In today's news was the story about the European Court of Justice and whether German cheese producers have to remove the name "Parmesan" from cheeses made in Germany. I'm not sure who won the case, the headline in the Guardian was "Parmesan? It's OK if it's German, EU court says" whereas CNN's headline was "Court protects 'Parmesan' cheese"!It raises an interesting question, should someone be allowed to make say Cheddar cheese in Australia and still call it Cheddar? Ironically my favourite Cheshire cheese, Appleby's of Hawkstone (the last Cheshire cheese maker to use a traditional recipe, open vats and to calico bind their cheese) is not made in Cheshire, but in Shropshire!
The Cheese Shop in Chester is an excellent place to go and get some samples to help you make your decision. They have over 200 different cheeses available and they are matured in their own cellars. What I like about this shop is that they print on the label the variety, the country of origin and whether the milk was pasteurised etc. This means that if you buy a selection of unusual cheeses, you don't get home and wonder what you'd bought.
I tried some some Waterloo cheese (soft creamy cheese with a tangy after taste made with Guernsey cow's milk), some Colleney cheese (soft full of flavour made in the heart of Tipperary) and some Taleggio cheese ( one of the oldest soft cheeses, full-fat and full of flavour, with a mushroomy taste). They were all infinitely better than the sterile and tasteless offerings sold in many supermarkets.
The Cheese Shop
116 Northgate Street
Chester
CH1 2HT
Tel: 01244 346240
Web: http://www.chestercheeseshop.co.uk
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