La Fromagerie

Christmas means enjoying spending time with family and friends with good food & joyous music that enhance the festivities. I recently heard some fabulous live music at The Worlds End, Finsbury Park, N4 3EF hosted by Lorraine & Pete of Success Express Music.  On Christmas Eve Eve I visited my favourite cheese shop in London- La Fromagerie, W1U 4EW.

I entered the shop where there was a great atmosphere in anticipation of entering  the cheese equivalent of  Aladdin’s cave – the Cheese room. Lots of other people had the same idea and although we had to queue for 25 minutes, the staff were lovely coming round with tasters of fabulous  cheese and asking if we need anything else, charcuterie, chutneys, breads.

Wall of Cheese

I got chatting with a lady from Switzerland & man from Texas, who had just bought some whisky & was looking for cheese to pair it with. It sounds cheesey, excuse the pun, but it was actually an enjoyable queuing experience.

Stacks of Deliciousness in the Cheese Room

I finally got into the cheese room and with some expert help chose the following cheeses:

• Beaufort Chalet D’Alpage, Savoie, France –  a classic La Fromagerie cheese, sweet, buttery & nutty (made from cow’s milk)
• Lincolnshire Poacher Double Barrel, Ulceby Grange, England – strong, tangy, slightly fruity (made from cow’s milk)
• Caprini Freschi, Piedmont, Italy – fresh & creamy, with a hint of lemon (made from goat’s milk)
• Brie De Meaux, Ile de France, France – soft, melting texture with strong slightly truffle taste (made from cow’s milk)
• Ossau, Pyrenees, France – tangy, complex flavour, slightly firm texture (made from  sheep’s milk)

Glorious Goat’s Cheese

The Ossau was selected specially to compliment my homemade spiced pear & grape chutney.

I also chose a Blacksticks Blue, Butlers Farm, Inglewhite, Lancashire (bought elsewhere) for a strong, tangy blue cheese. I served a 1999 Dow’s Crusted Port decanted, together with grapes, celery, apples and crackers to accompany the cheese.

No Oliver Twist but just cheese glorious cheese!