Cheese in Oz & Enz

[helenjp]

So, I leave for New Zealand next week, but will only be there 2 weeks, and my cheese-eating will be severely cramped by my sister's family, who normally live in the Netherlands. They will be eating NZ cheese under sufferance, while I will be lined up by the supermarket chiller before dawn most likely, after yet another year of buying cheese in overpriced 2 oz "blocks" in Japan, if at all.

My kids are already talking longingly about cheese. What should we go for, in our limited time there? (It is theoretically possible to bring some home, but it'll be so hot when we get back that the poor cheese may not last the journey home to our fridge, and we may not feel like eating it even if it does. )

Any new cheese manufacturers or styles to look out for? I'm willing to sell my motherland for a mess of, er, cheese, so don't hesitate to recommend Australian cheeses too, please.

P.S. I used to enjoy Mercer cumin cheese, but I recall a fuss about pasteurized vs. unpasteurized milk - never did hear who won that battle.

Edited August 1, 2006 by helenjp (log)

[Pat Churchill]

Supermarkets typically have a cabinet full of "general consumption" cheeses in the dairy section and then have the more exotic stuff situated near the deli department.

Which part of the country are you visiting?

[helenjp]

I'll be in South Auckland...our local supermarket is in one of the roughest suburbs in New Zealand, so the cheese selection is a bit narrower than in other areas , but I will get a bit further afield. I won't have the produce of every continent at my fingertips, but I'm sure I'll have more than I can munch through in a scant fortnight, without a focused approach!

[DJOblong]

I love the Talago River blue from Oz - it's a mild blue and beautifully creamy. You'd need to go to a cheese specialist. David Jones stocks it in their food hall in Oz - not sure whether it gets to NZ

[Ylee]

DJOblong - is it Tarago River ? or is that a different cheese I'm thinking about?

I don't know much about NZ cheeses. I like Piano Hill Ironstone (an organic gouda-style cheese) and Heidi Gruyere - both are Aus cheeses. If in a supermarket, I sometimes get one of the King Island mature cheddars.

[helenjp]

We do get Australian cheeses in NZ, though I feel that it's more the Italian cheeses that have been made in Australia for a long time, rather than the soft cheeses which follow similar trends in NZ and Australia as far as I can tell.

[PCL]

My experiences with New Zealand cheeses has only been limited to the supermarket packaged kind, namely of the Mainland variety... I bought a wedge of parmesan, after watching a commercial... it was pretty much inedible for me.

Now, I must qualify why I haven't ventured out and tried more goodies from NZ... simply because what's been available in Australia recently that's locally made has been pretty damn good. I mean, take humble goats' cheese for example, from Meredith, Victoria, incidentally, the home of the greatest music festival in world!!!

[Shinboners]

For those who are interested, there is a cheese tasting in Melbourne this weekend.

It's the Australian Specialist Cheese Show and it's being held at the Palladium at Crown.

For information on the show, here's a link to the Australian Cheese website, and follow the links. http://www.australiancheese.org/default.aspx

[DJOblong]

Whoops. yes Tarago river. SOrry but my lysdexia is layping up againt.

[helenjp]

I didn't have much time to shop in NZ, but was underwhelmed by the soft cheeses - most seemed to have a gluey quality.

One I did enjoy (am enjoying, brought one back to Japan with me!) was Ornelle Double Cream Brie. I like the texture very much.

Puhoi Valley Parmesan - this is nice just to munch! Son1 brought one back to give a friend,'s family, so I'm trying to persuade him they wouldn't like it .

[JC]

helen, did you manage to try any Kapiti cheese from NZ? Kapiti is a well reputed Kiwi cheesemaker.

[helenjp]

I have bought Kapiti in the past, but didn't see any this time!

[piazzola]

These days large companies have taken over the cheese markets inboth NZ and Australia Ie FONTERRA http://www.fonterra.com/content/aboutfonte...nds/default.jsp so you would not find much differences between our countries mass produced cheeses . Go for the lesser known manufacturers perhaps as it has already been suggested here King Island produce is very good here but there are also some other Tasmanian and Victorian soft cheeses to consider.

Edited September 13, 2006 by piazzola (log)

[Sentiamo]

http://www.kff.co.nz/21.html

A link to Kapiti and its products. There are some damned fine recipes on the site also.

Boutique/Artisan cheesemakers abound in NZ these days, you have just got to take time to look and research. Also, it helps if any are near where you are gonna be!!

Best of luck on your holiday and BTW, there are many cheeses that will blow your socks off in comparison to any of Ornelles.

[helenjp]

Yes, the small producers...seems to me like they are Oz & Enz salvation and damnation, all wrapped up in one! .

The good old Kiwi entrepreneur never seems to be at home in a big corporation, and when I did business interpreting, I would see people commit business suicide rather than actually *work together* with other people! . Great individual bicycle businesses, uninspiring quango-corps...and too little of the good stuff gets to the markets that would pay for it, not just in cheese, but in wine too. In fact the "my way" gene is so engrained that it wasn't till I came to live in Japan that I developed an inkling that some cultures thought it was odd to go bush for years at a time!

You don't want to hear *that* rave, but here we have countries which depend on rapid access to distant markets, and the *** postal and courier services do their best to strangle it, instead of running to embrace the mail-order/internet market at top speed. I couldn't tell you how often small producers tell me that they constantly get enquiries for personal orders but can't fill them without charging as much and more for post/courier charges as for the product. In NZ at least, that's fairly recent - charges didn't used to be so steep.

Meanwhile, which places would you recommend that I or other visiting gulleteers drop by? (She says, intending to get out of Auckland next visit...)

[Sentiamo]

Helen, I can recommend the following cheese makers for your next visit.

Hautapu, Matatoki, Te Mata Cheese Company, Whitestone, Crescent Dairy Goats, and Waimata. Many others but these are some that have been TNT by moi!

Also, I am amazed that you didnt come across any Kapiti as their cheeses are in all supermarkets now. Quality has not been compromised at all with the bulk cheese they produce, I still indulge in their Kikorangi at least once a week and sneak a few glasses of a lovely sticky wine in as well. Great with gingerbread also, and I had some toffeed walnuts with the Kik awhile ago and can tell you it was mana from heaven.

[Cedreena]

For those who are interested, there is a cheese tasting in Melbourne this weekend.

It's the Australian Specialist Cheese Show and it's being held at the Palladium at Crown.

For information on the show, here's a link to the Australian Cheese website, and follow the links.  http://www.australiancheese.org/default.aspx

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I looked at the site and there in the hall of fame were Ashgrove, Which is a cheese maker about 15 minutes drive from my home at Elizabeth Town in Tasmania. Last year they won an award for their Cheddar, traditionally matured in cloth.

Yes It's very nice but they make so many others that are much more-------------

Their wasabi cheese is to die for.

Edited September 30, 2006 by Cedreena (log)

[SBonner]

The King Island Roaring Forties just became available in Vancouver. Wow it is one very tasty cheese.

Cheers,

Stephen Bonner

Vancouver