Cheeses of the world

[hkathy]

Hosting a lunch, and I was thinking of doing a french lunch (long lunch). DH is french.
Friend who is coming is suggesting ‘cheeses of the world’
How can I
a) combine the two
b) come up with a list of ‘cheeses of the world’

So far I have:

Soft cheese, all French:
Epoisse
Brie de Meaux
Chaource
Camembert de Normandie
(these are DH’s favourite so would like them to go in anyway)

Hard/ Blue, Europe:
Manchego
Rocquefort
Stilton
Something hard and Italian not parmesan

Then, and this is what I need most help with, non european cheeses. So far I have Halloumi, Labneh, Paneer, Queso fresco, and just for fun American cheese slices (or cheese in a can if I can find it)

DilemmaDelilah · Yesterday 19:16

Norwegian Greve is absolutely delicious, in my opinion! And I've always wanted to try brünn öst (not strictly cheese though)

AKA geit ost - goat cheese. Great, if you like the taste of sweetened soap!

Cheeses of Nazareth. At Christmas, have Babybel - behold! The Baby Cheeses!

@booksnbaking I have found Greve in IKEA - it's made by Arla (and probably lots of other places too) and I'm just drooling thinking about it.

It is like Emmental, yes, or perhaps more like Gruyere. It has a good nutty sweet taste that I really like. Stronger than Jarlsberg, but similar.

@DilemmaDelilah Interesting, thank you! I'll have a look for it. I'd never have thought of Ikea! Sounds lush.

@SinnerBoy Ah now, now. Salted caramel is closer than soap, surely.

Roquefort is a French cheese
Halloumi and Paneer aren’t ‘table’ cheeses

Torta del Casar from Spain. It's so pungent that the smell escaped the tupperware it was in and affected the rest of the food in the fridge.

Very tasty though.

Love Dubliner cheese. The funny thing is that it is actually made down in Co. Cork🙃

You forgot “Baby Cheesus”!

Robert de Niro.

I would add an aged Dutch Gouda, and if you have an Eastern European supermarket near you, a Romanian brânza de burduf. Which is quite unlike anything I’ve had before.

Pecorino for Italian, a mature one is better, it's a hard cheese. Soft cheeses I can think of Taleggio which is a bit like Gorgonzola but without the mold. There are thousands more but I'm not sure what you can get un UK. How about a lovely creamy Burrata, served on a smalll round of grilled Sourdough, topped with a single good quality anchovy. YUM!

All these sound lovely..... but I like cheese and I'm not dairy intolerant. It would be an absolute nightmare if I was... or if I just didn't like cheese!

If you are not absolutely sure that EVERYBODY you want to invite both likes cheese... if fact I would go as far as saying they actively enjoy cheese, and that they can all eat cheese, then you might need to reconsider your menu. Remember also that not all cheeses are suitable for vegetarians.

I'm currently planning a much lower key gathering for a group which contains a majority of vegetarians and I'm having to check my cheeses carefully. (We're not just having cheese though - I think it might be a bit boring if we were.)

@DilemmaDelilah I love cheese, it’s almost a hobby really. 100% agree it’s a minefield regarding the rennet. Sadly, some of the most exquisite cheeses are made with calf rennet, the French are sticklers and won’t budge on this, as some of them are regulated to use calf rennet to keep their AOP status.
One of the most well made UK cheddars is Westcombe, uses calf rennet and unpasteurised milk, which is a shame for vegetarians 😕

@DilemmaDelilah

https://rennetandrind.co.uk/

this is a good source of information regarding rennet, and they sell superb cheese ❤️

Brilliant, thank you @CalzoneOnLegs

Langres is lovely. Very different to any other cheese I've had... I'm a little bit addicted!

@MoonWoman69 it looks very…..French, 🇫🇷 just been reading about it, thank you

Oh gosh, I remember these as a kid, they made me so happy. I had forgotten all about those for decades.

@MoonWoman69 I popped into Tesco on my way home from work but I couldn’t see it, (they apparently stock it and my ‘big’ Tesco has a separate cheese counter ) however, it does look as though it’s an animal rennet cheese, which a lot of the French cheeses are. I read it’s not as strong as Epoisses which seems to be the French cheese. I stick to one of the rare non animal rennet cheeses which is a mass produced cheese by Couer de Lyon called Le Pie D’angloys it’s a lovely washed rind cheese with a really distinctive flavour.
I have slipped up several times with French cheese, sadly. They do make magnificent cheese so it’s disappointing when I can’t eat it 😢

"Something hard and Italian not parmesan"

Rocco Siffredi

How about some lesser known British local /regional cheeses?

Cuddy's Cave
Admiral Collingwood

Same dairy as the supremely delicious Doddington @SinnerBoy .