How's things! I just can't pass up an Easter treat it seems – I'm quite chuffed at how well the traditional Italian Colomba cakes have been selling (only a couple left!), so when our chocolate guy, Sebastian Kobelt, said he was doing some special Easter eggs I just had to get some in.
We've got two types coming at the beginning of next week – one filled with salted caramel truffles and a Scottish-themed egg filled with Cranachan truffles.
Sebastian is a German master chocolate maker who lives in Linlithgow and I think he's come up with a couple of crackers here. We're only getting a limited number in, so grab one while you can!
As you can see below, we've got a new guest cheese, Buchette de Manon, which I think is just lovely, a beautifully subtle goat log. And the Wild Garlic Pesto is back this week too!
All the best in cheese George Mewes
Guest Cheese of the Week Buchette de Manon
Let's have a big hand for this week's guest cheese, Buchette de Manon – perfumed and rich with a sprinkling of winter savory on top for that extra nuance, it's a beautiful log of goaty goodness! The important factor here is the rich, creamy milk of a 70-strong herd of the ancient Provencal breed of Rove goats, which freely roam the limestone foothills of the Alpes de Haute Provence in France, nibbling on wild herbs, berries and flowers. Rove goats thrive in the long, hot, arid summers of the region and their raw milk is crafted into Buchette de Manon by cheesemakers Francois and Vanessa Masto at their farm in Simiane la Rotonde.
A Rove goat in Provence
Lactic-set and hand-ladled, Buchette de Manon is deliberately light on salt to allow the delicate herby and mushroomy flavours of the local greenery to shine. With its brilliant white paste and smooth texture, it's a wonderful example of French cheesemaking, just right to enjoy with a chilled French white wine! Drop in for a sample!
Treat of the Week Trotter's Wild Garlic Pesto
It's back! The wild garlic has started sprouting all over Scotland so that means Byam Trotter of Trotter's Independent Condiments in Fife has been busy making his scrumptious Wild Garlic Pesto – and the first batches are here now! Delightfully and smoothly garlicky, made with local wild leaves, Scottish rapeseed oil, walnuts and Fife's own Anster cheese, it's a sublime addition to summer salads and pasta. Only available seasonally, so grab a jar before it's gone!
Available now at George Mewes Cheese in Byres Road, Glasgow, and Stockbridge, Edinburgh.
GOAT Ticklemore – Light, delicate and creamy. Mild, fresh and sweet flavour with hints of grass and mushrooms. Vegetarian and pasteurised, from England.
EWE Pecorino Sardo –Firm with slight grainy texture. Spicy and powerful with bold salty and meaty flavours. Pasteurised and traditional rennet, from Sardinia.
HARD PRESS
Appleby's Cheshire –Buttery, savoury and slightly salty with a clean zesty lemon finish. Unpasteurised cow's milk, vegetarian rennet, from England.
CONTINENTAL Beaufort – Firm and dense ivory to yellow paste. Sweet, fruity, buttery and hint of meadow flowers on the finish. Unpasteurised cow's milk and traditional rennet, from France.
SOFT
Camembert Au Lait Cru –Smooth and creamy interior, rich, buttery flavour. Savoury notes of earthy mushrooms. Unpasteurised cow’s milk and traditional rennet, from France.
BLUE
Stichelton –Smooth, buttery, rich, lactic, salty and spicy with meaty undertones. Unpasteurised cow’s milk, traditional rennet, from England.
