The cafe space at the back of Love Cheese has been subject to significant improvement over the last 18 months and has now become a comforting bolt-hole in which to pass time in the company of some top notch, cheese-based treats. When not being pressed into service for events, “The Speakcheesey” offers toasties, drinks and cheese platters in cosy surroundings, tonight though it very much had its event clothes on with low lighting and a blues band setting up in the corner as we arrived. The “All about the Blues” Blues & Blue Cheese evening kicked off with biodynamic prosecco livened up by a dash of sloe gin paired with Montagnolo Affine, a creamy German blue cheese whose hit of salt went up against the fizz nicely.

Normally one might expect an evening like this to have a compere who talks you through each pairing as they’re presented but with a blues band getting into their stride in the background, that was impractical. Instead each table had comprehensive tasting notes to which they were directed as the next pairing was delivered, along with a selection of honey, chutney, nuts and bread to freshen up the palate as desired. Next up was a favourite of mine, Gorgonzola Piccante, served with a Portuguese white to bring the cheese to its best. The next hour or so saw four more blue cheese and wine tasting arrive at the table, along with more bread and accompaniments as Bleu d’Auvergne, Hebridean Blue and Cropwell Bishop Stilton all were paired variously with more wines and a port. Amongst those, an English Pinot Noir was unusual and compelling when combined with the Bleu d’Auvergne and a particularly punchy 20% 2015 port that was a pleasingly bold finish to enjoy as the blues band really hit their stride.

I’ve had a long association with Love Cheese, which was originally opened by a former colleague of mine and subsequently supplied cheese for a cheese tower in place of a wedding cake on my special day. It’s really satisfying to see their cafe turn into the Speakcheesey and get the chance to show its full potential, both as a place to chill in the day and as an events space in the evening. As far as this event, I’m very fond of blue cheese and red wine so was always going to be easy to win over but the format that leant toward casual rather than curated while still informative where required worked a treat.

(Ad – invite)

The post Blues & Blue cheese with Love Cheese appeared first on York on a Fork.

Fish & Forest made its name in Spark selling well realised fish dishes that showed a level of refinement greater than one would expect of a street food offering. It was always clear that this ambition would need a venue that would allow for niceties such as plates and waiters, so it’s not a surprise to see them form an alliance with The Gillygate to shift the offering up a gear by putting a roof over it. I was a fan of the dishes served at Spark so more than eager to sample a tasting menu that would showcase the sort of experience F&F would be aiming for at The Gillygate.

The one disagreement I have with the people behind F&F regards oysters. I’ve tried my best and have enjoyed them as tempura and ice cream but never managed to appreciate them raw in all their slimy, salty glory. Still, allowing for my preference, the examples that started the meal were well presented and those at the table with a finer understanding of these things than me certainly looked to be enjoying pairing them with Guinness.

Next I waited for a mackerel kiev to arrive for my first course. This dish was a refinement of one of those popularised at Spark, presented here looking like a whole fish but filleted to allow us to just get stuck into the aioli it was served with. The transition to a covered venue has served only to enhance this one and the combination of the strong fish and garlicky dip remains as alluring as ever.

For the next course, we moved onto meat with a pigeon dish that relied on remoulade and berries to balance the weighty flavour of the meat, further depth coming from a few mushrooms. Overcooked pigeon is a terrible experience but the required delicacy of touch and technique was in evidence here, making this the rare treat of perfectly cooked pigeon – something not seen on menus often enough. Next up were scallops with caviar cream, shallot and a generous spicing of Nduja to tie everything together. The caviar cream was a subtle embellishment that could easily have been drowned out by the Nduja’s heat, but the centrepiece scallops stood up to the task in hand, though the presentation suffered a touch on this one as the small scallops looked a bit lost. I gather they’ve subsequently been replaced by larger examples.

We then moved on to a vegetarian dish, a risotto of squash, sweet potato and leeks that while justifying its place on the table wasn’t as memorable as what had come already or was to follow, a half duck with greens and an unctuous jus. This one really let the meat shout its advantages. I didn’t manage to pick up the details of the cooking process but “One Day Cured” is apparently just the right amount of curing to produce wonderfully tender duck that it’s a pleasure to pull off the bone and make a mess of oneself with. Hasselback potatoes are an indulgence I’ll chase any time, so I kept snacking on those as Skate wing appeared at the table served with a Veronique sauce. We finished up with a paper bag of sweet beignets and a sense of fulfilment after our meal.

Fish & Forest was always going to outgrow Spark and, truth be told, will likely outgrow The Gillygate at some point but it’s got a good home here now. Gillygate feels like it’s getting a bit of momentum around it at the moment and I absolutely expect the partnership between The Gillygate and Fish & Forest to be a key part of it for some time.

Disclaimer: No charge was made for this meal. Opinions are impartial

The post Fish & Forest moves to Gillygate appeared first on York on a Fork.

I received three cheese to play about with: Hebridean Blue, Summerfields Alpine and Brie with Black Pepper. As one would expect from Love Cheese, they were all superb to sample, my only frustration being that I needed to resist temptation and leave enough of each to cook with! I was eager to come up with a few ideas that, while not wilfully odd, were a little more left wing than just melting cheese onto something. While that’s generally good advice for life, I wanted to let the cheeses speak for themselves and maintain their personalities. I thought I’d have a go at one recipe per cheese, my favourite ending up being the Alpine soup so that’s the one you can consider my entry for the Love Cheese challenge!

Summerfields Alpine Soup
This cheese came from the Botton Creamery not too far from York. I’ve sampled their cheeses a few times and they’ve always been superb. This was a nutty alpine style cheese that made me think of a long lost recipe for “Alpine soup” I used to enjoy. A little research took me right back to it and gave me the approximation of a recipe to follow. I used:

A chunk of good butter for frying
1 finely chopped large onion
2 diced large carrots
1 finely chopped leek
500ml good vegetable stock
A pint of milk
2 small potatoes, peeled and grated
A couple of balls of frozen spinach
Around 200g Summerfields Alpine cheese, grated
150ml double cream
Salt & pepper

In a large pan I melted the butter and softened the onion for a few minutes before adding the carrot and leek and letting them sweat for about 7 or 8 minutes (how finely you chop the veg will affect how long it needs). I then added the stock and let it come to a simmer before adding the milk and grated potato, covering it and letting it simmer for about 25 minutes. I then popped in the frozen balls of spinach and, after that had defrosted and distributed itself through the pan, added the cheese. After the cheese had melted I popped in the cream and seasoned to taste before serving with bread. As I’d made sure to use gluten free stock, this was suitable for my coeliac mother too (substituting the bread for gluten free of course!) who agreed it was delicious.

Black Pepper Brie Scones
The black pepper in this brie from Godminster cheese was thankfully not strong enough to overpower the cheese itself, as is so often the risk when adding a strong flavour to a cheese. I thought that the pepper would make a really interesting way to season some scones so looked up a few generic scone recipes and resolved to add cheese. The first batch also included a load of berries and were less successful, so I’ll refrain from sharing the pictures on here.

250g plain flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
Good pinch of salt
75g cubed, cold butter
120ml milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
120g diced Black Pepper Brie

I mixed together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt before massaging through the cubes of butter until I had large breadcrumb sized bits ready to add the egg and milk to. I’d combined the egg and milk prior to adding to the mixture as advised by a couple of recipes, but I’ve not had the time to check the advantage this approach adds. After mixing that lot into a dough, I added the pieces of brie and formed into patties to pop into the oven. This is what came out!

Hebridean Blue
I’ve visited the Isle of Mull and tried cheeses from there, but this is my first encounter with this blue, which impressed me greatly. I wanted to soften the flavours in this hard cheese without destroying them so I decided that a soufflé would be a good approach. While a soufflé looked like the right vehicle to convey this cheese, it’s not something I’ve attempted before or was willing to sacrifice precious cheese to practising. With that in mind, I took a pragmatic approach and used this recipe as a guide. https://fromagehomage.co.uk/2015/02/03/twice-baked-hebridean-blue-souffles/
I opted to serve the soufflés from the ramekins they took their first bake in, rather than taking them out and turning them, and was pleased with the results. In fact, there’s one left in the fridge!

I hope you’ve enjoyed my cheesy ideas for the Love Cheese challenge. I’ll be contemplating further adventures while I give that leftover soufflé its second bake.

The post Taking the Love Cheese Challenge! appeared first on York on a Fork.