Which cheeses are cool at the moment?

[Drizzledrozzle]

Cool probably doesn't mean cool anymore, god I feel old

At a weekend away with some of my most hipster (but in a good nearly-40 way, not a twatty 23yr old way) friends and three of them independently said their favourite current cheese is Comte. This can't be coincidence, is comte having a moment? Which other cheeses are cool?

My personal favourite is castello blue. I have no idea how hipster this is or not but I think it is on a par with blue nun

A friend went vegan last year, she turned up one evening with vegan 'cheese'. It was so vile we couldn't eat it.

I love British cheese. I was joking about the raw milk cheese before, but actually it's because we had a raw milk cheese box from a cheese company, and they were all delicious. Somehow, more rounded than pasteurised cheese. The Stichelton in particular was amazing, I don't like Stilton much as the flavour is overwhelmingly sour, but this was incredible.

Cringe at this post ,I think a nearly 40 hipster is just as twatty if not more so then a 23 year old. Grown adults pretending to like cheese because it’s “in” ha

Ignore all the people sneering at the question. Foods, just like everything else have cycles. Which, yes is a bit ridiculous, but also the change is interesting. It's only a problem if you miss out eating a food you like because it's not fashionable.

However much we deny it we use food to signal who we are and how we feel about ourselves. Whether that's a fancy dinner party or a no nonsense take away. Food is culture.

Comte and burrata are everywhere at the mo.

Like aperol spritz suddenly being the drink everywhere serves over the last few years. It’s odd isn’t it.

I eat them all. They’re all cool in the fridge...

Ps I do not keep them in the fridge the day of consumption. Room temp please

There are a ton of really good British cheeses to try. I love visiting farm shops and delis and always end up buying cheese. I don't care if it's fashionable or not, the taste is what's important.

I've always been curious to try Stinking Bishop, but I just can't get past the smell. Those of you who like it, (or any really smelly cheese) how do you manage it, do you hold your nose or something? And does it taste like it smells?

Comte, huh. It's just Gruyère with pretensions. I think they actually used to call it Gruyère and then Switzerland got the AOC thing for the Gruyère name and now French Gruyère made on the other side of the Jura has to be called Comte while if you make Gruyère in like east Switzerland at the Austrian border you can still call it Gruyère. It's a bit daft.

The Americans have aerosol cheese.

UrsulaPandress
Boulette D'Avesnes takes some eating and beating.
That cheese is vile isn't it, just like eating heartburn. My dh loves it but it’s really hard to find here.
Back to the original post, if your friends love compte which is a type of gruyere, try Beaufort which is another french type of gruyere but you can get a summer version for extra pretentious points. It’s made from the milk of cows eating grass in the summer rather than hay in the winter when they’re indoors due to the snow so has a sweeter taste.

Never managed to buy it here. Had it 40 years in the Cafe des Artistes in London. Searched for years then found it in a cheese shop in Saumur. The woman thought I was mad for buying it. Ended up throwing most of it away.

I'm reading this thread on a fast day and it's torture! Just drooling imagining a huge slab of nutty red Leicester or a tangy gorgonzola or a creamy brie. I love all kinds of cheese.

Hipsters are most likely to be impressed by something really obscure, produced in small batches and preferably within 20 miles of where you will be eating it. Or something that no one has ever heard of before, from a 'cool' world cuisine like Japanese (I don't think there is much Japanese cheese, they're not big on dairy). Maybe a Latino cheese like queso fresco or, even better, an obscure Scandinavian cheese. I remember having gjetost some years ago in Norway. Gjetost is ok but a bit too sweet and weird.

Or just go down the retro route and take Edam on sticks with pineapple or dairylea triangles. They'll all rave about it!

As I said before, go to the Neal's Yard Dairy website for great british cheeses that are kept properly. Although you can buy some of their stuff in supermarkets it's vastly inferior. For day-to-day cheese, supermarkets are fine but for proper cheese eating and gifts it has to come from a proper supplier. I've always wanted one of those cheesecakes these sort of suppliers do.
It's a scandal that Cheddar isn't a DOC product, the shite that's available under its name beggars belief

To all those who haven't heard of comté - if you like cheddar, you'll probably like it too. It's a lovely hard French cheese with a similar texture.

True. I spent months and months in Franche-Comté studiously avoiding all French cheese, then came back to the UK and accidentally ate a free sample of Comté in Waitrose. It wasn't that bad, like a waxy mild cheddar with a slightly weird foreign aftertaste.

Someone said mimolette, which is nice and mild too, though mine acquired a rock-like consistency a few days after opening and ended up being fed to DP's hunting dogs.

My hot tip for the next big thing is cancoillotte, also available from Borough Market. It's from Franche-Comté as well, but from Haute-Saône in the north of the region. It's a low calorie runny cheese which can be eaten like yogurt.

It's a scandal that Cheddar isn't a DOC product, the shite that's available under its name beggars belief

I agree, have you seen what they call "cheddar" in the US? It's the wrong colour for a start. Mind you, as someone else mentioned, they also have "cheese" in an aerosol can, sacrilege!

Because of this thread, I've decided to have a selection of cheeses for my dinner tonight, served with crusty bread, red grapes, quince jelly and piccalilli.

If Comte is that similar to Cheddar, to be honest I would prefer to buy British. I agree with Davros, cheddar should be a DOC product.

White stilton and cheddar are my staples but I really detest those which have fruit in them - revolting.

I thought it was all about the halloumi these days? Rightly so, it's bloody lovely. Especially chilli halloumi, with chilli dipping sauce.

Motoko don't forget the red wine 🍷

Davros I'd love a glass, unfortunately I can't with the meds I'm on! It'll have to be a cup of tea (and decaf at that).

If it's "cool" real cheese lovers won't touch it. The best cheese in Britain is Appleby's Cheshire.

"I agree with Davros, cheddar should be a DOC product."

I would agree, but the best cheddar I have ever tasted is Black Bomber made by the Snowdonia Cheese Company in North Wales.

There are so many delicious British cheeses that I don't understand why most posters on here are championing cheeses from elsewhere.

Obviously there are DOC cheeses like Parmesan, Roquefort etc, and several cheeses that we don't make at all etc, but we are so good at making cheese in this country.

I am not xenophobic about cheese though as we eat Greek feta, Manchego and quite a few Iralian cheeses, but I will buy British if we do an equivalent - for example Cornish Brie and Yorkshire Halloumi.

Tea with cheese actually goes very well

Winslade is nice. And obscure enough to send the hipsters wild.

And it's my surname. I don't make it though.

I buy an occasional Lidl’s Camembert and let it ripen for a week in the kitchen window.

Makes the house smell like a mass grave, obviously.

You need this place, OP:

www.thecourtyarddairy.co.uk

We import 2/3 of our cheese.
That. Is. A Disgrace.

Listen to Liz Truss, OP and buy British .