The Cheese Board

[oddoneout]

The issue is inulin - in Jerusalem artichokes . It is an indigestible sugar . It does not affect some people at all - others suffer horrible wind and indigestion.

It is much better to cut it 50/50 with potatoes IMO and benefits from a touch of curry powder and plenty of finely chopped flat leaf parsley . Non vegetarians may also find a few chopped rashers of bacon cooked with an onion in butter when starting to make the soup will please.

I read somewhere that during the war there was a point when Jerusalem artichokes were seriously considered as an alternative to potatoes as a source of starch/calories, as they are hardy and easy to grow. Fortunately someone realised that inulin is not a substitute for potato starch, and reliance on it would severely compromise calorie intake - quite apart from the unpleasant side effects.
They are useful pigfeed however, and one way to clear unwanted tubers from the ground is to allow pigs to rootle over it. I never had a problem with them taking over on my allotment, in fact I had difficulty keeping them going for more than a couple of years at a time.

[Roger Webb]

The issue is inulin - in Jerusalem artichokes . It is an indigestible sugar . It does not affect some people at all - others suffer horrible wind and indigestion.

It is much better to cut it 50/50 with potatoes IMO and benefits from a touch of curry powder and plenty of finely chopped flat leaf parsley . Non vegetarians may also find a few chopped rashers of bacon cooked with an onion in butter when starting to make the soup will please.

Does my boiling them and then pickling (in cider vinegar) destroy the deleterious effect of the 'inulin' in the artichoke then? We have never suffered any ill effects from consuming them.

[Barbirollians]

The issue is inulin - in Jerusalem artichokes . It is an indigestible sugar . It does not affect some people at all - others suffer horrible wind and indigestion.

It is much better to cut it 50/50 with potatoes IMO and benefits from a touch of curry powder and plenty of finely chopped flat leaf parsley . Non vegetarians may also find a few chopped rashers of bacon cooked with an onion in butter when starting to make the soup will please.

[french frank]

We grow the Jerusalem type, or rather they grow in a swathe , planted by the previous owner, who recommended Artichoke soup.

I believe I have related here the time I went to stay with friends for a weekend and they served artichoke soup for supper ... I was in acute pain afterwards.

[Roger Webb]

I was thinking of the globe variety rather than the topinambour!

We grow the Jerusalem type, or rather they grow in a swathe , planted by the previous owner, who recommended Artichoke soup.
We tried, but now boil and pickle. They do grow to 7 feet and produce a nice yellow flower.

[french frank]

That could induce a crise de coeur, or if not fatal une épidémie de pets! Not quite the ticket for Valentine night!

I was thinking of the globe variety rather than the topinambour!

[Roger Webb]

Second piece now in the fridge so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to judge how pongy it is (glad you couldn’t bring yourself to write spongy either). But I don't know maroilles.


Or even a Cœur d’artichaut ?

That could induce a crise de coeur, or if not fatal une épidémie de pets! Not quite the ticket for Valentine night!

[french frank]

... certainly the fourme d'ambert looks like a fourme d'ambert
Might the spongey soft one something like a saint-nectaire - or was it pongy enough to be a maroilles?

Second piece now in the fridge so I’ll have to wait until tomorrow to judge how pongy it is (glad you couldn’t bring yourself to write spongy either). But I don't know maroilles.

Perhaps a Coeur de Neufchâtel might be appropriate for today...I've noticed it in those inclusive deals in supermarkets as an alternative to dessert.

Or even a Cœur d’artichaut ?

[Roger Webb]

... certainly the fourme d'ambert looks like a fourme d'ambert

Might the spongey soft one something like a saint-nectaire - or was it pongy enough to be a maroilles?

.

Perhaps a Coeur de Neufchâtel might be appropriate for today...I've noticed it in those inclusive deals in supermarkets as an alternative to dessert.

[vinteuil]

Went to our local bistrot a couple of evenings ago (and soon to close down ). I ordered a cheese board (à partager) to take away (as I was already replete). It had two pieces each of six cheeses of which only one (Morbier) have I identified definitively. The blue may be Fourme d'Ambert, the small rounds with ash-coloured rind I thought was a goat's cheese (Sainte Maure de Touraine?), a thin wedge of Cantal? Which left a pale cream (goat also?) wedge, and a small spongey-soft cuboid (left, as in not right). Any ideas?

... certainly the fourme d'ambert looks like a fourme d'ambert

Might the spongey soft one something like a saint-nectaire - or was it pongy enough to be a maroilles?

.

[french frank]

Are you sure these are French cheeses?

Yes, because most of their supplies come directly from France and part of the reason they're closing down is because the price of the foodstuffs - e.g. raclette, now off the menu - has gone through the ceiling. If not morbier it could just be me misidentifying, but it depends how he'd cut the piece as the line can apparently wobble:

https://www.pongcheese.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Morbier-AOC-_1280x800.jpg

[vinteuil]

Went to our local bistrot a couple of evenings ago (and soon to close down ). I ordered a cheese board (à partager) to take away (as I was already replete). It had two pieces each of six cheeses of which only one (Morbier) have I identified definitively. The blue may be Fourme d'Ambert, the small rounds with ash-coloured rind I thought was a goat's cheese (Sainte Maure de Touraine?), a thin wedge of Cantal? Which left a pale cream (goat also?) wedge, and a small spongey-soft cuboid (left, as in not right). Any ideas?

Are you sure these are French cheeses?

I think what you think is a morbier is not a morbier - the line of ash in a morbier goes half way up the cheese - and i'm not sure the grey line here is ash
I think the thin very pale one is a hard goat cheese, possibly cave-aged

Isn't this a Somerset cheese supplier?

[french frank]

Went to our local bistrot a couple of evenings ago (and soon to close down ). I ordered a cheese board (à partager) to take away (as I was already replete). It had two pieces each of six cheeses of which only one (Morbier) have I identified definitively. The blue may be Fourme d'Ambert, the small rounds with ash-coloured rind I thought was a goat's cheese (Sainte Maure de Touraine?), a thin wedge of Cantal? Which left a pale cream (goat also?) wedge, and a small spongey-soft cuboid (left, as in not right). Any ideas?

[gradus]

Gouda with cumin is also very good!

Indeed it is, we've bought that from Cornish Gouda at Newquay Farmers Market

[french frank]

I'm afraid I still prefer them at the crumbly or just very slightly beginning to soften stage...

When I get a camembert it tends not to go in the fridge at all (just kept very cool) as I aim to eat it pretty quickly. But then, I don't mind if I end up speading it over my bread or eating it with a spoon. I've never got my head round baking a camembert (nor eating it).