The Cheese Thread

[caller]

No idea, aren't they a German thing? Quite common in London now, very cheap. I understand they're similar to Aldi, but then I've never seen one of them!

[Terry]

As Wikipedia says - Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England. As of February 2012, Waitrose has over 282 branches across the United Kingdom, including 30 "little Waitrose" convenience stores, and a 4.2% share of the market, making it the 6th largest grocery retailer in the UK.

What surprised me a few years ago was seeing Waitrose frozen ready meals etc in the Central food supermarkets in Bangkok.

Anyway, they were always a good runner up to expensive Marks & Spencer foods.

Getting back to CHEESE.

As a teenager, I took a Saturday job in SAINSBURYS. In those days, these stores were old style marble slabbed serving establishments not unlike the one below

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The first day of employment was spent at their training centre in Blackfriars London.

Here, we are taught (amongst other things) how to greet and address customers, put on our starched aprons, how to give correct change upon payment, wrap sausages in greaseproof paper, how to hold open a paper bag whilst placing conntents within - and there ia an art to this, AND YES - HOW TO CUT CHEESE AND PORK PIES WITH A CHEESEWIRE.

Invaluable skills that I still possess today.

[dtaai-maai]

Invaluable skills that I still possess today.

Along with mending your own hobnail boots, darning your socks and selling horse dung collected from the cobbled streets!

[Terry]

Yep

I can also tie my shoe laces, pick my nose and fart at the same time

Us old geezers possess skills that the youngsters of today can only wonder at.

[Big Boy]

Yep

I can also tie my shoe laces, pick my nose and fart at the same time

You must be either queer, or a woman. Any woman will tell you that real men can't multi-task.

[dtaai-maai]

Actually, when you think about it, tying your shoe laces while picking your nose is quite an achievement...

[STEVE G]

Someone in an earlier post mentioned making cheese which I thought was an interesting idea so I did a bit of reading on the subject. It doesn't seem too difficult in theory and the main point seems to be keeping everything sterile in a similar fashion to home making wine.
The biggest stumbling block seemed to be the amount of fresh milk required, a couple of gallons at least, but I've just discovered this traditional Italian cheese, Mozzarella di Bufala, which is made from water buffalo milk, so that could be an interesting future project for when I find myself with a bit of spare time in Issan!
http://www.mozzarelladibufala.org/allestimento.htm

[Homer]

With some cheeses, a knife will make a perfect cut. Once. Match the proper tool (knife, wire, plane, shaver, grater) to the cheese type and the instrument will slice to the desired thickness AND make another cut without needing cleaning.

I wonder if those who eat individually wrapped cheese slices know that cheese tastes different* at room temperature.

* Some would say better. Much better. Night and day better.

[dtaai-maai]

I wonder if those who eat individually wrapped cheese slices know that cheese tastes different* at room temperature.

Unfortunately that's the main reason cheese just ain't quite the same in Thailand. Cheese that rarely saw the inside of a fridge back in the UK, certainly for most of the year, is a gooey mess after 15 minutes at room temperature in Hua Hin.

[PeteC]

......but I've just discovered this traditional Italian cheese, Mozzarella di Bufala, which is made from water buffalo milk, so that could be an interesting future project for when I find myself with a bit of spare time in Issan!
http://www.mozzarelladibufala.org/allestimento.htm

You milk the buffalo Steve and let us know how it goes. Pete

[STEVE G]

You milk the buffalo Steve and let us know how it goes.

I think I'll engage a local to do the bit where you grapple around between the buffalo's rear undercarriage!

[Vital Spark]

Mr.VS (aka Parahandy) has been experimenting making cheese for the past month or so here in Nakhon Pathom. Some results have been great, others a disaster, but, hey, that's the way it goes.

One of the problems here is temperature, so we bought an aged fridge and adjusted the temperature to make a cheese cave. The result is several blocks of potentially good cheeses nicely maturing in the 'cave'.

It's a fun project for him, but you really need to buy unpasteurized milk to make it work. The so-called fresh full milk here has been messed around with to give it a longer shelf life, and doesn't work. When Mr.VS has time, and if anyone's interested, I'm sure he'd be happy to pass on some tips.

VS

[johnnyk]

......but I've just discovered this traditional Italian cheese, Mozzarella di Bufala, which is made from water buffalo milk, so that could be an interesting future project for when I find myself with a bit of spare time in Issan!
http://www.mozzarelladibufala.org/allestimento.htm

You milk the buffalo Steve and let us know how it goes. Pete

In Thailand its often the buffalo that milks the falang

[Takiap]

There is actually a large scale buffalo dairy farm somewhere in Thailand, but I can't recall where about it is.


VS.......yes, please ask MR VS to share some tips when he has the time.

[PeteC]

It's utterly frustrating when you forget things like that, isn't it. Pete