The Teddington Cheese Wire Issue 20

Issue No. 20 - March 2004

Back Issues:
Issue 19
If you came direct to the Cheesewire and want to visit our main site, click here

Inside:

Cheese Tips:
Best place to store cheese

Prize Draw

Cheese Focus :
Munster

Monastry leeks with Munster Cheese

Dates for the Diary:
Cheese dates

Products:
Cheese Knives & Boards

Teddington Cheese Club

Cheese Safes

Cheese tips:
Going to a Party?

Next edition published in May 2004.

In each issue we will cover a wide range of cheese issues and include regular features on:

Cheese focus: We take a close look at a different cheese each issue exploring its history, the production methods used and the people involved.

Farm focus: Making a quality cheese starts with choosing the right animals and growing the right grass on which they graze. We examine the animals and the farming practices essential for the production of the finest cheeses.

Tools of the trade: Cheese has been made for thousands of years and the methods and tools which have evolved are fascinating.

Products: New products, services and gift ideas at the Teddington Cheese. This month Cheese and Stilton box set and Olive Spoons.

Cheese tips: Tips on selecting, storing and serving cheese.

Welcome to the latest issue of the Teddington Cheese Wire. Following a very hectic December and a very busy February we have at last had time to write Issue 20 if The Cheese Wire. In the next 6 weeks there are a number of Special Occasions which we will be having selected cheeses and hampers available for (so please do look at the website, e-mail or give us a call 020 8977 6868).

PRIZE DRAW

Up until Easter 2004 any order accepted will be put in a hat to win 6 bottles of wine (value £50). All you have to do is quote the word "Teddington Wines" with your order.

- Cheese Tips -

THE BEST PLACES TO STORE YOUR CHEESE

The question we are most often asked is, "Where is the best place to store cheese?" Here are some tips in response to this:

All cheeses prefer a damp and cool environment. However, if it is too cold the cheese loses its flavour and its development suffers. If it is too warm the cheese sweats, quickly grows mouldy and may over-ripen. If it is too damp the cheese will quickly grow mouldy and if it is too dry the cheese will dry and crack. Favourable places for storing cheese are listed below:

1. Cellar or larder: These are the best places but, unfortunately, few houses are blessed with them.

2. Shed or garage: Generally good places but they are susceptible to weather changes. They may become too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter.

3. Refrigerator: In the majority of centrally-heated houses the refrigerator is simply the safest place to keep cheese. Use the warmest part of the fridge - this is the top shelf unless there is an old-fashioned ice box at the top, in which case the salad drawer at the bottom is best.

Wherever you keep your cheese ensure that it remains wrapped in the waxed paper in which we sell it. If storing in a cellar, shed or garage then cover the cheese in a damp tea-towel and place inside a vermin-proof box. Only use cling film if a refrigerator is being used. Always allow cheese to stand at room temperature for a couple of hours before enjoying

Cheese Knives and Boards

We know have an excellent range of cheese knives (single, stilton scoop, soft cheese and hard cheese knife and a new 'Olive Spoon'. Each of these knives comes in 4 different designs. Just in for a trial period (no photos yet) are the Cheese and Stilton box sets for £17.95 - hurry only two of each design available. We also haveround 'Cheese Boards' available in two styles of handles.

To see our range click here.

NEW CHEESE SAFES

We have just found a supplier who has made a limited supply of delightful 'Cheese Safes'.

They are made with an Oak frame, removable beech shelves, aluminium fly mesh and cost £28.99 (inc VAT). To reserve please see our website. Approx 230x200x180mm.

Photograph of Montgomery cheddar cheese

St Patrick's Day - 17th March
Mother's Day - 21st March
Easter Day - 11th April
St George's Day - 23rd April

Photograph of a Swiss fondue set

We can send cheeses anywhere in the UK
Including delivery to UK addresses

Only £35.00
Available as part of the cheese club

Photograph of a Munster cheese

- Cheese focus -
MUNSTER
Alsace, France

Muster costs: £2.14 per 100g. Order here

Munster originates from the upper Munster valley in the Vosges mountains of Alsace, France. Munster is an ancient cheese. It has been in existence since the Middle Ages and was originally made in monasteries. The name Munster comes from the town of that name which is itself a contraction of the word 'monastery'. Benedictine monks, Irish monks who settled in the Vosges in the 7th century, observing their order's rule against meat, sought nourishment in milk and its derivatives. Although it was first made for their own consumption, the monks later taught the local peasants how to make Munster cheese. The local people then used their cheeses to help pay rent to the monks whose land they farmed. The success of the cheese led to it being produced over a wide area and brought a little prosperity into a harsh and deprived region.

Maturation takes place at a temperature of 12-14ºC. This takes 4 to 6 weeks for small thin cheeses and 2 to 3 months for thicker larger cheeses. Farm Munsters are first matured for a week outdoors before being transferred into caves, They then sit on rye straw next to older Munsters from which they acquire the rind flora. Every other day the cheeses are washed and brushed with brine and annatto. The paste is soft and creamy and has a shiny brick red rind. As with all the washed rind cheeses, Munster has a strong, penetrating smell develops a tangy taste when fully mature.

Our cheeses are approximately 150mm in diameter, 30mm thick, 500g in weight and have a fat content of 45-50%. The best seasons are summer and autumn and the very best cheeses are made with milk from the 'high stubble' of the Vosges.

The wine to accompany Munster is a full-bodied and full-bouquet red wines Simon Hackett - Shiraz or Borgogne Pinot Noir or even a beer - the region is close to the beer loving nation, Germany. Munster is often eaten with baked potatoes and finely chopped onions. Munster flavoured with caraway seeds is also to be found but purists believe it should be enjoyed without.

A cheese called Géromé is made on the other side of the Vosges mountains in Lorraine. Munster gained its A.O.C. in 1969 and in 1978 the A.O.C. Munster-Géromé united these two cheeses.

The Teddington Cheese Club

Have you considered joining The Teddington Cheese Club?
Every month or on special occasions you can receive a selection of cheeses together with notes on their making and history. Over the course of a year you will become acquainted with over 60 cheeses which you may otherwise never experience.

Gift Idea:
Why not make a gift of membership to the Cheese Club. A certificate will be sent to the recipient outlining the cheeses they are to receive and will include a greeting from yourself.

Cost £35 (including postage).

Click here for more details.

ARE YOU GOING TO A PARTY?

Why not leave the bottle at home and offer to take cheese instead? Whether served as a separate course at a dinner party or a snack at a house party the cheese never gets left on the side with all the unopened bottles. We can put a selection together and send it to you anywhere in the UK, even at short notice. It needn't cost much more than a bottle of good wine.