Cheese Parties need Cheese Accessories

In honour of my coming of age I have decided to host my very own BYOB (Bring your own bottle) and BYOC (bring your own cheese) party. Now I say its to celebrate my birthday but actually its to celebrate cheese. Any old excuse to eat copious amounts of the stuff! The concept it pretty straight forward;

 Bring some cheese, bring some wine. DONE


The exciting part for me is what cheese will people bring? Will they bring one that is their favourite or one that is my favourite or just a classic cheese that will go down well with crowd?


Lets face it though it doesnt really matter




Various yummy cheeses that could be considered

This is the easy part covered - behind a cheese party there are the perfect cheese accessories, so here is my essential guide to chosing the right accessories to make your cheese party go smoothly -  along with some added extras of course!

Cheese Accessories - essential for any cheese related party

The Fondue Set

Something i want to introduce is my beloved fondue set that I havent even opened yet mainly because it is just plain beautful in all its apres ski chic way. See picture below. I can still rememeber the moment i saw it - my heart literally skipped a beat - i knew i had to have it.



swiss chic fondue


Now who doesnt like melted cheese!? As the Winter nights close in fondue is a perfect choice to warm the cockles.




Classic ski chic Fondue

Click the link below for a reccomended (by a good cheese loving friend) melted cheese experience in London. I intend to visit it in the next month so look out for my review soon.

St Moritz

OR to save the pennys if you are hosting your own cheese fest follow the recipe below;

Classic Cheese Fondue Recipe

Traditionally, fondue is made with a blend of Swiss Emmental and Gruyere cheeses.

Emmental is very mild and Gruyere, especially well-aged Gruyere, is very pungent. A half and half mixture is pleasing to most, but feel free to adjust the proportions to your liking.2 tablespoons cornstarch or potato flour
1/4 cup kirsch (cherry brandy)
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 cups dry, white wine
12 ounces shredded Emmental cheese
12 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Combine the cornstarch and kirsch. Set aside.

Slice the garlic in half lengthwise and rub the cut side over the inside of a medium, heavy saucepan. Discard the garlic. Pour the wine into the saucepan and bring it to a boil over a medium-high heat. Immediately reduce the heat to low. Add the cheese to the wine by handfuls and stir slowly until the cheese is just melted. (Stirring in a figure-8 or zigzag motion prevents the cheese from clumping.)
Stir in the cornstarch mixture, pepper, and nutmeg. Simmer for two or three minutes until it begins to thicken, but do not let it boil. Transfer to a warmed ceramic fondue pot and serve immediately. Keep warm over a very low flame.

The Cheese Slicer

Aahh the cheese slicer - a essential and cheap cheese accessory. The fondue set could be considered a luxury cheese accessory - this on the other hand is a staple to any cheese eating household. 

My very first cheese slicer was given to me by my parents, a present they brought back from Scandinavia. I use it every day - and it will sit proudly on my cheese board at the party.

Designer Cheese Slicer
This is a Ricci Argentieri cheese slicer - not that im trading in my old one but if my blog has inspired you to go out and buy your first cheese slicer consider this one as an option.






It is quite obvious that there are other cheese accessories, cheese boards and cheese knives. I will cover these later in the year. I dont want overload you reader!

I will be posting the results of my cheese party along with pictures of the cheeses brought and how the fondue turned out in the next couple of weeks. Wish me luck!

Stayed tuned my little cheese lovers!

xxx

Worst Cheese (and wine) experience

I think that it is rather appropriate to move from one of the BEST cheese experiences in London to maybe one of the WORST - it also sets up my next post well as what ever it is it will look seriously amazing.

After having finished a busy day at work I like nothing more than lashings of (not Ginger beer, we are not the famous five) red wine and full bodied cheese board.

2 colleagues and I having purchased a discount on a cheese and wine tasting on a website had chosen the date we would go and set off our bargain cheese and wine tasting. We were genuinely rubbing our hands with glee in the tube on the way there.

We arrived at a stunning location in London - offering panoramic views of the city as the sun was setting. Naturally we were late and floundered around outside the double doors where the cheese and wine tasting was happening.

Finally i pushed one of my colleagues through the doors and we stumbled through the doors together to our table muttering apologies for our lateness.

There were 10 large round tables full of suits and the like listening intently to the dullest man on earth droan on about the wine he was holding - suddenly we realised maybe this was not going to be the experience we had hoped for. And yes i know what your thinking, "well its a cheese and wine tasting what did i expect!?"  

Enough already just pour us the bloody wine!

After our thimble of wine was poured by our frankly rude and rather brash waiters, the cheese was brought out for us to sample along side the wine. Apparently they were meant to compliment each other.

Now Listen, I'm all for a bit of wine and cheese education but nothing prepared me for the monstrosity that ensued....brace yourselves...and take a peek at the picture below



seriously...

 Breath..reader..breath. Its going to be OK. Actually, do you know what? it was not OK! This is so not OK. If cheese police existed it would have been arrested.

As a result, we left early and went for dinner. Life sucks eh?!

I would like to end with a quote of a fellow cheese lover who is the quickest red wine drinker I have ever met.

I commend you.

"It was sh&t"

MORE CHEESY TALES COMING SOON

xxx