Something that many of us have missed during the lockdowns of the past year is the chance to go out, and indulge in fine dining and food.
Something of which I am particularly fond is a good cheese, on an oatcake (my great-grandfather was the founder of Nairn’s Oatcakes – anything less than an oatcake would be a betrayal of my family heritage).
So, in these times of waiting for the world to return to a semblance of normality, it was rather a boon to learn of the arrival of The Cheese Club Shop, led by the team behind Six by Nico.
It is taking up a temporary residence at 358 Byres Road in the former Fopp Music Store – a venue recently acquired by the Glasgow based restaurant group. Stephen Sweet, an award-winning cheesemonger, has joined the team and will lead the pop-up store’s day-to-day operations as well as curating The Cheese Club shops products and online distribution services with HOME-X.
Part of this involves the creation of exclusive monthly cheese boxes, accompanied by a bottle of wine, oatcakes and crackers, as well as some delicious condiments carefully chosen to accompany the cheeses.
I was privileged to have been given the chance to sample the selections which will be available in April. Across two boxes, there are a host of amazing, flavour-packed cheeses, which will appeal to those, no matter what their favourite fromage. Each box comes with seven cheeses.
The April selections come with a selection from Anster, Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire, Ayrshire Dunlop, Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, Dorstone, St Andrews Farmhouse, Montgomery Cheddar, Blue Cheshire, Sheep Rustler, Keens Cheddar, Rachel, Elrick Log, Lancashire Blue and Corra Linn.
As a Lanarkshire resident, my first pick was the Corra Linn – sharing its name with the large waterfall at the falls of Clyde. It appears to be a cheddar, but boasts a beautiful smooth texture and fruity flavour, which was perfect with the peach, apricot and sultana chutney. Instant success.
I’m not normally a big fan of the softer cheeses, but Dorstone managed to win me over very quickly – an English pasteurized goat’s milk cheese, with a zesty flavour to it.
Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese is a wonderful, straight-forward raw cow’s milk cheese, which is exactly what you’d want if you’ve had a main course full of flavour, and this has a great flavour that does what it says on the tin – a simple, delicious cheese.
The next slice – all of which are beautifully presented in waxed paper – was Ayrshire Dunlop, a hard-pressed cheese which I at first thought was a cheddar, but upon sampling, I realised it was more moist. The texture is smooth, with a hint of a nutty taste. Another new favourite.
My next choice took my back south of the border, with Sparkenhoe Red Leicester. Again, it’s a cheese you will most likely be familiar with, as it’s a traditional Red Leicester cheese, offering a nutty flavour, pleasantly sweet with a citrus finish – ideal as a dessert cheese.
Next was Anster, a tasty traditional cheese which is milky, crumbles beautifully, and has a wonderful fresh. I tried this one a cracker – a perfect pairing.
St Andrews Farmhouse is a fabulous cheddar – wonderful on the oatcake, and I married this with the gooseberry and caramelised onion jam. The cheese is rich in flavour – there’s a pleasant tang to it – and has a wonderful texture too.
I stuck with cheddar for my next tasty treat, and Montgomery’s Cheddar was slightly more dry in texture, but when placed in the mouth, it almost melts. Delicious – another success.
Blue Cheshire was next to go on my oatcakes, and veined cheese hasn’t always been my first choice. This, however, was really tasty – perhaps not as creamy as a Stilton, but crumbled well and had a taste that pleasantly lingered.
At this point, I definitely needed a wee drink, so my cheese-loving partner and I cracked open the accompanying bottle of wine, a 2015 Il Cascinone Palazzina Moscato d’Asti Vendemmia Tardiva. And what a bottle it is – a beautifully sweet, fruity dessert wine. I’ve not had anything like this since trying a dessert wine in Lanzarote, and I have a new instant favourite.
Returning to the cheeses, next was the Sheep Rustler. This is a semi-hard, sheep’s milk cheese, and within seconds, I knew I had found a new favourite. It tastes beautifully sweet, with a subtle nutty taste. My definite favourite of the lot.
Sheep Rustler is an alternative to the White Lake Dairy’s popular goats’ cheese Rachel. It too is semi-firm, andn has a pleasant and not overpoweringly strong flavour. Very good indeed – one I’d be keen to be friends with in the future.
Keens Cheddar hails from Somerset, as I later discovered, and is lighter in colour, but full of taste, a rather complex flavour – another success, with a wonderful after aroma.
Elrick Log is another soft cheese, which beautifully fits onto the little oatcakes that accompany each Cheese Club box. This is a goat’s milk cheese with a texture that’s very smooth, but firm still a tiny bit crumbly.
Our final cheese in this selection was Lancashire Blue Cheese, which has a very smooth, indeed creamy, texture to it, making it easy to eat and enjoy, with the blue flavour adding a pleasant sharpness to it.
As I mentioned previously, each box is beautifully paired with oatcakes, crackers and wine. Other accompaniments include picalili, a quince and apple chutney, a damson and apple preserve, and a membrillo quince paste (which is so good, I could eat it on toast).
Each box also comes with a hard highlighting the hero cheese of the month, giving details about it, as well as a QR code to scan, so you can find out more about it.
If you’re having a cheese and wine night for friends, or even just a night in for two, this is the perfect way to do it. My mouth’s watering already from thinking about it – where’s the oatcakes?
Customers will be able to visit the The Cheese Club Shop pop-up from the end of March at 358 Byres Road, Glasgow G12 8AP, when it will open weekly Wednesday – Sundays from 10am – 6pm.
Follow The Cheese Club on Instagram for further updates at www.instagram.com/thecheeseclubuk
For more details, visit HERE.
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