I adore cheese. It's one of my favourite foods and I eat it nearly every day. I certainly can't be arsed to avoid it because it's apparently full of fat as so are a lot of things and for a long time it was a greater source of protein to me than meat (which I acutally didn't eat for 4 years) and it's loaded with calcium, which is really important, specially for us girlies and specially for pregnant girlies.

I'll actually find the poll hard to answer, myself, as I like so many cheeses for different reasons. I can't eat cheshire, mind, as it gives me rotten indigestion. I also prefer a good quality cheese to bad/nasty cheese, as in mass produced plastic stuff, though some brands, like the anchor extra mature cheddar do seem to get away with it.

If I'm going to balance up which cheese i like good examples of best, though, it has to be double gloucester for sheer depth of flavour. I'm also really partial to decent wensleydale and caerphilly, but so much of it is like wet cardboard, it's hard to get and I end up eating more bad than good.

Anyhow, bust grill or not, I'm now off to make some more cheese on toast :)

Cheese is great!

I do really like the strong foreign cheeses & stilton, but I voted strong cheddar as that's the one I eat most.

I've put "character" Cheddar, but it's not really Cheddar, it's made in Campbeltown and called something cheezy and Scottish like "Mull of Kintyre".

I eat mostly Cheddar, mild English or Irish.
I can't eat much of the strong stuff, it makes me feel unwell. :S

Sometimes I have Dairylea triangles... dunno if that comes on the list anywhere.

And the plastic slices are perfect for going on picnics and things... just throw a piece inside a roll and it doesn't go all sweat like normal cheese does. :D

I decided the poll would simply get too big if I included foreign cheeses. It would also make the slection even mor diverse in character and make it really hard to choose between them. I love gouda, for instance for sheer smooth texture and munchiness, but there's no way I could choose between that and a good strong, nutty nibbly parmaggiano reggiano which I would eat in a totally different way.

I included mild cheddar for people with delicate tastebuds/an indisposition to fart uncontrollably after anything vaguely pungent and because it is definitely distinct from stronger cheddars (there's actually considered to be 6 varieties of cheddar, based on maturity and manufacturing method, but I kept it simple). If it wasn't for wibbly, I'd be less sympathetic, but he recoils at some of my less conventional cheese purchases and seems a litle grateful that I have to choose more carefully in my current condition.

Much as I like the stuff, I don't count cheese spread as cheese, though, as strictly, it is at best cheese mixed with other products such as butter and vegetable fat - as are cheese food slices, addictive as they might be, despite their blandness. At worst, not one portion of it has been cultured, as cheese has.

Oooh, I can use the excuse "delicate tastebuds" for why I hardly eat anything... it sounds far better than "fussy eater". :D

Cheap cheese is normaly about 40% fat. Good cheese is normaly closer to 65%.

ANyway, favourite brittish made cheese has to be either the Lanark Blue or Cornish Yarg.

Correct, Mull of Kintyre cheddar is damn fine, as is Orkney Cheddar.

THing is, the Mull of Kintyre looks like a big penis and so it takes a brave man to eat the cheese....

>>applause<< for getting a map of it with a "riding center" caption.

It might look like a big penis, but it's quite a nice part of the world.

>>orders smoked sausage supper with Mull of Kintyre cheese<<

There was a girl at my school who had to go to the hospital to get a smoked sausage removed.

Nope - that all depends on the variety.

Excellent thread madame <aproves>

I noticed there had been a lot of cheese talk, lately - and i was bored.

as a rule though, cheaper/less tasty cheese has a lower fat content.

A mature blue Stilton is my greatest passion, but if you'll admit Eurocheeses, then I do like to nibble on a piece of fresh Parmesan every now and then. And good Roquefort is a delight. As is a mature, pongy Brie de Mieux.

<wants cheese>

Nope.

Cheese that is tastier for its variety has been matured longer, under more controlled conditions.

Cream cheese is very high fat and that's hardly all that tasty. Then again, even a really strong cheddar or double gloucester is only about 35% fat.

wheres the 'i don't like cheese' option? :$