Pasta Sunday!

We have just finished our Sunday batch of pasta. We have made the tagliatelle and fettuccine that we usually do but we also made a batch of apple-chevre ravioli. Although it may sound like a strange combination, trust us on this. If you picked up a locally produced rag recently and read about Purple Haze chevre from Cypress Grove in California, we can tell you that strawberries may be good, but a northwest apple is sublime. Come in and try some of our hand made pasta, that is actually made by THESE hands.

We also just received the first sampling of our new fusion salts. We are selling these in prepacked tins. Flavours include:
Lemon
Fresh Lime
Green Chile
Habanero
Black Truffle
If you thought that smoked salts were cool, salts infused with natural flavours are really cool. These are great on any number of foods, but our secret pleasure is on pommes frites (french fries). They also work really well on the fantastic popcorn that we sell. Come in and try something new.

Red Leicester Sparkenhoe

Well, just as promised we opened the Sparkenhoe Red Leicester from Neal's Yard yesterday afternoon, and it did not disappoint. Some might be inclined to say "oh, this is a cheddar" and just dismiss it as such. But as you have come expect from us us, no cheddar is JUST a cheddar. Would you say that the Keen's, Montgomery's, Isle of Mull, or the Lincolnshire Poacher are JUST Cheddars? We think not. Like all of the Cheddars that we carry and age the Red Leicester is full of subtle flavours that dance across the palate where your garden variety block cheddar are very one dimensional.

Here is what we experienced after tasting this yesterday. The colour is very striking, as there is more annatto used in the process, very dark orange almost into sienna tones. The aromas are tangy and slightly yeasty with a bit of earthiness, like a freshly tilled field. Flavours are very traditional cheddar with a bit more going on in the background. Hints of yeast bread dough, and that yoghurty tang. We really enjoyed this cheese and think you will also. If you know someone who insists on "orange" cheese (think your kids, or your stubborn relation) and you want to open their mind to the possibilities then bring them in and have them try this cheese!

Notes from Neal's Yard about the cheese:
Made by David and Jo Clarke and Sparkenhoe Farm, near Upton, Leicestershire.
The first farmhouse Red Leicester in around 50 years. Jo and David Clarke have been making a delicious cheese for a couple of years now. Its flavours are gentle, lactic and savoury with a subtle, aromatic ending. The textures are smooth and moist. Red Leicester, using more annatto to colour it than Cheshire or Double Gloucester is visually very striking. Its colour is a deep reddish orange, contrasting with the brown-green moulds on its cloth rind.

Neal's Yard Dairy Alert!

We will be receiving this thursday a new shipment of Neal's Yard Dairy. Here is what is coming in:

Shropshire, Colston Bassett
Gorwydd Caerphilly
Gubbeen
Wensleydale, Hawes
Red Leicester, Sparkenhoe

This last one is new for us and we are excited to be bringing it in. We will be breaking into the Red Leicester on Friday at 1:00 p.m. If you can make it down to the store then you will be able to judge for yourself how fantastice this is. We will also be receiving another wheel of Isle of Mull Cheddar, but this will not be ready until fall.

Friday we will also be unveiling our new summer cocktail headquarters! Everything you need to make your summer cocktail parties a huge hit! Come in and see what we have in store!