Saturday, February 20, 2010

Slap and Tickle

No one has a stranger sense of humor about the sexuality of food than the British. I'm sure you are familiar with national delicacies such as spotted dick, bangers and toad in the hole, but have you been titillated by Ticklemore, from Sharpham Dairy?















Ticklemore is a pasteurized goat’s milk cheese that is fresh, light, and mild. The paste has small holes throughout it and can have quite a pronounced cream line depending on age. As cheeses age, they loose moisture, but not fat, from the outside in, creating all sorts of variation in texture from rind to center. Look for smells of light straw, grass, and stable boy to denote readiness and be delighted at the subtle sweetness on the pallet. Some goat’s milk cheeses can really smell overly ‘goaty,’ a totally turn-off, and I am pleased to report that Ticklmore does not.

Ticklemore is a cheese with great history in Devon, England. It was first made in the 1970s, by Robin Congdon, at the Ticklemore Dairy. Congdon has been a front-runner in small, artisanal, dairy production in this region since that time and eventually passed on the Ticklemore name to Sharpham Creamery when he wanted to focus more seriously on making blue-veined cheeses. The odd flying saucer shape is a mark of the Sharpham Dairy and they create other cheeses in this shaped mold as well.

Ticklemore goat cheese is readily available at most, large cheese retailers and will make and excellent addition to the cheese board at your next tarts and vicars party!

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