Kaltbach Alpine Creamy

Kaltbach is a firm pressed, deliciously smooth, Swiss mountain cheese made using the finest, fresh Swiss cream and cows milk. Kaltbach Alpine is matured in caves that are found in the Santenberg mountain in Switzerland, where the cheeses have been matured since the 1950’s.

The cheeses are matured in the humid, cool temperatures of the Kaltbach sandstone caves for around 4-5 months, which gives the cheese a uniqueness and helps to enhance the flavour. Semi firm in consistency, the thick, brushed rind cheese has a rich, melt in the mouth texture.

It has all the qualities you would expect from any alpine cheese. It has a creamy, buttery and slightly nutty flavour and is a delicious alternative to Gruyere when cooking.

Lancashire

Lancashire is an English cow's-milk cheese from the county of Lancashire. There are three distinct varieties of Lancashire cheese. Young Creamy Lancashire and mature Tasty Lancashire are produced by a traditional method, whereas Crumbly Lancashire (more commonly known as Lancashire Crumbly within Lancashire) is a more recent creation suitable for mass production.

It is traditionally paired with Eccles cakes and Chorley cakes.

Waitrose sell the creamy Lancashire which tastes a little like Cheddar.

For centuries, Lancashire dairy farmers' wives made cheese from surplus milk. On small farms there was insufficient milk from a single day to make a cheese, and so each day's milk was curdled and accumulated for several days until there was enough curd to make a cheese. Uniquely amongst all British cheeses, two or three days' curd of varying maturity are blended together, giving Lancashire cheese a distinctive character. The traditional method was standardised in the 1890s by Joseph Gornall of Garstang and Pilling, a county council employee, who visited many Lancashire farms to establish a method and recipe that is still used today – the "Gornall method". His "Gornall Patent Cheesemaker" was sold between 1892 and 1919.

Creamy Lancashire cheese is made by this traditional method and matured for a period of four to twelve weeks. It has a fluffy texture and creamy flavour, and is good for toasting, as it does not become stringy when melted.

Wensleydale

Wensleydale is a style of cheese originally produced in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, but now mostly made in large commercial creameries throughout the UK. The term "Yorkshire Wensleydale" can only be used for cheese that is made in Wensleydale. The style of cheese originated from a monastery of French Cistercian monks who had settled in northern Englan and continued to be produced by local farmers after the monastery was dissolved in 1540. Wensleydale cheese fell to low production in the early 1990s but its popularity was revitalised by frequent references in the Wallace & Gromit series.

Wensleydale is a medium cheese that is supple and crumbly. It has a slight honey aroma they say.

The flavour of Wensleydale is suited to combination with sweeter produce, such as sweet apples. Many restaurants and delicatessens serve a version of the cheese that contains cranberries and sometimes other fruits. In Yorkshire and North East England, the cheese is often eaten with fruit cake or Christmas cake.

Wensleydale was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They built a monastery at Fors but some years later the monks moved to Jervaulx in Lower Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from sheep's milk. During the 14th century cows' milk began to be used instead, and the character of the cheese began to change. A little ewes' milk was still mixed in since it gave a more open texture, and allowed the development of the blue mould. At that time, Wensleydale was almost always blue with the white variety almost unknown. Nowadays, the opposite is true, with blue Wensleydale rarely seen. When the monastery was dissolved local farmers continued making the cheese until the Second World War, during which most milk in the country was used for the making of "Government Cheddar". Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels.

The first creamery to produce Wensleydale commercially was established in 1897 in the town of Hawes. Wensleydale Dairy Products, who bought the Wensleydale Creamery in 1992, sought to protect the name Yorkshire Wensleydale under an EU regulation; Protected Geographical Indication status was awarded in 2013.

George Orwell rated Wensleydale second only behind Stilton in his 1945 essay "In Defence of English Cooking".

In the 1990s, sales of Wensleydale cheese from the Wensleydale Creamery had fallen so low that production in Wensleydale itself was at risk of being suspended. The cheese experienced a boost in its popularity after being featured in the Wallace & Gromit series. The main character of the series, Wallace, a cheese connoisseur, most notably mentions Wensleydale as a particularly favourite cheese in the 1995 short A Close Shave. Animator and creator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate the lip sync to rather than due to its origins in northern England where the shorts were set. He was also unaware of the financial difficulties that the company was experiencing. The company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of Wensleydale cheese called, "Wallace & Gromit Wensleydale", which sold well. When the 2005 full-length Wallace & Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses increased by 23%.

Wensleydale is one of the cheeses mentioned in the Cheese shop sketch of Monty Python's Flying Circus that Mr Mousebender attempts to purchase, without success. There is a glimmer of hope the shop may have this variety of cheese, only for the proprietor to reveal that his name is Arthur Wensleydale, and he thought he was being personally addressed.

Cambozola

Cambozola is a cow's milk cheese that is a combination in style of a French soft-ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. The combines the words Camembert and Gorgonzola. There is also a reference in there to Cambodunum, the Roman name of Kempten, the city where Champignon is located.

Cambozola was patented and industrially produced for the global market by the German company Hofmeister-Champignon. The cheese has been sold since 1983 and is still produced by Champignon. In English-speaking countries, Cambozola is often marketed as blue brie.

It is made from a combination of Penicillium camemberti and the same blue Penicillium roqueforti mould used to make Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton. Extra cream is added to the milk, giving Cambozola a rich consistency characteristic of triple crèmes, while the edible bloomy rind is similar to that of Camembert. Cambozola is considerably milder than Gorgonzola piccante and features a smooth, creamy texture with a subdued blue flavour.

The first five cheeses

I have been using the cheese advent calendar. The cheeses are processed adn wrapped in plastic, I should probably let them breathe a bit before eating and I should have the with a cracker or something but there we are. (Looking around I see that the calendar is offered by some suppliers with chutney or biscuits). No doublers yet. So far we have had

Ilchester Aged Red Leicester

This traditional English cheese has been carefully matured for a minimum of 9 months giving it a distinguishable smooth, tangy and nutty taste.

llchester Cheddar

This traditional English cheese has been carefully matured for a minimum of 9 months giving it a distinguishable smooth, tangy and nutty taste.

Ilchester Double Gloucester

A hard cheese with a savoury, mellow flavour, famous for being the cheese that is rolled down Coopers Hill yearly, in May, for the UK’s most extreme cheese race!

Ilchester Mature Cheddar

This cheddar comes from the West Country, close to where Cheddar originated in the Mendip Hills. Take a bite and let the creaminess melt in your mouth, with its earthy tangy notes.

Ilchester Red Leicester with black peppers

This smooth and nutty traditional English cheese is flecked with cracked black pepper to give a delicious savoury, smooth flavour and a little bite.

Advent Calendar

As a treat for Christmas I have purchased a cheese advent calendar.

Looking forward to enjoying it soon.

Smoked Cerwyn

Caws Cerwyn is a young, creamy cows’ milk cheese made by Pant Mawr in Rosebush, Pembrokeshire in Wales. It is a moderately hard cheese, similar to a Cheddar, which has been matured for a short period to give it a smooth, buttery taste and plenty of bite. The cheese is named after the highest mountain in the Preseli range, which sits behind the family farm.

Caws Cerwyn is beautiful as part of a cheeseboard or eaten with fresh, buttered bread. It has been a Silver award winner at the British Cheese Awards.

Pant Mawr Cheeses is run by David and Cynthia Jennings and their son Jason on their traditional Pembrokeshire hill farm.

The smoked version retains the creamy texture of the original Caws Cerwyn but has a deeply savoury tang, having been cold smoked over oak from sustainable forests.

Mountain Meadow

A hard, Swiss cow's milk cheese (usually unpasteurised) covered with herbs and wild flowers, with a fully edible rind. The Swiss call it bergwiese.

Paneer

Paneer, also known as ponir, is a fresh acid-set cheese common in cuisine of the Indian subcontinent made from full-fat buffalo milk or cow milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice.

The word paneer entered English from the Hindi-Urdu term panīr, which comes from Persian panir 'cheese', which comes from Old Iranian. Armenian panir Azeri pəndir, Bengali ponir, Turkish peynir and Turkmen peýnir, all derived from Persian panir, also refer to cheese of any type.

The origin of paneer is debated. Ancient Indian, Afghan-Iranian and Portuguese origins have been proposed for paneer. One theory is that like the word itself, paneer originated in Persianate lands and spread to the Indian subcontinent under Muslim rule. Paneer, according to this theory, was developed and moulded to suit local tastes under these rulers, and the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire are when paneer as currently known developed. Another theory states that paneer is Afghan in origin and spread to India from the lands that make up Afghanistan

According to others, paneer is indigenous to the north-western part of South Asia and was introduced in India by Afghan and Iranian travellers.

Yet another theory is that the Portuguese may have introduced the technique of "breaking" milk with acid to Bengal in the 17th century.

It is usually fried in apan like halloumi.

Mimolette

Mimolette is a cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France. In France it is also known as Boule de Lille after its city of origin or vieux Hollande because it was originally inspired by the Dutch Edam cheese.

Mimolette has a spherical shape and is similar in appearance to a cantaloupe melon. It normally weighs about 2 kg (app 4.5 pounds) and is made from cow's milk. Its name comes from the French word mi-mou (feminine mi-molle), meaning "semi-soft", which refers to the oily texture of this otherwise hard cheese. The bright orange color of the cheese comes from the natural seasoning, annatto. When used in small amounts, primarily as a food colourant, annatto adds no discernible flavour or aroma. The grey-coloured rind of aged Mimolette is caused by cheese mites that are added to the surface of the cheese. They serve to enhance its flavour.

Mimolette can be consumed at different stages of aging. When younger, its taste resembles that of Parmesan. Many appreciate it most when it is "extra-old" (extra-vieille). At that point, it can become rather hard to chew, and the flesh takes on a hazelnut-like flavour.

It was originally made by the request of Louis XIV, who – in the context of Jean-Baptiste Colbert's mercantilistic policies – was looking for a native French product to replace the then very popular Edam. To make it distinct from Edam, it was first coloured using carrot juice and later seasoned with annatto to give it a distinct orange colour.

The cheese was known to be a favourite of French President Charles de Gaulle.

In 2013, the Food and Drug Administration in the USA detained about a ton of the cheese, putting further imports to the USA on hold. This was because the cheese mites could cause an allergic reaction if consumed in large quantities. The FDA stated that the cheese was above the standard of six mites per cubic inch. The restriction was lifted in 2014.

Mont des Cats

Mont des Cats was originally produced by Trappist monks. They started producing Mont des Cats cheeses in 1890. The cheese is produced using cows milk from local sources and has a fat content of 50%. While maturing for at least two months the cheese is washed with salted water containing a dye called roucou, made from annatto seeds, which gives the rind its characteristic orange colour. The texture of the cheese is smooth and supple, with occasional tiny holes. The flavour is mild with subtle hints of milk and hay.

Maasdam

Maasdam and Leerdammer are very similar. Maasdam is an Emmental-style Dutch cheeses made from cow's milk. Maasdam is aged for at least four weeks. It ripens faster than other cheeses made in the Netherlands. It has internal voids, holes or eyes that appear during the ripening process and a smooth, yellow rind. Sometimes, it is waxed like Gouda. The cheeses were created to compete with Swiss Emmentaler cheeses by being less expensive and quicker to produce. In the process of making a cheese with the same general components as Swiss cheeses, the Dutch ended up with a cheese that is nutty and sweet but softer than Emmental, due to a higher moisture content. Leerdammer was introduced in 1984 by the Baars company. Leerdammer is now made by other Dutch companies under the name Maasdam or Maasdammer. That name was selected to honour the village of Maasdam in the province of South Holland.

Ossau-Iraty

Ossau-Iraty (or Esquirrou) is produced in south-western France, in the Northern Basque country and in Béarn. Its name reflects its geographical location, the Ossau Valley in Béarn and the Irati Forest in the Basque Country.

It has been recognised as an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) product since 1980. It is one of three sheep's milk cheeses granted AOC status in France (the others are Roquefort and Brocciu). It is of ancient origin, traditionally made by the shepherds in the region.

Production techniques are very much old world methods whereby the sheep still graze mountain pastures and provide the milk, which must be from the breeds Basco-Béarnaise, Red-face Manech or Black-face Manech. This is an uncooked cheese made through pressing. When offered as a farm-produced cheese (known as fromage fermier, fromage de ferme or produit fermier), the AOC regulations stipulate that only raw, unpasteurised milk be used.

Historically, production has been:3,067 tonnes (2003) 60 producers (2003) 8 manufacturers: private industries and cooperatives (1998) 2,045 milk producers (1998)

According to the official description, the cheese crust is yellow-orange to grey and the body color ranges from white to cream depending on how it has been matured. It is smooth, creamy and firm and may have some small "eyes".