Cheese Wire title graphic
Issue No. 21 - June 2004
  Drawign of a mouse on a cheese wire
Back Issues:
Issue 20

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Inside:


Cheese tips:

Storage in hot weather

Free Prize Draw

Cheese Focus :
Camembert

Recipe

Euro 2004 Cheese Selections:
Euro 2004

Father's Day Hamper or Cheese Selection:
Hamper

Cheeseboard

Products:

Swiss Raclettes & Cheese Grill

Teddington Cheese Club

Next edition published in August 2004.

Storage of Cheese

We get a number of questions as to how to store cheese and ensure the quality is maintained.

Firstly in each cheese we send out an information sheet is sent on 'How to store your cheese' as well as a cheese card. On the back of this cheese card there is additional information.

We recommend a few simple rules:

  • keep cheese wrapped in the wax paper of for cut serves in clingfilm;
  • keep stronger cheeses away from delicate cheeses in fridge;
  • remove cheeses for a short while before serving so to bring up to room temperature;
  • separate different cheeses in fridge i.e. hard, blue, pungent.


Welcome to the latest issue of the Teddington Cheese Wire. Following a very hectic few months we have at last had time to write Issue 21 of the Teddington Cheese Wire. In the next 4 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).

To those who know Teddington Cheese we say a farewell to Anne Steer who has been with us for 18 months from the re-launch. We thank her for her loyalty and help during these months. However, we welcome our new Assistant Manager - Justin.

NEW SWISS RACLETTES & GRILLS

We have recently acquired some new Swiss Raclettes and Cheese Grills.

Photograph of a Swiss Raclette

SWISS RACLETTE

Brand new Swiss Raclette with 6 coated pans. Grill made of lava stone (excellent heat resistance) and including booklet in English with many recipes. £69.00

 

Photograph of a Munster cheese

CHEESEBOARD GRILL

The New Raclette and Grill Feeling comes direct from the makers in Switzerland. It is suitable for 4 people and come with 4 individual non stick grill pans and a hot plate. Suitable for cheese, meat, vegetables etc. £45.00

Click here to order.

PRIZE DRAW

A competition for all our customers (new and existing). Please search the website to tell us via e-mail 'How much cheese do we recommend per person for a Cheese and Wine party!.

Winner will be drawn from all correct entries on 31st July and will win a Girolle and Tete de Moine cheese (normal price £59.95).

Euro 2004 Cheese Selections

We have devised two superb Euro Cheese Selections for £30 each. These are made up with cheeses from 10 or the 16 countries taking part in Euro 2004.

To look at what each selection comprises of and to order then click on the link below.

Euro 2004 Selections

 

Features new cheeses from Portugal and Sweden.

 

 

 

 

 

 


Father's Day: 20th June

Photograph of a Swiss fondue set

We can send the hamper anywhere in the UK
Including delivery card & any message

Only £37.50
Available as part of the Hampers


Cheeseboard Selection
Only £30

Photograph of a Swiss fondue set

Order here (can be delivered anywhere).

Photograph of a Munster cheese

- Cheese focus -
CAMEMBERT

Alsace, France

Camembert costs: £4.30 per 250g cheese.
Order here

Camembert is relatively young in cheese making terms - a mere 290 years. However this style of soft cheese has been made in Normandy since the 11th century and two other famous and much older cheeses of the area are Pont l'Eveque and Livarot. Neither of these however, have been able to gain such worldwide recognition.

It was during the time of the French Revolution that a farmers wife, Marie Harel, and her family gave shelter to a priest from the Brie region. He passed on the cheese making knowledge he had gained from his Brie-making parishioners as a way of repaying the kindness shown to him. The soft cheeses that Marie made improved dramatically becoming softer and fuller-flavoured. She then in turn passed her knowledge onto her daughter who, with her husband, Victor Paynel, sold cheeses in the nearby market of Vimoutiers (excellent farmhouse Camembert cheeses can still be bought in the market of Vimoutiers today). Victor Paynel took advantage of meeting Napoleon III by presenting a Camembert to him. With the royal seal of approval the future of this small cheese was secured. Two later developments must be credited with giving Camembert its ultimate world- wide success.

Firstly the invention of the chop-wood box, allowing the cheeses to safely travel long distances across bumpy roads. Cheeses could now mature in transit when covering long distances in Europe or crossing the channel to England. Previously they had been wrapped in paper and straw and barely survived the journey to Paris. The second development was the introduction in 1910 of Penicillin candidium, the snowy-white mould which is sprinkled or sprayed on the surfaces of the cheeses. Camembert is now made in enormous quantities, accounting for almost 20% of all French cheese production. It is also copied all over the world and it has become so widespread that the name of Camembert, like Cheddar, cannot be protected.

However, 'Camembert de Normandie' gained its protective AOC status in 1983 and it is this unpasteurised cows' milk farmhouse cheese that we sell at The Teddington Cheese. It is far superior to the factory-made pasteurised versions generally found today. The paste is plump and golden-yellow and the rind is creamy-white. Camembert has a fragrant aroma and a full-flavour. The French usually enjoy their Camembert 'moitié affiné' (semi-mature) when the centre of the cheese is still firm and the outer part is creamy. The British prefer their cheese fully mature with all of the paste matured to a creamy texture. This difference of taste may have been due to the long transit times from France to Britain in the past leading to a much riper cheese being enjoyed on the dinner tables of London.

We have preferred the more mature Camembert to this day. Camembert is excellent throughout the year but the very best cheeses are made from spring to autumn when the cows' enjoy the rich grass in the pastures. Camembert can be enjoyed on its own with a glass of Normandy cider or a light red wine. It is also excellent as part of a cheeseboard. Camembert has formed the basis of many recipes and is popular in Britain when coated in bread crumbs, fried and then served with a fruit preserve.

Each cheese measures 10cm in diameter, is 3cm deep, weighs 250 grammes and has a fat content of 45%.

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.

 


Recipe

Jeanette Chapman (Director of Teddington Cheese) says that everyone should try this very simple cheese cooking.

Place 1 Camembert in the oven (low heat) for 20 minutes. At same time boil some small new potatoes.

After 20 minutes remove Camembert from oven and drain potatoes. Dip the potatoes in the now soft and runny Camembert.

Enjoy with a chilled glass of Sancerre or Pouilly Fume white wine.

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