• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Press
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Patricia Michelson, a big cheese!

April 28, 2009 3 Comments Filed Under: Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

Limney sparkling champagne




Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie

Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie

The St. Georges day shortbread, decorated with the cross of St George

The St. Georges day shortbread, decorated with the cross of St George.

St George’s Day Cheese and Wine tasting at La Fromagerie, London. St George is the patron saint of England, although he originated from Syria. He is one of the most popular saints in the world, famed for defeating a dragon. St George embraced openness and thoughtfulness. He supported the poor, the rich, farmers and soldiers, especially in times of war. 
This evening was themed around cheese and drinks from countries with which St.George had connections or had visited. The cheeses are all early Spring, light, fresh and tangy.
We started with Sussex champagne: Limney Sparkling wine 2000 (Rotherfield)made from Pinot noir and Auxerois grapes. It’s not cheap at £23.85 a bottle. The programme says it has notes of lemongrass. They aren’t kidding. I yearned for the addition of crème de cassis of which I do possess a miniature handbag sized bottle. Patricia Michelson, the owner of La Fromagerie declared that many vineyard owners from the Alsace-Lorraine area of France are buying up parts of Sussex, so impressed are they with British wines.
This was accompanied by tiny gougéres, light and creamy, using Emmental and Comté, and Poilane bread triangles topped with mushrooms, lemon and parsley. Of course it would have been more appropriate to use St Georges, one of the first maturing edible mushrooms of the year, in late April, but they were not yet ready.
British cheeses have less of a reputation than French cheeses, wrongly, it turns out, for many famous French cheeses are actually based on British techniques. But at present British consumption of cheese is only a third of the French.
On a cheese tasting or cheese plate in a restaurant, you always work from 12 o clock clockwise, in order of strength, from mild to strong.
The first cheese was from Berkshire, ‘Wigmore’ the rine hand-rubbed in water so that it is not too thick. A ewe milk cheese, it has a silky, earthy, glycerine richness that works well with beer.
The second, a Wensleydale Cheshire cheese ‘Richard III’ ( the area that this king was born) is the oldest British cheese. It was originally made by French monks from Roquefort who had come over during the Norman Conquest. The French Cantal is very similar to Cheshire; the same technique is used; prodding the cheese with needles to expel the water. I loved all the historical references in this tasting; it made me feel as if I were chomping my way through the crusades. 
Thirdly we had a Lincolnshire cheese ‘Poacher’ (the name comes from the unofficial county anthem) that looked like a cheddar but came from The Fens. They cut the curd, the cheese is pressed and therefore nutty. It is very British in style; with our mild weather, we like a tangy bitter cheese. This area of Lincolnshire has very dry summers, for that reason all the cheese are made before June. This is the most aged cheese before the season slows down, one of the best in England. Again this matches well with the hoppiness of beer.
Then we moved across the water, to Ireland, Ardrahan. This part of Ireland likes to brine-wash the rinds. The cheese is affected by the sea breezes, the lush grass, the soft rain. Roasted almonds marry well with this cheese.
This first course was matched by a Chateau Sancrit 2005, Bordeaux (Saint-Andre-de-Cubzac) and a Carmelite beer, Tripel Karmeliet, Buggenhout, from Belgium. Bordeaux is a particularly British part of France; the UK are the largest consumers of Bordeaux in the world. We ruled the region for 300 years (1154 to 1453), most famously during the era of Eleanor of Aquitaine.
A second plate of dairy travels started with  Limburger cow’s milk cheese, Zurwies, from Germany. Patricia Michelson has just discovered real German cheeses.

“Most of them are awful, industralised, produced in massive quantities”

she says candidly. But there remain little pockets in Germany still where they are making cheese by hand. This cheese is not heavy or strong and matches well with rye and caraway biscuits.

Moving further south, a lovely ewes cheese, Garrotxa, Borreda, from a tiny farm in Catalonia, near El Bulli. The cheese looks like an old stone; the milk is heated, and the cheese grows a dark suede-like mould, then it is brought into a cooler humid fridge. After six months it is ready. The cheese loses a great deal of weight and is therefore full of protein. This cheese represents a region that has struggled to maintain it’s identity through war and dictators. The Catalan people are reclaiming their countryside, St. George would have approved. I absolutely adored this cheese but then I love goat and sheep.
Returning to Germany, we taste a tangy Adelegger Urberger, a gruyère style cow’s milk cheese from Bavaria. A hard cheese like this can work with white wine.
We accompanied this plate with a gros manseng wine from South West France, Domaine du Tariquet, Cotes de Gascogne, which almost tasted German. (As an aside Patricia Michelson said that it matched well with asparagus which is notoriously difficult to match).
Moving onto blue cheese, again from Bavaria, Bad Oberdorf, Allgau.

“This is actually what a cambozola aspires to be…rich buttery…fantastic for sauces” says Patricia. “A great recipe is to mix it with butter and herbs, roll it up, freeze it and cut off little rounds as and when. This cow cheese is great on a burger.”

The second blue, made from ewe’s milk, is from the Pays Basque ‘Zelu Koloria’ (Basque for ‘colour of the sky’) The season for this cheese is 7 to 8 months from February until the end of the year at which point it is very strong. On St Georges Day it is still quite mild. 
The last is a Colston Basset Stilton from Nottinghamshire. A fabulous cow’s cheese, made with a different style of rennet. Rennet separates the curds from the whey and is a vital element for the cheese maker. Nowadays so many cheeses are made with vegetarian rennet but Patricia Michelson prefers the traditional method. With this cheese you have the full flavour of the white and the blue. The mould marbles through the entire cheese, giving the look of an earth-like stone.
These cheeses are accompanied by a dense treacly Calabrian black fig “made in the toe of Italy” a lovely image that suggests tangerines in the toe of your Christmas stocking.
We end this St George’s day tasting in Portugal, a country that also has St. George as their patron saint, with port, Quinta de la Rosa,  the perfect match for blue cheese.
Finally shortbread biscuits were served decorated with the red cross of St. George.
The origin of the St George’s Cross came from the plain white tunics worn by the early crusaders. It became the national flag of England in 1277. The England football team still wear it today (although beaten by Portugal at the last world cup in a battle between nations protected by St George). 
I highly recommend a visit to this shop, an enchanted cheese kingdom. Patricia Michelson’s book The Cheese Room is a fantastic journey through Europe, a guide to cheese and recipes. I am constantly dipping into it. She is working on a new book. I can’t wait. All in all, a fascinating evening, where you are led by the hand by an expert, through history and cheese tasting. My only complaint was that the portions weren’t large enough for me. At the end I was still hungry and had to go to the chippie!

Recent posts

Air Fryer recipe: aubergine sticks with yoghurt, tahini sauce

June 20, 2022

A dingle in Donegal: seven-day family trip discovering my Irish roots

June 12, 2022

silver barfi pic: Kerstin Rodgers

Platinum Jubilee recipes

June 3, 2022

Previous Post: « Marmite on toast
Next Post: Papillons and pastry with Lavender Bakery »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Canal Explorer

    April 29, 2009 at 9:56 am

    Wow, more cheese than you can shake a stick at! As a vegan I never miss bog standard cheese but very occasionally (less and less with time) I miss tasting an unusual cheese. I especially remember enjoying a trip around the Greek Islands when I tried the local island cheese and local island wine on each stop. Yum.

    So were all of these cheeses made with calf murder rennet then? Ooh, Ms Marmite Lover, didn't that bother you?

    X

    Reply
  2. MsMarmitelover

    April 29, 2009 at 10:00 am

    I think most of them are made with vegetarian rennet I seem to recall…
    Ok so explain, they murder calves to make rennet?

    Reply
  3. Canal Explorer

    April 29, 2009 at 10:02 am

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rennet

    It's from calves' stomachs.

    Eurgh.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot eggs, cheeseboard, stracciatella & cucumber, tomato/strawberry/peashoot salad with real balsamic & spruce oil, home cured dill gravlax, smoked salmon, homemade sourdough crisp bread, potato salad with wild fennel & lots more! #supperclub #midsummer #eattherainbow (miss you @linnsoederstroem)
Last nights supper club. My first supper club in 2 Last nights supper club. My first supper club in 2 years was great fun. I’m pleased with my food, the guests were lovely, it looked magical in the garden. But the weather! I even had to bring my duvets from the bedroom out. They looked like refugees. But this brought even more laughter! Next event September
My first supperclub in two years will take place t My first supperclub in two years will take place this Saturday 18th June starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are £50 byo you can book here: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club there are still a few places left. Pescetarian menu. Scandi and botanical influences. #gettingbackonmyfeet #postpandemic #smallbusinesses #supperclub #london
I recently completed the 3 day @heathostile train I recently completed the 3 day  @heathostile training course. On the last day I was kidnapped by ex-special forces for a few hours & learnt how to deal with compliance training & a hostile environment. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. 3 intense days of combat first aid, navigation & how to survive in a war zone. I handled short, long guns, mortars, grenades, bullets, and tourniquet & bandaged an amputee. I learnt where to sit in a car, where to hide from a bullet, where to protect myself if in a car. It was brilliant. Highly recommended for any journalists, photographers, cameramen, charity workers, paramedics going into any difficult environment say a disaster or war. The stories from the tutors & the other participants were so interesting. My piece on it out soon. Book a course: https://hostile-environment.co.uk/  They also do jungle & desert training. I’d love to join the Antarctic expedition. Anyway that’s me hooded in the front. #adventures #het #hostileenvironmenttraining #experiences #travel
Bundoran beach, Donegal. I spent a week knocking o Bundoran beach, Donegal. I spent a week knocking on doors, going to libraries, searching through graveyards for my Irish forebears. It’s really hard to find information prior to 1850. I found this in last years trip to Arbroath in Scotland. Headstones wear out, records are lost or burnt in a fire, everybody has the same name and are known by nicknames, successive children have the same first name, that usually means they died and the next one is called by the same thing. Women did have children out of wedlock, and people remarried more often than you’d think, plus families fall out & never see each other again. I learnt that my Irish great grandfather michael went to Glasgow & met a woman who came from a similar place: somewhere wild & beautiful by the sea. Then they and their children came to london. Chasing the work & the money always. Politics and economics matter for they push people around from rural to city. And now we rodgers are Londoners. #ireland #scotland #family #travel #roots
How some of us celebrate the Queen’s jubilee! My How some of us celebrate the Queen’s jubilee! My sister & a random Irishman come for the Rory Gallagher festival in ballyshannon. Sis has pulled already!  #getyourcoat #sexpistols #ballyshannon #rorygallagherfestival #ireland
Tullaghan, county Leitrim, Donegal, where my grea Tullaghan, county Leitrim, Donegal,  where my great great grandfather john Rodgers was a postman, then a tailor, then a pawnbroker. #irishheritage #donegal #myancestry #irish #rodgers #travel
I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor timing considering what’s happened over the last 24 hours. Being British I’ve not grown up around guns. It’s interesting to be on this course and find out more about the reality of them, although my focus is learning the ‘golden triangle’ of first aid, communications and navigation. But at the same time It’s depressing how in America nothing will ever change regarding gun law. RIP.
Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa
Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite pop up yesterday. I’m all about repairing and upcycling my brocante finds: this time a beautiful pale wood lamp shade stand which had broken off at the bottom. I’m going to rewire it with 2 core sky blue twisted fabric wire, pop on my hand sewn pleated lampshade I learnt to do @workshopminerva and it shall be beautiful. Don’t chuck out your chintz: repair it! #therepairshop #selfie #interiors #popup
in June I’m having my first supper club in two y in June I’m having my first supper club in two years: here is the link to book: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club £50 18th June  Saturday night. Byo.
#chelseaflower coming up. Last year I bought these succulents and planted them in a vintage zinc garden sieve. Now they are flowering. My balcony is like a little greenhouse: I can grow aubergines & other plants that usually need to be under glass. #londongarden #may #plants #succulents in the garden
Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on t Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on the citrus. I used 7: 2 Italian lemons (from Lidl):some ordinary lemons and some limes (18p) at Lidl. Don’t be afraid to mix and match your citrus. I also used buttermilk from @fenfarmdairy in Suffolk from their honesty shop. Last night we ate it still warm from the oven. #cake #lemondrizzle #homebaking #citrus #buttermilk
A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spa A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spanking fresh asparagus / fried in olive oil, season, then add a little boiling water, not too much, put on the lid, dressed with lemon zest & Parmesan, @fenfarmdairy baron bigod cheese, good bread. This is how I like to eat. Claire’s plates found at the beccles brocante. #suffolk #suffolkfood #supper #dinnerwithfriends  #vintageplates
Can’t wait to see what they will be like when th Can’t wait to see what they will be like when they are fired. All my favourite themes: gingham and scallops. Thanks to @clairebelljar for a wonderful weekend and pottery workshop. Such fun! #workingwithyourhands #playtime #creativity #ceramics #pottery #suffolk
Making plates with talented potter & old South Ham Making plates with talented potter & old South Hampstead girl @clairebelljar in Suffolk. She has the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Such a joy to be reunited with her. #friendsreunited #makers #potters #scalloped #wildflowers #cowparsley #pottery
Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian capona Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian caponata, which is like a more interesting ratatouille, in which you add capers, olives & vinegar. £2.50p. I was asked to develop a series of recipes which were delicious enough to serve at a dinner party but also cheap. I shopped at Lidl. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #recipe #vegetarian #vegan #lidluk
Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Lemon & herb smoked mackerel fillets from @lidl (take off skin)3 big scoops creme fraiche from Lidl and juice of half a lemon. Blend. Plenty of black pepper. Serve with bread. #budgetgourmet #costoflivingcrisis #eatorheat
Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh o Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh on my decade as a single parent on benefits, how I learned to cook & how things are so much harder now because not only are ingredients pricier but the cost of cooking them is too. 3 budget gourmet meals serving 4, for £2.50 each. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #povertyshame #singleparents #foodblogger
Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons. Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons.
Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange u Just made @davidlebovitz recipe for blood orange upside down cake as I had some to use up. It tastes very marmeladey. Probably used too deep a pan. #sundaybaking #recipe #thelastofthebloodoranges #april #easter
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2022 msmarmitelover