Quiz: Cheese or Font

Thank you, Kanwal, for this hilarious game. Totally brilliant -- who thinks of this stuff?

http://cheeseorfont.mogrify.org/

My favourite font du jour is Tahoma (though I'm also partial to Book Antiqua). A humanist, sans-serif typeface designed in 1994, Tahoma is similar to Verdana, but with a narrower body, less generous counters and tighter letter spacing. Mount Tahoma is the Native American name for Mount Rainier in Washington State.

To best enjoy the Tahoma font (typing while eating cheese, for example), check out these cheesemakers in Washington State: http://www.washingtoncheesemakers.org/members.shtml.

Essential reading: THE CHEESE CHRONICLES by Liz Thorpe (Ecco, 2009)

http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/the-cheese-chronicles-liz-thorpe-and-american-artisanal-cheese/10002

Have Cheese, Will Travel...

Marks and Spencers has a delictable assortment of sample cheeses that are perfect for travelling. A much more sophisticated variety than the North American travel friendly Baby Bell... Port Salut, Roulade, Saint Argur, Wensleydale & Cranberry with travel size Cabernet Sauvignon, toasted wheat crackers, cashews and some fresh cherries - perfect for an hour long train jaunt from Edinburgh to Cooper.

Highland, High Tea, High Cheese

On a 2 day trip up to the mystical (and very rainy) Scottish highlands, I sampled a local cheese called "Gauda". One might think that it's gouda pronounced with a thick pikey accent but my waitress assured me that was not the case. I have to say it it had a unique flavour of it's own. Soft with tiny airy holes similar to havarti but a little harder and with a nutty aroma. I have been searching and googling to find out more about it but my search comes up empty. I guess that means a second more in depth trip is in order. Below, "gauda" with oatcakes and blackberry jame. Toast and Marmite and coffee at the Torridon Hotel. Loch Torridon, Scotland.

http://www.thetorridon.com/

Greener pastures... Or should we say greener unpastures?

A few pics to show the plethora of artisanal cheese vendors on Rue des Martyrs in Montmatres... I love how most of the selection comes in single serving portions perfect for snacking or compiling a very in depth cheese tasting menu for 2!

Je T'aime, Je T'aime

Oh Paris Paris. Where do I begin? The cheese, the wine, the confitures... It's taken me over 3 weeks to post about my little romp to Paris mid-august, I think I want to pretend I never left... I must first post the cheese and and black cherry jam I had for dessert at L'Entrecote - a famous steak frites restaurant near the St Germain station. The cheese was great but in this case it was the accoutrements that stole the show. I had our waitress ask the chef about the black cherry compote served on the side and she came down with a note that had a woman's name and phone number in the south of France. Crap, I thought this must be something uniquely made for the restaurant. Something I cannot export. Fast forward a few days later, cheese browsing on Rue Des Martyrs, what do I see out of the corner in the corner of a cooler nuzzling up to a fantastic blue...

Charcuterie & Me

At a recent wedding my dear friend Rita was told that she had a "keeper" by the father-of-the-bride. And by this, he was implying that her boyfriend, chef Grant Van Gameren, had garnered his favour by way of charcuterie. Guests, who arrived by ferry to Toronto's Ward Island, were greeted with cocktails and an overflowing spread of cured meats and crudité fashioned by Mr. Gameran. A true meatsman if I ever did meet one, Grant cures all his charcuterie himself in the basement of his Toronto restaurant The Black Hoof. He with the utmost delicacy, technique and skill. Each paper thin slice of fleshy goodness makes me forget that I was a vegitarian for almost 15 years (a confession I will not divulge in his company for sure).

Check out Grant's blog: http://charcuteriesundays.blogspot.com/