Cheese in Melbourne

[TomHall]

I've just arrived in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago and I'm here for the next 6 months or so. Friends have told me its a great city to eat in but I went to a deli yesterday to get some cheese and they told me that you cant get unpasturised cheese in Oz. Is this true? Surely it cant be that dangerous if we've been eating it unpasturised for the past however many thousand years!

On an unrelated note, as I'm new to the city where are the best butchers, fruit and veg markets, fishmongers, delis etc. I'm living in St Kilda but I don't mind travelling for quality.

Cheers

[Pat Churchill]

Hi Tom

I go regularly to the South Melbourne market (which has recently undergone an overhaul) and I find I am reasonably well served by the butchers and fishmongers there. Good range of fruit and vegetable places and delis. It's open Wed, Fri, Sat and Sun. Parking can get a little tight at the weekend but I've always found a park nontheless. I've bought Roquefort at the delis there but I think that's the first unpasteurised cheese to be let into the country.

I think you'd find The Foodies Guide to Melbourne a good investment. I've done a brief review of it on my website: http://www.cookingdownunder.com/books/bookintro.htm This is a new edition.

The people in this forum have been very helpful pointing me to places when I've been looking for ingredients not available in my immediate suburbs.

I'm in Albert Park and there are certainly tons of restaurants from St Kilda to Port Melbourne, either in walking distance or a tramride away.

[Julian Teoh]

Parmigiano Reggiano has always been widely available.

[TomHall]

Thanks Pat,

I'll have to check out the market. I did see that book when I was browsing recently, I might have to pick up a copy.

Its a little dissapointing on the cheese front but I'm sure there are plenty of things here to make up for it.

[beandork]

there's some berzerk cheese place in richmond, bridge road maybe, forget what it's called...The Pantry?

That place will definitely cure any cheese woes you have

[Maliaty]

I found some Roquefort in Coles, of all places (but I'm in Sydney, ymmv)

http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/news/ng.a...eciality-cheese

it's definitely hit the shores of down under.

Cheers and best luck with the unpasteurised fromage

Maliaty

[Pat Churchill]

there's some berzerk cheese place in richmond, bridge road maybe, forget what it's called...The Pantry?

That place will definitely cure any cheese woes you have

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Used to belong to Stephanie Alexander. Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder here. They have a cheese room. I had a nice lunch there a while back.

[LucyInAust]

I think there has been a recent change to the laws regarding cheeses ... previously Australia could not import unpasturised cheeses but this has changed. I'm not sure of the exact laws etc ... I just know my sister has been after certain French cheeses that she couldn't previously buy here and now can.

[Pat Churchill]

I see another shipment of Roquefort looks like it might be dumped or returned to France for not meeting the local E coli regulations.

Story here

[TomHall]

Used to belong to Stephanie Alexander. Richmond Hill Cafe and Larder here. They have a cheese room. I had a nice lunch there a while back.

←

Thanks for the recommendation. I popped in a couple of days ago and managed to get loads of info (and a little cheese). Apparently gruyere, comte, parmesan, roquefort and one other are now allowed to be imported although apparently some suppliers are refusing to export to Australia because of the risk of it being turned away because of e-coli concerns.

Surely a little raw milk is not that dangerous!

[piazzola]

I have seen Roquefort cheese in many shops right now

I think there has been some court battles over the importation of unpasturised cheeses and importers have won so far

So far as I know quite a few Argentinean recipes use roquefort