The winner of this year´s World Cheese awards is made by a Norwegian farmer with only 12 cows. While you´re waiting for next year´s batch, here are some alternativesMy Christmas cheeseboard is better than yours. Forget festive staples such as stilton, cheddar and wensleydale with cranberry (no really, forget that last one); I am lucky enough to have one of the very last pieces of the cheese that beat 3,471 rivals from 41 countries to be declared the champion at the World Cheese awards last month, at which I was a judge. As the man that makes fanaost, an aged Gouda-style cheese from Norway, has only 12 cows, you won´t be getting any either: the wedge sitting pretty in my fridge is one of the last hunks of the best cheese in the world.Like the Dutch original, fFanaost is a hard cheese, with a slightly crystalline texture, sharp flavour and subtle milky sweetness. Jason Hinds of Neal´s Yard Dairy in London reckons that it `delivers a sense of place with a great texture and wonderful marriage of sweet and savoury notes`. It´s ridiculously moreish: salty and crunchy, with an almost caramel flavour. Continue reading...
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