Whey out west

This weekend serves both as the final bank holiday this side of Christmas and wallabok’s birthday do so it is out to buy significant amounts of the smelliest cheeses I can find at lunchtime ahead of the trip out to South Cambridgeshire tomorrow.

As much as I love my cheese, I am always a just a little wary of buying it in town and lugging it home. Not, I might add, that I have much choice. True, Waitrose have a reasonable cheese and deli counter, but it is limited. Sainsbury’s is about the same. No, if I want proper cheese, it has to be bought from somewhere central and that almost inevitably means the Rippon Cheese Store in Upper Tachbrook Street, Pimlico. I still like Neal’s Yard Dairy, but either of their outlets (Neal’s Yard and Borough Market) is just too far away from the office to make a trip at lunchtime a viable proposition and I don’t want to trail into the West End or out to Borough after work when I would much rather go home. Anyway, good as they are, Neal’s Yard only do cheeses from the British Isles, where as the Rippon Cheese Store casts its net wider.

Anyway, getting the stuff home is always problematic – particularly this time of year. A good cheese is almost invariably a steeenky cheese and a selection costing around twenty quid is not to be sniffed at.¹ There is no way of wrapping the stuff that prevents the smell escaping; three layers of grease-proof paper, a card carrier and a plastic bag won’t do it, neither will more plastic wrapping. Shoving all that into a rucksack and zipping it shut doesn’t help much, either – it just takes a little longer for the smell to ooze out. Believe, me I have tried over the years but the smell of cheese will out.

Especially on a tube train where it is altogether too warm. Oh dear.

The only answer is to wave the bag around proudly and prominently, proving that the odd odour is emanating from dairy products, not insufficient hygiene. It can still be a bit of a pain, though.

Ho hum. May as well make the selection really stinky.

¹Ha!

Whey out west

This weekend serves both as the final bank holiday this side of Christmas and wallabok’s birthday do so it is out to buy significant amounts of the smelliest cheeses I can find at lunchtime ahead of the trip out to South Cambridgeshire tomorrow.

As much as I love my cheese, I am always a just a little wary of buying it in town and lugging it home. Not, I might add, that I have much choice. True, Waitrose have a reasonable cheese and deli counter, but it is limited. Sainsbury’s is about the same. No, if I want proper cheese, it has to be bought from somewhere central and that almost inevitably means the Rippon Cheese Store in Upper Tachbrook Street, Pimlico. I still like Neal’s Yard Dairy, but either of their outlets (Neal’s Yard and Borough Market) is just too far away from the office to make a trip at lunchtime a viable proposition and I don’t want to trail into the West End or out to Borough after work when I would much rather go home. Anyway, good as they are, Neal’s Yard only do cheeses from the British Isles, where as the Rippon Cheese Store casts its net wider.

Anyway, getting the stuff home is always problematic – particularly this time of year. A good cheese is almost invariably a steeenky cheese and a selection costing around twenty quid is not to be sniffed at.¹ There is no way of wrapping the stuff that prevents the smell escaping; three layers of grease-proof paper, a card carrier and a plastic bag won’t do it, neither will more plastic wrapping. Shoving all that into a rucksack and zipping it shut doesn’t help much, either – it just takes a little longer for the smell to ooze out. Believe, me I have tried over the years but the smell of cheese will out.

Especially on a tube train where it is altogether too warm. Oh dear.

The only answer is to wave the bag around proudly and prominently, proving that the odd odour is emanating from dairy products, not insufficient hygiene. It can still be a bit of a pain, though.

Ho hum. May as well make the selection really stinky.

¹Ha!

Wensleydale, Gromit?

Mission accomplished.

I spent a little more than intended, but I now have pulsating next to my desk, a bag containing blocks of:

Cropwell Bishop Stilton,
Blue Wensleydale,
Berkswell, and a small
L'Edel de Cleron

I shall be leaving the office around four. I need to get this lot home before the Underground fills to excess. I can hear the Wensleydale and the Stilton comparing notes in hushed tones already…

Ooer.

Wensleydale, Gromit?

Mission accomplished.

I spent a little more than intended, but I now have pulsating next to my desk, a bag containing blocks of:

Cropwell Bishop Stilton,
Blue Wensleydale,
Berkswell, and a small
L'Edel de Cleron

I shall be leaving the office around four. I need to get this lot home before the Underground fills to excess. I can hear the Wensleydale and the Stilton comparing notes in hushed tones already…

Ooer.