A cheese lovers dream - Barcelona and London

You dont have to go far to sample such delights - I would like to share my recent cheese experiences in Barcelona.

BARCELONA

CHEESE ME

There was restaurant I passed in old town that caught my eye called "cheese me" I didnt have time to sample it first hand but i took a snap and also can say that I discovered a friend of mine had actually been recently and said it was fab.

Click on on Cheese me link to go straight to their website and below for a sample of their menu.

The restaurant offers cheese-based tapas, soups, salads and homemade cheese trays of European and Spanish origin. The menu even features desserts and ice creams made with cheese. And for those who are not so addicted (UM WHY WOULDNT YOU BE!? - get off my blog!), CheeseMe offers a selection of anti-cheese dishes.

The Menu

Iberic ham platter and Manchego cheese wiht rubbed olive oil and tomato bread	23€
(Optional: Iberic ham platter with rubbed olive oil and tomato bread without Manchego cheese) 18€
Spanish Cheese Tray	20€
10 varieties of Spanish cheese (approximately 200-220g varieties change according to market): Vidiago, Idiazabal, Ronkal, Tetilla Gallega, Torta del Casar, Afuega'l Pitu, Cabrales, Manchego, Patamulo, Mahon... Among others
French Cheese tray	20€
5 artisan cheese varieties (approx. 200-220 gr.): Roquefort, Camembert, Munster fermier, Reblochon, Goat séchons, among others
Artisan European Cheese tray	20€
10 varieties of artisan cheese (approximately 200-220g) Camembert, Roquefort, Parmigiano Reggiano, Sainte Maure de Touraine Goat Cheese, aged Gouda, fresh pineapple Cheese, Munster Fermier, Reblochon, Perail of Brebis, Séchons of Goat... Among others

There were various small markets in the Gothic Quarter that sold some cheeses

Manchego and spanish meats are a staple on every menu Barcelona whether you are just popping out for a drink and some tapas or a full blown meal. God manchego is good. If you are not a massively adventurous cheese person i.e. you eat cheddar only mild or medium. Manchego is a great place to start. Its made from sheeps cheese and is therefore mild and slightly buttery best served with crusty hot bread, some olives and cured spanish meats.

Totes amaze! (do I sound like a tool or what!!?)

Colleague at work with a plate of Manchego and spanish meats straight from Mallorca last week

All in All Barcelona is a fabulous place to try out some foreign cheese (its also just a fabulous place!) A lot of  your local supermarket stock popular spanish cheeses but hey you can't beat the atmosphere of a spanish bar and a caraf of red wine.

FYI (not so much cheese related)

•  The restaurant Agua down by the beach in barcelona - seriously good cocktails and beautiful fish dishes. £££
• The restaurant 7 Portes offers traditional spanish food a seriously reasonable price - Best Paella I have ever had - ££

BOOKING FOR BOTH IS ESSENTIAL

The back breakingly strong cocktails at Agua

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LONDON

L'ART DU FROMAGE

 If you dont fancy going as far as Barcelona you can head to "L'Art du Fromage", in Chelsea, South London. 



Kunal Dutta from the The Independent reviewed the cheesy restaurant back in 2010 and said;

"For turophobics, it is a new and rather pongy circle of hell. In fact, even for those without the (admittedly rare) fear of cheese, the smorgasbord of nearly 100 fromages, sourced in Lyon and shipped weekly, is the stuff of nightmares."

Every dish on the menu involves cheese in some sort of way just like the menu on "cheese me" it is simply a cheese lovers dream. See Below;


From the menu: L'Art Du Fromage


*Fondue Savoyarde – combining Emmental, Comté and Beautfort fondue flambéed in Kirsch.


*Triolet de glaces au frontage – Assortment of home-made cheese ice creams and sorbet.


*Munster pané – Munster cheese coated with breadcrumbs, served with Bayonne ham and walnut and baby leaves.


*Plateaux de Fromage L'Epicurien – board allowing the taster to discover the seven cheese families.


*L'Assiette de l'Etable – an Assortment of three cheeses on toast, served with lettuce and cooked sliced ham.


*Cloche à Fromage – Cheeseboard served in a cheese bell with jams, fresh and dry fruits.




I am going next week so will keep you up to date on what it is like...personally i think im going to go for the Cloch a Fromage but im so not sharing it - I reckon i will be doing star jumps by monday - CANNOT wait!

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Christmas is fast approaching - if you have a cheese lover to buy for consider this a present...

Bargainess! http://redmolotov.com/catalogue/tshirts/all/blessed-are-the-cheesemakers-tshirt.html

Look out for my review of L'Art du Fromage next week and a Xmas cheese themed post coming soon!

xxx

Cheese Birthday Party - 7th Nov 2011

As promised i said i would blog about the cheese party and how it went.

The idea was for me to take lots of pictures of the fabulous cheese and the fabulous friends who brought it.

The party was going to be sophisticated with cheese laid out by type. Little flags indicating the flavour and wine laid out to accompany each cheese.

A bit like this..oooh sophisticated!

What happened was this..ehhhhhh.. mess!

This was only a mere 30% of the cheese!

It is not quite as pretty as I imagined but it meant new cheeses to try and as a result feature below;

NEW FAVOURITE CHEESES OF THE MONTH 

Mexicana Cheese - Available at Asda, Sainsburys, Tescos and Morrisons at the cheese counters. Extreme Mexicana is also available. I'm unsure of which it was that we had at the party but it blew my top off! DELICIOUS! click on the link above for info and leftovers photo for an image below.

Epoisse - Salty, creamy and smelly - nuff' said! Available at all good delis and all large chain supermarkets of course! £4.15 per round

Old Cave cheddar - Taste the Difference Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar is available from Sainsbury's stores now, priced at £2.75 for 200g.

Berkswell - A personal favourite first tried out on Lambing Live the first series. see picture below. It is a delicious creamy sheep's milk cheese that used to be quite hard to get hold of. Now you can buy it in Harrods at the cheese counter and all Neal Yards shops and stalls.

 THE LEFTOVERS



Cheese dinners for a week! seriously though.. you can also see the mexicana cheese in the middle of the board


I want to to say a BIG thank you to my friends who came - so much thought was put into the cheeses that were brought it really was amazing!



Sorry this is a short post but wanted to keep it short and sweet - I would really appreciate any feedback on cheese i should try or cheese and wine places you think i should review. Email me at cheeselondon@gmail.com

xxx