A very cheesy week

I celebrated National Cheese Day here in London last week by going to an event dinner for Jarlsberg Norwegian cheese. It was a rather pleasant evening, consuming delicious appetisers (made with cheese) and then being obliged to help joint a chicken for the main course, plus putting the dessert (a polenta orange cake) together.

I would like to say I acquired new skills, but what I like about chicken is that you can throw the entire bird into an oven and it will come out as deliciously roasted in about 100 minutes. I do not bother jointing chickens as I am a lazy cook.

However, the idea of stuffing ham and cheese into a breast filet is a good one and I may do that one in the future. You forget how tasty it is and not very difficult at all.

The result was rather spectacular and of course it was down to the skills of the real professionals in the kitchen, rather than our bungling selves. Many thanks to the gang at the Underground Cookery School feeding us, including chef Kate Austen, and to the folks at Carousel PR for arranging all of it. It was a cheesy week here. Rennet & Rind in Lincolnshire was crowned Affineur of the Year 2025 on 3 June, having impressed the judges with its maturation and refinement of a truckle of cheddar from Quicke’s in Devon. Now in its fourth year, the British competition has sparked a revolution in British cheese aging, reshaping perceptions of the artisan craft, pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved through affinage, and inspiring the creation of many new cheeses across the UK, according to the Academy of Cheese.

And thus, this is the wonder of cheese. It can be produced and eaten quickly, or it can be refined into an even more magical product. No wonder we all love it.

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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