Now, my original intention was to only try cheeses that were new to me. Unfortunately, this week I’ve had to deviate from this path. My local Tesco only had 1 cheese I’d not tried and I did that last week. The only other specialist cheese shops are in town, which means I’ll have to go to town every week to experience a new cheese and delight you, the reader, with my discoveries. Alas, I was not able to make it to town this week. Fortunately, Mike brought to the house some Shropshire Blue, of which he kindly offered me some. I have had the cheese before but not for a while, so it still counts, alright?
I also started this blog by saying that I only had 1 New Year’s Resolution. I lied, there were more. 1 was to wake up when my alarm went off. It’s now the 18th of January and I’ve not managed it once, despite leaving a huge note under my phone (which is also my alarm) saying “WAKE UP”. Another was to read more, which I’ve, well, I’ve not read MORE really but I have read some, so that’s OK. Although, I did spend 5 hours on a train this weekend and spent most of the time staring out of the window. I really like staring out of the windows of trains, even when travelling through Swindon. I’d also like to watch more films and this, I’ve managed. Last week I saw Drawing Restraint 9 with Bjork. Quite simply, it’s the worst film I’ve ever seen! Now I don’t mind a bit of arty, experimental stuff (I’ve even been to see modern dance once) but this was like a nasty endurance test. It went on for ages, nothing of any sense happened, some people messed about with a big jelly, Bjork and her boyfriend cut each other’s legs off, oh bejesus, it was dreadful. I’m very annoyed that I didn’t walk out. Instead, my politeness (or maybe my fear at being looked down upon by people who thought I didn’t ‘get’ it) and my conviction that it might start to make sense if I just carried on left me to stay there, get a sore ass and get in a mood because it ruined a perfectly good night. However, I also joined lovefilm.com and got The Devil And Daniel Johnston, which was bloody amazing! Like, I had welled-up eyes the whole way through. His voice just gets me there (I’m pointing at my heart). Great stuff, so good it made me forget about Bjork’s guff.
Shropshire Blue was only first made in 1970. I kind of thought most cheeses were really old but it seems not. Whilst most people were out boogieing to Donna Summer and Abba, some guys in Scotland were inventing a cheese that looks like a cross between Red Leicester and Stilton. Yes, Shropshire Blue is neither from Shropshire or blue. In fact, the ‘Shropshire’ bit was added to make it sound more attractive. Why? I’ve no idea. Perhaps we just don’t trust the Scots as cheesemakers. But those Shropshire-folk, they look like they could knock out a good cheese, don’t they? I guess the ‘blue’ bit comes from the fact that the cheese has lots of blue veins.
I’m tasting a chunk now…
Hmm, it’s quite soft, a little powdery perhaps. It tastes a lot like Stilton to me. Maybe not as strong as Stilton but it’s good, got a bit of tang and it leaves a nice taste in the gob. Not amazing, I wouldn’t kill any small animals to get to this cheese but I would insult a post office clerk in exchange for £1’s worth. By the way, I’m eating this just before bed so I’ll tell you next time should it produce any dreams of note.
