European cheeses: holiday entertaining with the taste of travel

by Laurel Miller on

I work part-time in a cheese shop, and I’m also a contributing editor at culture, a consumer cheese magazine. I can’t help noticing that, despite a still-sluggish economy, people don’t want to do without their cheese. Especially if they’ve fallen for a specific type during their (usually European) travels.

Not everyone who bellies up to the counter is a globetrotter or a cheese geek, but they’re all eager to try new things and learn about the animals and cheesemakers responsible, and what, if any, cultural role certain cheeses play in their country of origin. It got me thinking: why not show Gadling readers how to do a bit of armchair travel to Europe via their local cheese shop?

Cheese has long been associated with revelry, in part because of its cozy compatibility with beer, wine, Champagne, and certain spirits. With the holiday season upon us, I put together a list of some delicious, versatile, affordable European imports that will make any small party more festive. The best part? You don’t need to be any kind of cheese wunderkind to put together a banging cheese plate (suggestions coming up).

[Photo credit: Flickr user cwbuecheler]

I usually allow about an ounce of each cheese per person, assuming there’s more food. If you’re throwing a big party, it may not be financially feasible to purchase certain products (and there’s nothing wrong with serving a mass-produced Gruyere or Gouda). Note that some styles of cheese are less dense than others, so depending upon price, you can get more dairy for your dollar.

If you can’t find these cheeses at your nearest grocery, Whole Foods (which have generally excellent cheese departments), or specialty shop, try online sources Murray’s Cheese, Cowgirl Creamery, Formaggio Kitchen, and Artisanal Premium Cheese. Click here for a national cheese retailer directory by zipcode.

In addition to picking some of my own favorites, I turned to one of culture’s co-founders, cheesemonger Thalassa Skinner of Napa’s Oxbow Cheese Merchant, for advice:

The Cheeses

France
Langres (cow): Traditionally served with Champagne poured over it (those decadent French!), this well-priced washed-rind is a little bit stinky, with a dense, creamy interior and tangy lactic finish. From the Langres plateau in the Champagne-Ardenne region.

Holland
Ewephoria (sheep): Nutty, rich, with a hint of crystallization, this butterscotchy Gouda will convert even the ambivalent into cheese aficionados.

Switzerland
Appenberger (cow): This buttery Alpine-style cheese from the Schweitzer Mittelland region has a faintly grassy tang. A surefire crowd-pleaser.

Italy
Robiola due latte (a blend of cow and sheep or goat’s milk): A rich, mold-ripened number with a slightly sour, mushroomy finish, from the dairy-rich Piedmont and Lombardy regions. Top imports include those by Perolari due Latti, Robiola Bosina, and Robiola delle Langhe.

Spain
Leonora (goat): A loaf-shaped, mold-ripened cheese from the northwestern village of León. Creamy, tangy, and delightful, with a blindingly white, dense, chewy interior.

Portugal
Azeitao (cow): Yeasty, full-flavored, with a slightly bitter finish; a beer-lover’s cheese. From the village of the same name, in the Arrabida Mountains, near Lisbon.

England
Stilton (cow): Colston-Bassett makes perhaps the finest version of this historic, earthy blue cheese. It’s a classic British holiday treat, produced in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire. Stichelton is the equally delicious, raw milk version; it’s a bit more fruity and crumbly. But for another British tradition, go for a robust Cheddar. Keen’s (cow) is buttery, with a horseradishy bite.

Ireland
Coolea (cow): This dense, buttery, Gouda-style from County Cork has a sharp, grassy finish. Unusual and delicious.

Belgium
Wavreumont (cow): A smooth, full-flavored, monastic-style washed rind. Trappist beer, anyone?

Cheese Plate 101

K.I.S.S.: This is a fun little acronym I learned in culinary school. It stands for, “Keep it Simple, Stupid.” A foofy, cluttered cheese plate with too many accompaniments just detracts from the headliner. You can keep sides as simple as some plain crackers or a baguette, or add toasted almonds, walnuts, or hazelnuts, and some preserves, or honeycomb or dried fruit or grapes or slices of pear or apple (in summer, use stonefruit such as peaches or cherries, or berries).

You can also go the savory route with dry-cured or green olives (Picholine are my favorite) and some salumi (add grainy mustard, cornichons, and a hearty rye bread for a winter supper). Forget the sundried tomatoes, pickled onions, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, tapenade, stuffed peppers, or whatever else the local deli has in its antipasti bar. It’s overkill.

Stick to three to four cheeses that increase in intensity of flavor. You can do whatever you want: all blues, or all goat cheeses. For a diverse, well-rounded plate, try: One creamy/mild; one semi-soft or semi-firm with some kick, or a washed-rind/ surface-ripened; one hard-aged; one blue or something really punchy (taste this last, because the stronger flavors will obscure your palate). Your cheesemonger can help you pick things out and explain these terms to you, or click here for a glossary.

When pairing cheese with beer or wine, a rule of thumb is to match the intensity of flavor of the cheese to that of the beverage. The following are some suggestions for some of the more tricky, assertive cheeses.

Goat cheese: A good rosé will almost always work, as will a light German beer like Hoegaarden.

Big, stinky washed-rinds: Pair with sweet bubbly; the effervescence will help cleanse the palate and won’t compete with the flavor of the cheese. If you’re drinking beer, go with a light pilsner or lambic.

Blue cheeses: Go for a sweet dessert wine (not Port) or Lambic beer with fruit, such as framboise.

For additional cheese plate ideas, click here.

[Photo credits: Neal’s Yard, Flickr user foodmuse; Gouda, Flickr user manuel/MC; cow, Laurel Miller; grapes, Flickr user lakewentworth; goat, Laurel Miller]

Mystery tunnel discovered at Lincoln Castle

by Sean McLachlan on

Archaeologists excavating at Lincoln Castle in England have discovered a mysterious tunnel under the courtyard. The tunnel is linked to a circular structure of unknown use and delves into the ground. The archaeological team hasn’t finished its work or discovered where the tunnel leads.

Europe has many traditions of hidden tunnels connecting buildings or going to secret caves or hideouts.

The excavation is taking place in preparation for building an elevator to allow handicapped access to the walls. The archaeologists believe the structure and tunnel could date to the early 12th century. It’s the only medieval building to have been found inside the castle’s bailey.

Lincoln Castle is a well-preserved Norman castle built in 1068 on the foundations of an earlier Roman fort. William the Conqueror, after defeating the English king at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, built this castle to control the important town of Lincoln and its surrounding area. The structure has been added to over the years but remains an excellent example of Norman architecture.

[Photo courtesy user Rodhullandemu via Wikimedia Commons]

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Make like Will and Kate: Alternate suggestions for romantic English wedding venues

by McLean Robbins on

Okay, okay – so your dreams of getting marred a la Prince William and Kate Middleton are probably never going to come true – after all, Westminster Abbey is a bit out of reach for the average Joe and Jane. But you can, if you wish, steal their date (April 29, 2011), her ring (find copies here) and even experience your own romantic English wedding in one of several “royalty-approved” locations.

Bride On Board
A serving RAF officer, Prince William could have married immersed in military heritage. Handily located in the heart of London, HMS Belfast can accommodate 350 guests with plenty of space on the quarterdeck for speeches and dancing and splendid views of Tower Bridge and the London skyline.

A Greener Groom
A choice certain to please the father of the groom, His Royal Highnesses The Prince of Wales, the Eden Project offers eco-friendly weddings with food sourced from local suppliers. Happy couples can choose from a ceremony among the lush foliage at the very top of the Rainforest Biome or in the gallery overlooking the grounds; in the evening the Mediterranean Biome can be lit with low lights that create the illusion of thousands of stars across the biome canopy.
Brighton Bling
Nothing makes the monarchy look better than being reminded of the follies of their predecessor – and there are few grander follies than the Brighton Pavilion, built for the extravagant George IV. Weddings take place in the Red Drawing Room, while photos can be taken outside in the beautiful Regency gardens.

Back to Basics
A Royal Couple getting married in a pub? Unlikely we know (although it was good enough for Kate Winslet) but for those choosing to keep it simple, The Fleece Inn – a 15th century inn in the Cotswolds is the perfect choice. The ceremony takes place in a cosy 16th century thatched barn, with the centuries-old joys of a traditional English pub for the reception.

A Holy Enjoyable Day
The joy of seeing the paparazzi wading around as the tide comes in would no doubt have added to the general air of bliss if the royal wedding were to take place at Holy Island in Northumberland. The fairytale castle of Lindisfarne would make a dream backdrop for any ceremony, steeped in history and once owned by Sir Edward Lutyens.

A Castle of Course
For sheer grandeur, a wedding located at Highclere Castle in Kent offers the options of either a marquee in the grounds, or a ceremony inside the house – with a spectacularly dramatic staircase for the bride to sweep down.

In Vino Veritas
A celebratory glass or two is integral to a successful wedding – so what better place to hold the ceremony than at a vineyard? Denbies Vineyard, in the heart of the beautiful Surrey hills, can arrange weddings surrounded by 265 acres of vines, with pre-reception drinks held in the atmospheric candlelit cellars.

A Coastal Celebration
Steeped in royal history, Pendennis Castle was built in the 1540’s on the orders of Henry VIII, and has protected the Cornish coast from invasion for five centuries. The circular fort is a spectacular wedding location, set high on a headland with panoramic views across the sea and several different room options, holding up to 160 people.

A Light Touch
Dungeness? No we’re not crazy. Climbing a spiral staircase to a circular room with panoramic views out to sea is surely romantic enough for even the royal couple. Dungeness Lighthouse in Kent is an unusual venue for a truly unique wedding, with space for thirty people at bridge level and just ten in the Gallery.

Green-Fingered Groom
What could be more perfect for an English wedding than a flower-filled garden – and gardens don’t come much more idyllic than the Royal Horticultural Society’s flagship Wisley in Surrey. Wedding guests can enjoy a private tour of the garden and an evening reception in the Conservatory.

What do you think about these English wedding location suggestions? Do you have another favorite? Leave it in the comments, below.

[Image via Flickr user Peter Rivera]

Why You Should Go to Belfast Right Now

by David Farley on
There’s a second-floor lounge across the street from Belfast’s ornate city hall. It looks like a lot of cosmopolitan lounges in any capital city on the planet: colored backlighting, sleek banquettes, and electonica seeping from the speakers. But Apartment, as it’s called, is kind of radical. Why? Because of the floor-to-ceiling front windows.

To understand why these windows are so revolutionary, let’s go back ten years. Apartment opened in 2000 when the center of town was still desolate and citizens were still wary of car bombs. “People thought we were mad when we first opened,” said Apartment’s manager, Morgan Watson, when I sat down with him for a drink, amid the club’s thumping DJ beats and crammed cocktail-quaffing crowd. “After the Good Friday peace agreement in 1998, we thought it was time to take back the city center. And the floor-to-ceiling windows which look out at city hall are symbolic of this—it’s our way of saying let’s look at the future.” Since then a dozens pubs and clubs have popped up, all evoking more SoHo chic than the sectarian sensibilities of the past.

Which is why Belfast is one of the most exciting places to go right now. This city of 275,000 people was once a city with reputation for having the world’s best knee and skull reconstruction specialists in the world. And for good reason. There was a demand for them. But, as evidenced by the continued (peaceful) existence of Apartment’s front windows, all that is changing.

Titanic-sized portions of foreign investment have transformed the city’s Victorian streets–many of which still boast ’50s and ’60s–era butcher shops and pharmacies-into a cosmopolitan 21st-century city; and where an infectious spirit of optimism has emerged, one akin to Eastern Europe a few years after the fall of the Iron Curtain. Sure, there have been a few hiccups in the peace process, but going to Belfast now is no longer a dare in the way it used to be. When I spent a few days there, I couldn’t help but feel I was watching the city’s rebirth happen in front of my eyes.

But, you’re probably recalling right now, weren’t there some flair-ups of the Troubles in Belfast just this last July? There were, but that was because of the usually incendiary Orange Order parade, a Protestant procession that occurs annually in mid July. Just avoid Belfast and Northern Ireland’s six counties around then, and you’ll be fine. And even if you do find yourself in Northern Ireland during the procession, have no fear. If there is violence, it’s not aimed at tourists.

“We’ve been trying to put Belfast on the nightlife map,” Watson told me, regarding both Apartment and the city’s next generation. “People are starting to realize that there’s more to Belfast than just bombs and bullets.”

That said, one of the most intriguing aspects of the city is taking in the graffiti along the walls that still separate the Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods.

The next morning, accompanied by Hugh, a friend of a friend, I left the center of town and headed for Shankill Road and Falls Road, two infamous Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods, respectively. Seeing these parts of the city–knowing that this reality still exists–Hugh explained, is an integral part of the Belfast experience.

As our BMW freely glided from religiously segregated neighborhood to religiously segregated neighborhood, barbed wire-topped “peace” walls separating them and flags marking each area’s allegiance, Belfast seemed to go from optimistic to ominous. Though British troops are gone and neighborhood checkpoints have disappeared, the out-of-the-center neighborhoods are a sober reminder of the recently ended Troubles. Hugh steered my attention to various points of past thuggery: a bomb blew up a pub here, stray bullets killed innocent people there. Now, I thought, was as good a time as ever to ask an important question: how can you tell who’s who?

“Spell my name,” he said, as if he’d been expecting the question.

“H-U-G-H”

“Right,” said Hugh, as he swung the car around slower traffic. “That’s how it would sound if I spelled it also. But a Protestant would spell it like this: H-U-G-H. Hear the difference?”

I didn’t. To my non-Catholic, non-Protestant, non-Irish ears, it all sounded the same.

“It doesn’t really matter to us either,” Hugh said. “Though we’re not fully integrated, we’re also not worried about these differences now.”

Just then, Hugh stopped the car. We idled in the shadow of a towering, gray wall. “People come from all over the world and leave their messages here,” he said, and then pointed to some squiggly red lines painted on the wall. “See what some Berliners did–they painted those red lines on the wall to symbolize cracks in it.” A nearby spray painted slogan read, “The biggest wall in Belfast is the one in people’s minds.”

That night, as I ate at Cayenne, a restaurant from one-time Michelin-starred chef Paul Rankin, who has received accolades the world over for serving elevated Irish fare, I realized there was a big picture window in the front of the restaurant. I think I’ll never think of windows the same again.

80 gigapixel London panorama breaks city photo record

by Scott Carmichael on

What you see above is the result of an 80 gigapixel panaormic photo of London. The photo was shot in the summer of 2010 from the top of the Centre Point building.

Using 7886 individual images, the creator turned them into a single image. If you look closely at the right image, you’ll barely make out the London Eye – the image on the left if what you see of the London Eye when you zoom all the way in. This shows just how much detail was captured in the picture.

Go ahead and head on over to the site and spend some time browsing your way through one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Other panorama photos we’ve covered in the past include Prague (18 gigapixels), Paris (26 gigapixels), Dubai (45 gigapixels) and Budapest (70 gigapixels).

[Photo from 360Cities.net / Jeffrey Martin]