Chiswick Cheese Market – Sunday February 15

Brie-mine! We’re so Gouda together and you’re my Feta half all spring to mind and I couldn’t resist saying them

Love is most definitely in air and what better way to treat the ones you love (who also love cheese) than with a trip to ‘Cheesewick’ on Valentine’s weekend?

HQ introduces ‘The Wedge’

Come and discover ‘The wedge’ magazine on HQ. Meet the team behind this exciting new CHEESE quarterly from The Guild of Fine Foods.

Crammed full of cheese knowledge and articles – it’s a great combination of cheese nerd news, photography to drool over and some truly fascinating facts – come along and browse the mag on HQ this Sunday. Could a subscription be the answer to the Valentine gift dilemma for your cheese lover?

Durrus cheese from West Cork, is not seen so often these days here with import restrictions post Brexit, but it is featured in this edition of ‘The Wedge ‘magazine, so we are thrilled that James Grant AKA @bucks_cheese_guy is bringing it to the market for you taste whilst you look at the magazine on HQ. We can’t wait to look through it, and we know you will too – see you on HQ this Sunday!

Durrus Cheese

Lucy’s Cheese of the month – ‘Flat Manshe Extra’

At every Cheesewick, I find a cheese that stands out. That is a big claim as I’m sure you’ll agree the competition from so many fine cheeses is fierce.

It may that it’s in season, it may be new, it may that it is just at its prime – whatever the reason I thought I might include my pick of the month from the last market so you can search it out this month and try it for yourself.

Alfie from European Fine Cheese

Alfie @europeanfinecheese (our new Swiss Cheese specialist stall) has introduced us to some very fine Swiss cheeses but this one for me, is head and shoulders above the rest.

‘Flat Manshe’, named after the mountain where it is made, is everything you want in an Alpine.  Made by at the Guntensperger Dairy nestling between Zurich and Lake Constance, the family are 3rd generation of Appenzeller makers which probably explains my immediate love for this cheese.

Cheese of the Month – Flat Manshe

I was introduced to Appenzeller as a toddler by our Swiss Au Pair who was sent it in emergency parcels by her mother.  My love for Appenzeller remains with me to this day which may explain my immediate love for Flat Manshe.

This spicy hard cheese has a pleasing slightly chewy Alpine texture and is immediately creamy in the mouth, giving way to nutty, spicy notes and in Alfie’s 11-month-old version salt crystals ping through on the palate at the end.

This has a big, long flavour. Its great melter so try it in a toastie, it’s perfect with fresh pears or walnuts and I drank a big bold Riesling with it. I am sure that the immediate love I felt for this cheese is partly due to happy comforting memories triggered somewhere deep inside me, but this is an exceptional cheese – try it!

Artichoke rennet cheeses from Brindisa

New to the market in February

Not a drum roll but a crescendo of castanets to announce that @brindisaspanishfoods will be bringing the best of the best of Spanish cheese to the market in February.

Founded in 1988 by Monika Linton, starting as a supplier of cheeses and charcuterie to chefs from her car, it expanded into a major supplier, followed by popular, authentic tapas restaurants in London.

They will be with us at the market this month (whoop). They will be bringing two of their best Manchego cheeses, two extraordinary artichoke rennet ‘Torta’ cheeses and a wonderful Rosemary coated Manchego style cheese. I simply cannot wait (as a tip the rosemary cheese was introduced to me by a neighbour at Strand on the Green and it has a been a favourite of mine ever since)

 @wallpalmershoney are joining us to show off their unusual and utterly delicious, honeys enhanced to match perfectly with cheese.

Wall Palmers honeu

Try their saffron honey which they tell me is perfect with creamy cheeses, or their whipped delicate flavoured honey which they recommend with mild flavoured cheese or what about their ‘thick’ honey which they say pairs brilliantly with blues. Alongside you I will be queueing to try all of these!

@bucks_cheese_guy (AKA James grant from @no2poudst) is bringing a very eclectic personalised selection of his favourite cheeses. Justin will be back on the @no2poundst stall but James will be offering something a little more personal tempting us to try his own seasonal choices.

If you are looking for expertise and advice where cheese is concerned, then look no further this is your man! Be prepared to be educated and amazed – over to you James!

Well, I think with that choice on offer,  my Valentine card to my other half will simply be an invitation for him to meet me at the market on Sunday and that he should come prepared to be utterly treated. Valentine or not I can’t wait till Sunday – see you there!

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