Jackie’s fascinating cheese discovery – the sequel

Hello, following various comments about my previous post (‘Jackie’s fascinating cheese discovery’ – see below), I feel compelled to write more on the subject and will try to answer your questions and offer more exciting cheese facts.

First of all, Naheed, you were wondering how something that’s mouldy could be edible. So was I. We usually think of mould as something bad which causes disease and spoils food (I’ve certainly never been tempted to gobble down the fur-coated forgotten fruit that occasionally emerges from the bottom of my bag). But it seems that some types of mould are not harmful and can actually help in the production of certain foods, including soy sauce, sausages and, of course, cheese.

Blue cheese was apparently first created by accident: a bit of cheese was left in a cave for a while and went mouldy. Then someone decided to eat it.

Below is a picture of a chunk of Stilton, mould and all! Not to everyone’s taste, mind you…some people would probably still argue that it’s not edible!




Adriana, sorry, I’ve just not had the opportunity to steal any more of Neil’s dinner, let alone take pictures - he’s learnt to defend his food like a lion when I’m around. However, below is a (slightly blurry – must’ve been that Exeter mist) photo of Carrie, Neil, me and Paul shortly before the dinner-stealing incident…it’s the best I can offer.



Kuldeep Raj, thank you for your kind words! The team is very grateful.

Laure, in response to your question, yeessss! When I go back to Switzerland I often tuck into a Raclette or a fondue in Geneva’s Old Town. But meantime, feel free to organise airlifts of Gruyere or Emmental to keep me going. Which brings me to the next inevitable cheese issue…how does Emmental (often referred to simply as ‘Swiss cheese’ by those who don’t know any better) get its holes? Perhaps that’s a question for another time.

Jackie




I feel compelled – I have a strong desire/wish
mouldy – to be covered with a soft, green, grey or blue substance that grows on food (this makes most foods unsafe to eat)
edible – OK to eat
gobble down – to eat very quickly
blue cheese – a type of cheese with blue lines (of mould) on it and a strong taste
not to everyone’s taste – some people wouldn’t like it
Raclette and fondue – dishes originally from Switzerland, which both involve melted cheese!
airlifts – flights transporting supplies of something, often in an emergency situation