Leeds Cheese Club

I have been working on a little project with some cheesy-like-minded people in Leeds to set up an actual real life cheese club. The aim is simple really. An event where people who love cheese, can talk about, eat, cook with and generally muse about fromage in all its delicious guises.

The very first Homage2Fromage cheese club is at 7pm on Thursday 6th October at Millies Fresh and Organic on Vicar Lane, Leeds.

We will celebrate all kinds of wonderful cheese but will kick off with the number one cheese in the whole of the UK. Cheddar is often dismissed as generic but it is a true British classic and perhaps more complex than you might think.  We will have lots of different cheddars to try and comment on from local producers to more mainstream offerings. We will even be cooking up some recipes and get to know what makes cheddar so delicious.  

We would love you to come and chomp on cheddar.

You can sign up to our first event here: http://t.co/R897unfq. There is a small fee but this helps cover our costs and buy in some delicious cheeses.

You can also follow us on Twitter: @homage2fromage.

Happy cheesing.

Ode to Melted Camembert

To kick off my musings on cheese, I thought I'd start with my very favourite cheese pleasures.

My (not so) guilty pleasure at the weekend is baked Camembert which I try to only have once every couple of weeks as it's probably not the healthiest of food but it calls for me in my dreams... The gooey, melted, pungent loveliness of it is so beguiling.

I do think that melted cheese is probably the very best invention in the world. Of course, I love hacking off a piece of strong cheddar or nibbling on a slice of heady parmesan...but heat it, melt it and scoff it is oooh, so much more sublime.

I have tried lots of different brands of Camembert and now I always choose the strongest Normandy one I can find. I do struggle though to know if its ripe or not. I had one last night which wasn't as good as normal and I think its because it wasn't ripe enough so didn't quite melt the way I like it. Answers on a postcard for how to judge ripeness!

When the mood takes me, this is how i cook and serve my Camembert.

I slice very thin pieces of Ciabatta bread and toast in the oven until they are crisp and just turning brown. I then rub garlic over them so they soak up the heady flavour. I used to cook my Camembert in the box but I now have a little ceramic dish which is better. I pierce the top, sprinkle thyme, salt and pepper on and drizzle on some garlic olive oil. Chuck it in the over for 20-30mins until the top is brown and the cheese is oozing.

Dip the toasted garlicky bread in the molten cheese and savour the deliciousness. Hmmmm, wonderful!

There really is nothing else to beat a baked Camembert. It's the food of life itself.