I stuck my head above the parapet at work

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #21

“Strong and bitey”—that’s what I want to be when I grow up. LOL!

(I’m already vintage, alas!)

(Stickin' with mammoth) #22

I used to be one of them, too, and I was a right arse about it, so I’ll self-flagellate as much as I like, thank you. Just kidding. Okay, not really.

Everything’s fine now. I’ve shifted to being insufferably ebullient about carnivore. So, people still run from me but I have the strength to catch up to them now.

PS: “Strong and Bitey” is just brilliant. I love Aussies.

(Robin) #23

I don’t know how strong you are @PaulL, but you are already quite bitey sometimes. So, good job on adulting!

(Bob M) #24

My kids watch Bluey, which is an Australian show. It really is great and is a cartoon about a family of dogs. They say things like “mate”, “no worries”, and more.

The only problem: my kids are now terrified of Australia. In one episode, the dad takes a leech off one of the kids. And my kids think there’s huge spiders in Australia. Not sure where that came from.

(Joey) #25

Over on this side of the pond I typically carve off a thick chunk of Tillamook Extra Sharp Cheddar daily. Strong with bite. :cheese:

Sometimes “white” sometimes “yellow” - depending what I find. Always wondered if there were actually a difference in content besides the color.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #26

I drive by the Tillamook Creamery in Tillamook, Oregon, on a near-weekly basis on my way to favorite beaches.

The place was recently redone into a massive tourist facility–I mean massive–but there is still a line of people trailing out the front door and into the parking lot on peak summer days. What those poor tourist souls don’t know is that the free samples the place became so famous for are long gone due to COVID. There used to be an entire room set up buffet-style with tongs and little paper cups, you could just load up. Then, it shifted to a guy behind a glass handing you much, much tinier cubes on wax paper squares. Now, that room is vacant. Ah, memories.

Fun fact: Their cheeses are way more expensive on site than in any Oregon store. That extra sharp cheddar you covet is about 20 - 40% more just steps from the factory floor than it is six hours away in a Seattle Safeway. Pretty sure it’s the tourist effect. Chances are, you’re gettin’ a better deal wherever you are in the States, that should make it taste even better.

They do have a cooler where you can find cheddars aged to insane lengths. At insane prices. I’ve never seen the varieties offered anywhere else but, as curious as I am, I’m not ready to slap down $40 for a tiny wedge of something I’m probably not going to enjoy nearly as much as a creamy, bitey mouthful of Shropshire Blue.

image
image.jpg1024×678 389 KB

(Bob M) #27

Is that a blue cheddar? I’ve never seen one of those.

(Joey) #28

Indeed… Costco is our friend when it comes to Tillamook Extra Sharp. There’s a distinct difference in price point between the white vs yellow, so it makes me wonder why that would be. :thinking:

(Stickin' with mammoth) #29

Do your own blind taste test and smell test and go from there.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #30

Shropshire Blue is freakin’ amazing, it’s like the Holy Grail of the stinky cheeses. It’s sweeter than stilton, prettier than blue, and creamier than Roquefort with a healthy dash of extra sharp cheddar thrown in. Not an addiction for the budget conscious, though.

The crowds at Costco give me hives, I’m a Chef’s Store kinda carnivore.

(Bob M) #31

I like blue cheeses (which also tend to be higher in vitamin K2, as an aside), but even one I like at Costco is still kinda pricey. I can imagine these get expensive.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #32

K2? Interesting. I’ll work that into conversation the next time I’m justifying taking whole bites out of blue cheese wedges.

Last I checked, Shropsire Blue was $24/pound at the closest cheese steward’s counter and that was years ago. I’m too afraid to look.

(Alec) #33

Depending on what you mean by huge, it is true. We have spiders that are 4-5 inches across routinely in our house. Huntsmen, they are harmless and lovely. We generally encourage them outside when they come inside.

(Alec) #34

Likely to be a very similar recipe to our cheese, but I would guess that cheese has some colouring in it, and would use a different starter. It’s the starter culture that provides the varying flavours and textures to different cheeses.

(Bob M) #35

Thanks. I’ll let my kids know they are harmless. And I think 4-5 inches across qualifies as “huge”. :wink: In New England where I live, we have one large spider that we can see, and it’s about half that size. I try to get it outside, but it’s quick.

(Alec) #36

Marketing.

(Alec) #37

I don’t think so. I am pretty sure we don’t get any A2 milk. If we do, we don’t treat it any differently to “normal” milk.

(Joey) #38

Probably so. I’ve never had a chance to blind taste test them side-by-side, so I can’t readily tell if there’s a difference (at least one I can detect). They’re both quite tasty! Along with a couple of butter-fried eggs, bacon, sausage, liverwurst, a chunk of hard cheese tops things off nicely.

(Alec) #39

I thought what he said was truly remarkable, and is alas where Joe Public has got to on nutrition. To think that fortified bread is a good thing is just amazing. And unsurprisingly trotting out the standard BS on salt and sat fat.

As you saw, it triggered quite a robust response from me!! I could have written an off the cuff extended essay for him explaining everything, providing references and analysing the science. But I doubt he would read beyond the first paragraph having dismissed me as an extremist.

#40

Some graduates that I taught at TAFE (tech college) work on “Bluey”.