Xmas cheese board - what can I eat?

[bassingtonffrench]

DH has bought a big pack of roule. My favourite. I know smelly blue cheese is out but the NHS website doesn't mention roule specifically.

can i eat it?

Smelly blue cheese isn't necessarily out- I'm sure the NHS website says you can eat hard blue cheese such as stilton but not soft blue cheese such as roquefort :)

Thanks. I see my message is a little confusing. roule is not a smelly blue cheese. in fact I don't like smelly blue cheese so that removes that dilmma. Roule is more like posh philadelphia with garlic. no mould.

stilton is in, anything unpasteurised is out. When you say roule, do you mean the soft spready stuff with herbs in? (like a swiss roll slice) - that stuff is fine. :)

route is a soft cheese, right?

read this- it seems to say that all soft cheese, regardless of whether processed or not, is dangerous.

wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_it_safe_to_eat_le_roule_cheese_while_pregnant#slide4

i have to say, i'm avoiding anything that isnt cheddar, parmesan or philly at the moment. Total pain as i love my cheese boards too! But i'll get over it.. and i'm gaining enough weight as it is without horsing cheese into me too :)

X-post - you can def eat le roule.

ha ha, X-post again.

too late I have scoffed some! Was delish.

It is very like philadelphia Chica, so I'm hoping that's OK. But a lot more garlicky! label says pasteurised.

I am able to eat next to nothing at the moment so I'm thinking every calorie helps!

Roule is fine in my opinion. As you say, it is pretty much the same as a garlic and herb philadelphia.

The sort of soft cheese that is particularly off the menu is things with a mould ripened crust, such as Brie and Camembert.

Interested in this thread as cheese is my most favourite part of Xmas food. I have a tesco 7 cheese collection in the fridge and have already resigned myself to not being able to eat the Brie, but from what I have just read on here do I dare hope that I might be able to have the Stilton?? (I have already devoured the smoked cheese sausage please tell me that was ok? )

You can have Stilton!

Eminy Stilton is fine, hard cheeses are fine, and Brie and Camembert are fine if cooked until bubbling hot :)

You can have Stilton! Harder cheeses are ok.

Basically avoid anything unpasteurised (not that difficult unless you are having raw milk straight from the cow or artisan cheeses. Most stuff you get from a supermarket will be pasteurised).

Also avoid 'mould ripened' things like Brie, some goats' cheese, Camembert etc BUT YOU CAN HAVE THESE OF THEY ARE COOKED! HOORAY!

Alternatively, you can make like our continental cousins in France and Italy who aren't given the same guidelines as us and continue to stuff your face with Gorgonzola.

Bagged salad, beansprouts, melon...listeriosis outbreaks have come from all of these and they're not advised against. Just sayin'.

I am having baked Camembert on Christmas Day and I cannot wait

*IF not OF

Baked camembert..yum.. oh i am SO making myself some of that on xmas day.. will take the pain out of not having at least a bottle of wine!!!!!!!!!

So I can eat my Brie if I bake it? You have made my day thank you!

I think the guidelines are different in the US too - they say you can have anything as long as it's pasteurised (even brie, gorgonzola etc), but they are much stricter on deli meat.

I've taken a pragmatic view, and have eaten 'off list' cheese throughout, on the basis that it's pasteurised and fresh. I'm more worried about bagged veg/salad as dats points out - nothing is 'washed and ready to eat' if I haven't seen someone wash it :) I guess we all gauge risk in a different way (like my friend who smoked throughout pregnancy, but avoided prawns in any form just in case )

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx#close

Can anyone throw any light on goats cheese - I'm assuming the ones which have a Brie-like consistency and a crust/skin on the outside are off the menu, and those with a more philly/roule like consistency are OK (as long as pasteurised)? Anyone know?

That's what I think, yes. I've been eating goats' cheese that you buy in the little sausage shaped plastic domed thing. And avoiding the chevre type with the velvety mould casing.

For you fellow Camembert-bakers, can also recommend bunging in rosemary, orange peel, garlic, olive oil and black pepper...hurry up Christmas!

Thanks dats - the sausage shaped dome things were the types I was thinking of.

And that Camembert recipe sounds awesome - drooling!

I can eat Stilton?? Woo hoo!!!!

i'd go with the nhs advice rather than wiki answers in this case I'd think!