris Hilton’s Juicy Couture tracksuit. Although creamy, there is still an element of the grittier texture of harder cheeses and like Westlife, these two textures work in perfect harmony. Taste: Bloody…