The second British cheese and wine party held in Tokyo. A few faces from the last party and a few new cheese lovers.

Japan Ports Terminal Lounge

This event was once more held at Sonoes place

A link to the house

The Agenda and menu

I like to find foods and drinks that could accompany the cheese. For this event I invited my friend Dheerna to show off her wonderful culinary skills to make some authentic British Indian foods. She had lovingly prepared a few wonderful dishes that did not take long to disappear. They ranged from the vegetable sticks served with a refreshing Indian yogurt. Vegetarian roast, Hand made vegetarian samosas with a fresh mint dip.
Dheerna runs "Leelas kitchen", a high quality indian food delivering dishes at lunchtime in Tokyo. The kitchens contact number is 090-1700-9409, website is http://www.leelas-kitchen.com and email address is info@leelas-kitchen.com
I have only one regret. The samosas ran out before I had a chance to sample them. They were too popular

English bread by Rose

I asked a good friend of mine, Rose (aka Hirose-san) if she would attempt to make bread from an english recipe. The bread in Japan is generally terrible. It has too much sugar and too much salt. Rose came through with some wonderful bread rolls.

Traffic light cheese

The cheese tasting began with a traffic light session using Sage Derby, Lyburn gold and Red Leicester. Maybe the idea was a little gimmicky but I hope it helps people remember the diversity of cheeses we have in Britain.
The following pictures shows a red leicester on the left and a Sage Derby on the right.


The following is the fantastic Lyburn gold.


Below is a picture of a whole lyburn gold wheel.

Daisy and Co

Following the success of the Black eyed susan at the last event I brought over four of the offerings from the Daisy and Co dairy. We had the Goldilocks, Vipers Grass, Black Eyed susan and the Indian Blanket.
The Goldilocks. This is the cheese that is the foundation for the other creations of the Daisy and Co cheese makers.


From the Goldilocks the cheese can be smoked to create the indian blanket




Or the goldilocks can be rolled in crushed pepper corns to create the Black eyed susan.


Or the goldilocks can be introduced to wild garlic and chives to create the Vipers Grass

Cranbourne Chase

Towards the end of the tasting of the Daisy and Co cheeses I brought out two fine examples from the Cranbourne chase cheese Beginning with the Wingreen (soft white) and later with the Alderwood (semi soft).

Olde Yorke

Olde yorke was a rather special treat made by the Shepherds purse dairy. I only bought a couple of small 100 gram wheels across from the UK. Originally I wasnt going to use them during this evening but how could I resist seeing what people thought of it. The cheese is made from fresh sheep milk and is a little sharp/acidic. Proved a big hit with everyone. WIll have to try it with a sweet red wine in the future.

The finale

A cheese tasting would not be complete without a finale of Stilton and port. To add a Japanese flavour to the evening I produced some sweet sake to try with the stilton.

Overall reaction

These events are great fun and the impression I have is that every seemed to enjoy themselves. A few photographs from the evening.

Direct Feedback

Feedback from the 5th June event

English Lady
What was your overall impression? - Well organized, nice sized crowd and relaxed.

What did you think of the cheeses?
Red Leicester - reminded me of sandwiches I had in my school packed lunch.
Classic British cheese!
Sage Derby - really liked this one, nice texture
Lyburn gold - nice, it was harder than I imagined it would be
Olde yorke - liked this one a lot, kind of like a firm cottage cheese
Win green - it had a stronger taste than I expected, but was very nice

Daisy and co.
Goldilocks - nice, quite strong compared to camembert
Black eyed Susan - loved this one,
Indian blanket - didn't try this one
Vipers grass - very nice, garlic & chives flavour wasn't as strong as Id thought
Stilton - very nice, creamy and went very well with the port!
Aldwood - the smell was too overpowering for me. It was a very intense cheese taste wise and nothing like I've ever tasted before!

Japanese lady
Since I like cheese and enjoy tasting different kinds, I have no complaint. Table set-up was excellent along with foods other than cheese. If there were only cheese and wine, it would not be fun. Everybody was full. The number of participants was good size.

The first 5 cheeses were excellent, and my favorite was Win Green and Lyburn Gold.

Daisy and Co products were also good. Black eyed susan was different and I liked it. I didn't like Indian blanket much.
The smelly one?(alderwood) I wouldn't enjoy.
I didn't get which one was Stilton which I heard is the most famous English cheese. I was full anyway, so I don't regret even I missed it. Maybe I had one but just didn't know.

Chinese Gentleman
It was enjoyable and quite nice. I like it.
What was your overall impression ?
Good.
What did you think of the cheeses ?
Some of them are tasty.

Red leicester, - This is the best for me.
Sage Derby,
Lyburn gold,
Olde yorke,
Win green.

Daisy and co - golidlocks,
black eyed susan,
indian blanket,
need a little more salt
vipers grass
Healthy, I ate lots of them

Stilton
and the smelly aldwood I brought out later
That is the second best for me.

Japanese lady
What was your overall impression ?
Very nice people, easy to talk to and the surroundings made me feel at home. Enjoyed the party very much.
What did you think of the cheeses ?
Among all the cheeses presented, I liked LYburn Gold best and I even bought it! Sage Derby was interesting. If I remember it correctly, Win Green, or camembert type cheese presented there was a little bit too salty for me. Do you recommend to taste it with something mild?
and the smelly aldwood I brought out later
If my memory serves me right, it tasted a bit salty too... But this statement may not be reliable as I was a bit drunk by the time this cheese was presented...


Japanese lady
What was your overall impression ?
I got to know a lot of new people, and I enjoyed the set of cheese, both the ones that were previously served and the new ones. Perhaps with a little more people, we could have our conversation go even longer. (and if I can know the date of the next party well in advance, I will definitely ask some people to come.)
What did you think of the cheeses ?
Just like the last time, I especially enjoyed the cheese "Black Eyed Susan". As for the new set of cheese, the herbal green one (sorry I cannot recall the name... "Win green"?) was impressive.

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

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