The Cheese Board

[french frank]

Having finished the Roquefort I only had Ossau-Iraty and the Somerset Cheddar, aged in Wookey 'Ole, so I thought I'd do a taste comparison at lunchtime. Cheddar won on the pong and had a somewhat stronger taste. The Ossau-Iraty (ewe's milk) is paler, has a more delicate taste and is definitely no more than semi-hard, whereas the Cheddar (cow's milk) was hard and slightly crumbly. They both self-describe as 'nutty' in taste, but though I have three types of nut (almond, walnut, hazelnut) in my muesli, all with very different tastes, I couldn't detect a specific nuttiness in either cheese.

Curiously, the Cheddar, or cheddar, has a label with two circular 'badges': one says 'Designated Origin UK Protected' and the other 'Protected Designation of Origin. But it doesn't say what designation is protected. Cheddar? Protected from what? Other places, like Canada and New Zealand, from making 'Cheddar'? It also says 'Produced in the UK using milk from the UK'. So not necessarily local milk? But since Europe doesn't recognise 'cheddar' as an AOP/DOP I suppose we have to do our own thing, and have our PDOs and DOUKPs.

All that said, the Cheddar was very good, though the Co-op Côtes du Rhône didn't do either any favours. I'm inclined to try a white with the Ossau-Iraty (and the Butcombe for the Cheddar).

[HighlandDougie]

Oh dear. Serves me right for (one of) my cardinal sin(s) of being flippant. Who would have thought that instant coffee would arouse such views. I don't often these days make cakes/desserts based on coffee but have to admit to beefing up properly made espresso with a spoonful or six out of a tin of something like Nescafé Azera should coffee in liquid form be needed. Elizabeth David wasn't entirely misguided in her recommendations on a coffee cake.

[Roger Webb]

The saddest part of the story is that later in life Elizabeth David just got bored with food, as far as her own life was concerned. Apparently lived on rich tea biscuits and nescaff. Something similar happened to Keith Floyd. Perhaps understandable : an extreme case of burn-out.

Where did you read about E D getting bored with food? She visited Bristol in 'later life' to receive a Hon. Doc. from Bristol University in 1988, and booked into the finest restaurant in the city (and my favourite), Markwick's....Judy Markwick who ran front-of-house told me Stephen had never been so nervous - his treasured possession was a letter from E D saying how much she had enjoyed the visit and praising the food (she made a return visit, so can't have been that bored!). This was especially important to Stephen as he had trained in the line of great anglo/french cooking started at the Hole in the Wall in Bath by George Perry-Smith (Floyd likewise), the tradition going back to E D who, all that came later, revered...Joyce Moulyneux at the Carved Angel, Dartmouth - with whom Stephen worked, for example, now held in high regard as an important link with Elizabeth David.....Simon Hopkinson.......Shaun Hill....John Burton Race...

This is my style of cooking and back then (I could afford it in those days!) I incorporated dining at one of the chefs' restaurants in this line as often as I could.

[vinteuil]

I'm with Alain Maréchal on this (btw, where are you, AM?) Was it Blaise Pascal who wrote: "All of humanity's troubles stem from one sole thing: man's insistence on getting everything done as quickly as possible and moving on to something else: labour saving devices, instant solutions... Jeez, slow down, will ya?"

The saddest part of the story is that later in life Elizabeth David just got bored with food, as far as her own life was concerned. Apparently lived on rich tea biscuits and nescaff. Something similar happened to Keith Floyd. Perhaps understandable : an extreme case of burn-out.

[french frank]

The shock was tremendous. It was rather like discovering that a cultivated musical friend loathed Mozart.

I'm with Alain Maréchal on this (btw, where are you, AM?) Was it Blaise Pascal who wrote: "All of humanity's troubles stem from one sole thing: man's insistence on getting everything done as quickly as possible and moving on to something else: labour saving devices, instant solutions... Jeez, slow down, will ya?"

[Roger Webb]

I've looked through my Elizabeth David books (5) and can find only one recipe requiring coffee, and that's in her 'Summer Cooking':-

Make some fairly strong black coffee in the following way: put 12oz of finely ground coffee and 6oz of sugar into an earthenware jug, pour over it 4 pints of boiling water. Put the jug in a saucepan of hot water and leave it over a very low flame for half an hour. Leave it to cool, and strain through fine muslin.

Well........not exactly instant coffee!

Edit: just found my copy of French Provincial Cookery upstairs where her recipe for Gâteau Moka requires for the filling: ......very strong black coffee (nowadays the most convenient method is to use soluble coffee powder mixed to a thin paste).

[vinteuil]

Was it here (long time ago) I read that Elizabeth David used instant coffee, rather than the extra time, etc on real? (IIRC it caused a reaction of shock and horror, tarnishing her treasured memory....)

... sadly true. Alain Maréchal -

I was often told quite firmly that Elizabeth David was one of the greatest writers about food, in any language. I have read some of her books, and indeed she writes beautifully with understanding and passion (some of her recipes were approved of both by my sister and my wife - each of them expert domestic cooks). I read today in a biography (Chaney) that during the war, while in Cairo, she discovered Instant Coffee, and for the rest of her life made no other type. She "could not understand the fuss made about the real stuff".

The shock was tremendous. It was rather like discovering that a cultivated musical friend loathed Mozart.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I'll give the M&S a try. However, I buy Nescafe Alta Rica "ahead" when its on promotion so I've got a quantity to use up first. I like the taste which to me seems much, much better than Gold Blend. I mix the instant with milk, dissolving it as much as possible, and add the boiling water. I think it tastes better that way.

I'll buy a real coffee when I'm out for the day - in London, etc. In my own home town, as I'm usually on my own and only out for an hour or two, I won't take in a local coffee shop when, in addition to its cost, I'm paying an outrageous £pence / minute in the latest round of parking charges. (There I am conflicted - where can councillors raise serious amounts of funds otherwise? Geo Osborne stuck the stilleto into Local Govt and warned them that with the end of the block grant system - phasing it out - they had to prepare for, essentially, no Westminster funding (but of course they ended up, for scraps from the table, having the chance of "bidding" for ring fenced specific funds where Ministers decided the destination).

Was it here (long time ago) I read that Elizabeth David used instant coffee, rather than the extra time, etc on real? (IIRC it caused a reaction of shock and horror, tarnishing her treasured memory....)

[cloughie]

I haven’t drunk coffee for about 20 years but TOH has to have a cup of decent espresso at least twice a day. Bean-to-cup so oily beans are a major issue, especially, it has transpired, for Jura machines. Illy “Intenso” beans are less oily and, so far (maybe 3/4 years), have not gummed up the grinder in the machine. IMUV, what’s wrong with a spoonful of ‘Gold Blend’ …

Indeed! For a number of years the cupboard has borne Sainsburys or Tesco Gold Blend and their Decaff versions. Good taste and no faff at £2.75 for a 200g jar.

[Keraulophone]

’what’s wrong with a spoonful of ‘Gold Blend?’ …

It depends which Gold Blend!

On topic - My Italian herb Cornish Gouda is going down very nicely; I was even moved to bake a white loaf to go with it.

Off topic - The Telegraph provided a comparison of Gold Blends a few days ago in which the well known Nescafé version came 10th out of the 12 tasted with 1* out of 5*: ‘tastes flat and rubbery…probably made with cheap robusta’. The cheaper M&S Fairtrade Gold came top with 5*: ‘closest to real coffee with Coop Fairtrade Rich roast coming 3rd, even cheaper with 4*: ‘‘sophisticated flavour with some character and a caramel note’.

Remember the 1980s-90s soap opera ads for Gold Blend? ‘…now the supermarkets do their own version, with the gilded packaging shorthand for freeze-dried granules made from an extra strong brew. Cheaper instants are generally made by spray drying coffee, while the more expensive versions, often labelled “single origin” are also freeze-dried and come from higher quality beans. But even within the gold category, prices range from £1.23 per 100g to more than four times that.‘ The main attributes the testers were looking for were sweetness, acidity and body or mouth feel.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/best-and-worst-supermarket-instant-coffee/

[HighlandDougie]

I haven’t drunk coffee for about 20 years but TOH has to have a cup of decent espresso at least twice a day. Bean-to-cup so oily beans are a major issue, especially, it has transpired, for Jura machines. Illy “Intenso” beans are less oily and, so far (maybe 3/4 years), have not gummed up the grinder in the machine. IMUV, what’s wrong with a spoonful of ‘Gold Blend’ …

[Roger Webb]

... we use a stovetop bialetti.

Coffee prices have certainly gone up a lot in recent months and years, so much so that my current tendency is to snoop around our regular supermarkets here (waitrose, sainsbury's, tesco, asda &c) and see what they have on special offer - because they do regularly have significant offers. And then stock up on the ground coffees we have come to like - lavazza oro or nero, carte noire, some of the waitrose own-brand specials.

We don't have a grinder : have been tempted, but in reality can't do with the faff....

.

I use a Mr Moka when we go somewhere away from my machine - but I do miss the crema which the espresso maker gives. All the brands you mention (and more incl. all the Taylors' ones) I've tried - I was tempted today by Lavazza Barista 'Intenso' in Waitrose which is on offer at £19.50 a kilo for beans. The problem with beans that are dark and very oily, they clog the grinder up. On that subject, most 'grinders' aren't!... they are choppers/cutters (mine included) which real coffee cognoscenti poo-poo. I still think Morrisons' own brand is v good - they do it ground too I think

[vinteuil]

... I'm experimenting with 'supermarket' coffees / ... / I wonder what beans/ground coffee you use, and the process.

... we use a stovetop bialetti.

Coffee prices have certainly gone up a lot in recent months and years, so much so that my current tendency is to snoop around our regular supermarkets here (waitrose, sainsbury's, tesco, asda &c) and see what they have on special offer - because they do regularly have significant offers. And then stock up on the ground coffees we have come to like - lavazza oro or nero, carte noire, some of the waitrose own-brand specials.

We don't have a grinder : have been tempted, but in reality can't do with the faff....

.

[Roger Webb]

Getting back on topic, I made a rare purchase of cheddar this week - Ford Farm Wookey Hole aged (doesn't say for how long) - and you don't get much closer to Cheddar than that. It also opens up unaccustomed possibilities like accompanying with Butcombe Original............

I mentioned somewhere, I think it was on the Cheese Board (sorry about the coffee 'break'), about the truckle of Cheddar we used to purchase either in Cheddar or Wells (Queen St. Deli) or the butchers in Chew Magna. I don't think people realise how good the real thing is! There used to be a pub (probably still is) called The Castle of Comfort on top of the Mendips which served only a chunk of good Cheddar (about V Hugo book size) accompanied by a hunk of bread (white of course!) and a pickled onion, with a choice of cider (no not the fizzy stuff!) or Butcombe - along with Smiles, my favourite beer....at least round Bristol. Now that was fine dining!

BTW about the time the local tourist board was recommending 'Cheddar gorgeous!' they were also promoting 'The Hole of Wookey!'.

[french frank]

I like the strongest espresso the machine can make (the DeLonghi goes up to 11!), before I had a Gaggia classic (also bought in Whittards) but bean-to-cup is better......it has to taste like a typical espresso at a French café table!

That's quintessence. I don't go beyond essence - two small cups of moka pot when I'm really pleased with my gastronomic creation.

Getting back on topic, I made a rare purchase of cheddar this week - Ford Farm Wookey Hole aged (doesn't say for how long) - and you don't get much closer to Cheddar than that. It also opens up unaccustomed possibilities like accompanying with Butcombe Original and chutney.