Cheesegasms

My friend Anne, who passed away earlier in this year, loved cheese. well, to be more to the point, she loved food. But she loved to try out new things and new foods when she came to visit me. Last year, when she came over to my house, we shopped at Genuardi's, a Pennsylvania-based grocery store that had opened a store in my area.

While it's only an okay grocery store for most items (they seem to stock a lot of premium items... and at premium prices, too! While ordinary items like dishwasher detergent stays on the shelf so long it freezes into a solid brick, but, I digress...) because they don't have the space to stock a great deal of stuff (despite being extremely large), the two places they really excel is in produce (they always have fruit and vegetables in the best (i.e. non-bruised and fresh) condition) and in dairy products like cheese. (The other area is in their food court... yum, yum!)

Well, last year, Anne discovered this particular cheese imported by Somerdale, a Britsh cheese importer. The Cheeses are from Wales, and, according to the Somerdale website, are made by a small manufacturer in the Welsh Heartland. Its name may be Abergavenny. They make both traditional cheeses, and specialty cheeses which seem to consist of a Aged (or Matured) Cheddar base with various additions.

The one that gave Anne the best cheesegasms was Tintern, named after the Abbey of the "White Monks" in Wales. They raised Shallots on the grounds, and one of the additions to the cheese is shallots, but also fresh chives and onions. Red Dragon is another cheese, this one made with Ale and wholegrain mustard seeds. Black Mountain is yet another cheese, named after a set of Mountains in Wales, and this cheese contains white wine, garlic and herbs. Last is Harlech, named after the famous fighting men of Wales, and this one is guaranteed to grow hair on your chest, containing Horseradish and Parsley.

Now, with Yule coming soon (and Christmas and all those other winter holidays), I have been looking into buying these cheeses for my cheese-loving friends. Maybe with wine. I'm giving cheesegasms for Yule. :)