The shape of cheese
Here in the UK, Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses is launching an Easter egg made of 100% cheddar cheese. The 120g egg shaped piece of cheese comes complete with a packet of oatcakes and some chutney and will be sold in Sainsbury’s, a major UK supermarket, starting in April. I will be very grumpy if I do not receive one for Easter, I have decided. It does go to show that knowing your local market and then catering to it is a winner with marketing. People will pick up an egg-shaped cheese and then bring it home to eat it, here in the UK. I know I would. I’ll bet it would work in other countries too.
For cheese, shaping is a fairly easy thing to do as well. I have been in creameries where the island I was standing on was being sold as an attractive, wax-covered truckle of cheese. We did not buy it because we knew the island-shaped cheese wouldn’t last long, so opted for the larger block instead.
Let’s face it, part of the fun of a good cheeseboard is that there is so much to add to it – walnuts, olives, grapes, dried fruit, apples, chutneys, jams, oatcakes, all manner of breads, some salad, the list goes on. I can make a meal out of a cheese board so easily. What’s better than having a cheese egg, surrounded by all these goodies? Add some blue (there was a blue cheese egg offered a couple of years ago, not sure if they’ll do that one again) and perhaps a brie or a goat cheese, and well, no cooking is required. Happy days.
I will be sure to post a photo of my egg and its accompaniments next month. In the meantime, enjoy the cheese eating, as we happily do not have to wait for specific holidays to eat it.