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GPO Cheese and Wine Masterclass

On May 6, 2011 in cheese, cooking, Sydney

There’s two types of people in this world – cheese tooths and dessert tooths. While cheese tooths melt at the prospect of inhaling a wedge of velvety brie washed down with a ripe pinot, dessert tooths would gladly turn up their nose at a cheese board in favour of a sugary concoction topped off with a glass of sticky wine. Present them with a piping hot bowl of sticky date pudding drenched in sticky date sauce and it’s highly likely they will froth at the mouth.

What camp do you fall into? Are you a dessert or a cheese person? Do you dream about blue vein or lemon delicious? There’s no denying the sweet tooth within me. I come from a family of sugar fiends, and I will probably be spend the rest of my living days trying to harness my sugary cravings. Given half the chance, I would happily eat dessert for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yes, it’s a sorry state of affairs for my hips and my cholesterol levels.

But earlier this week, dear readers, I experienced a crisis of sorts. I considered switching teams. You see, I ate the best brie in Australia. White mould cow’s milk brie from Small Cow Farm, to be precise. Think creamy, strong brie with hints of mushrooms smeared on top of a lavosh cracker and washed down with a glass of red. As I worked my way through the gooey wedge of hand-crafted brie, it occurred to me that perhaps it’s time I batted for both sides. Would that be greedy?

Food Crush was a guest at GPO Cheese and Wine Masterclass for the launch of Samsung’s French door refrigerator. And yes, for everyone wondering, I broke my dairy-free diet for the evening and now have a very sore tummy as a result. But anyway, back to the fridge. This stainless steel monolith is the wet dreams of home cooks. It’s big, it’s stylish and it has four doors! It makes my two-door fridge look positively pathetic in comparison. This fridge is practically bigger than my flat, and yes I now officially have fridge envy. You’d need an impressively big kitchen to house it. It retails at $4,999. With 801 litre storage capacity and standing room for about 15 bottles of wine, this is a serious fridge for serious entertainers. I aspire to own one when I get the kitchen of my dreams.

Meanwhile, for all you cheese aficionados out there, may I suggest that you get yourselves along to the GPO Cheese and Wine Room as a matter of urgency. You won’t be disappointed.

GPO Cheese and Wine Room
Lower Ground Floor, GPO Building, 1 Martin Pl, Sydney, NSW, (02) 9229 7701

In the mood for some cheese? Check out my Asiago cheese plate and baked camembert in a box.

 

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Baked camembert in a box

On July 26, 2010 in cheese, cooking, entertaining, recipes, winter warmers

Here’s a surefire dinner party pleaser for the cheese aficionados among you - baked camembert in a box. I recently served it as a starter when my Dad and his partner, Jen came over for lunch. Think of it as a mini fondue. It’s easy to make, looks great and gets everyone talking as it’s a bit of a novelty.

Baked camembert

It's cheese in a box!

My special tip is to splash out on some good quality cheese. We bought some from our local deli for around $30. The better quality the cheese, the better the finished product. And we used white wine instead of red, but either would work. Here’s the recipe for baked camembert in a box.

For more great cheese ideas, check out Will Studd’s TV series and book, Cheese Slices.

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Asiago cheese plate

On July 21, 2010 in cheese, Italian, snacks

I recently discovered a new type of cheese during a spontaneous visit to gourmet providore, Fratelli Fresh providore in Waterloo, Sydney. It’s called Asiago and it’s bloody lovely!

Asiago cheese

Asiago cheese

Apparently it changes texture as it ages. The stuff I bought was really soft and pliable – kind of like mozzarella. I served it with tomato and capsicum relish and seeded French stick with extra virgin olive oil. The perfect dinner party starter. They say a minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips, but when food tastes this good it’s worth the lifetime!

If you haven’t already ventured to Fratelli Fresh, get your butt there pronto! Put simply, it is every foodie’s dream – two stories of the freshest fruit and veg, Italian cheeses, aged balsamics, truffle oils, noughat, egg pasta and the list goes on. I’m heading back there soon for lunch with one of my friends. Looks like heaven to me.

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