Say Cheese!

On July 1st, Haalo published her 700th post! Most of you would be familiar with her food blog Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. I always learn something new when I visit her blog, and the photos are just simply stunning. That’s why I was prompted to participate in the event “Say Cheese” that Haalo is hosting. The requirement was to post and photograph a favourite cheese in July.

I did not eat much cheese in my childhood because my mother’s culinary repertoire did not include the use of many dairy products. But as I traveled to other parts of the world and was exposed to different culinary habits, I learnt to savour different types of cheese as a course on its own, rather than on a cheese burger or grated on my pasta. Although the proper cheese etiquette is to serve cheese after mains and before dessert, I've fallen into the Australian habit of having it as an appetizer before mains. Oh, and don't get me started about the art of cutting cheese!

My first love was with Mozzarella di Bufala Campana, especially in a insalata caprese. My favourites since moving to Sydney have been washed rind and ripened brie and I tend to buy only Australian milk and goat cheeses (or a blend), especially local produce from New South Wales and Tasmania.

As a “newbie” cheese lover, I am still getting accustomed to the pungency of stronger and more ripened cheeses. Hence, I have only a teeny-weeny piece of blue cheese on my cracker. Happily, last year I discovered a cheese by Binnorie Dairy (Hunter Valley Region, Pokolbin, NSW) that suited my palate and what I consider a good “training” product for the non-blue cheese lover. It’s called Duetto and is a combination of Gorgonzola and Mascarpone cheeses, both produced on the Binnorie dairy farm. The flavour of the Gorgonzola was prominent enough to give it a nice "bite" and the addition of Mascarpone meant that it was not too pungent for me and lends a melt-in-your-mouth texture. The downside is that I can only buy it during my annual visit to the Hunter Valley because Binnorie is a small dairy company with a small list of distributors. Quikong suggested that I try to blend my own version of Duetto. Maybe I will!

Haalo did write “no cheese in a can or similar plastic products” for this event. But this cheese in a tub did win the Blue Mould Section of the 4th Fromage du Monde last year. Fromage du Monde claims to be the largest public cheese judging event in the world. So I hope that I can still enter to win Haalo's very own cheese photo book.