This webpage is about the inaugural British Cheese and Wine evening in which we invited a dozen friends and acquaintances to try a wide variety of cheese from the UK.

Japan Ports Terminal Lounge

The event was held in a Meiji Period house built, over 100 years ago, by the Doctor of the last Shogun of Japan. It is a lovely old place with a real sense of style and culture. The design is one that matches European style of the time quite well.

A link to the house

Mystery Cheeses

To start the evening we had a little fun. Five plates of different "mystery" cheese were put out. Everyone was asked to try them and then grade them in order of preference.


The mystery was that all five of the cheeses were cheddars. The first three were factory reproductions, one from Australia, one from New Zealand and one from Britain. The last two were the authentic PDO cheddars.



Nearly everyone chose the Barber Family "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" as their top choice.
The second preference was split between Keens Cheddar and a cheddar picked up in a local supermarket simply referred to as "British Cheese". I have no idea who made it, when or how. I only know that it is made in Britain.

The following photograph shows the scoring of the cheddars. (A) Red Cheddar New Zealand Cheddar (B) Australian Cheddar (C) White Cheddar from Britain (D) Barber Family West coutnry farmhouse cheddar (E) Keens cheddar.

The main event

The second part of the evening was focused on a selection of seven very different types of cheese that hopefully represented a sample of the variety Britain has to offer.

Everyone was given a cheese plate with the seven layed out. Going round in clockwise starting from 6 oclock. We began with a Cheshire, Monks, Lyburn Gold, Black-Eyed susan, Double Gloucester, Red Leicester and ending with a Stilton.



An explanation of each of the cheeses was given. Where possible I tried to give a little information on the artists who made the cheese. A huge map of the UK helped to show where each came from.

Overall reaction

Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and hopefully were able to take away a greater awareness of British food and cheese.

Conclusion

After the event I asked for feedback about the cheeses from everyone who came. Without a doubt the Black Eyed Susan from Daisy and Co was a big hit with most people. Everyones reaction has inspired me to bring over samples of the three other cheeses that they create.
The Cheshire, created by Belton Farm in Shropshire, was liked by most people as was the Lyburn Gold from Lyburn Farmhouse cheesemakers.

One of the lessons learned was not to introduce too many cheeses. For this event there were twelve including the two from Australia and New Zealand. No strong opinions were made about the other cheeses probably because there was too wide a choice and too much alcohol flowing.
Regarding wine, the wine expert Adrian Beard very kindly helped to choose three wines that were served with the cheeses. A white Chardonnay was served with the first three cheeses. A Shiraz was served with the next three. Finally a port was finally served with the Stilton.

For a future event it would be interesting to try a British cheese and Sake evening or British cheese and microbrewery beer evening. Generally it can be said that the beer served up by one of the four major breweries in Japan is awful. However Tokyo has one or two microbreweries which make some fantastic beer. It may be a little sweet for British tastes but I think would work wonderfully with the cheeses.

The event was such fun that I am already planning the next event. From the lessons learned in this first event I hope to invite more people next time. People have certainly expressed a great interest in attending.
During the middle of May I will be back in the UK where I will pick up a fresh selection. The next event is due to be held on the 29th May 2007

My email address is gpstreet@yahoo.co.uk if you have any comments, queries or complaints.

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