The Cheese Report

The world of cheese is wide, varied and sometimes stinky. To help you navigate this pungent paradise, I've put together something of a 'best of' list. Enjoy!


Best birthday gift for the female cheesehead
Eau de Stilton, a perfume blended specifically for the Stilton Cheese Makers Association. The scent reportedly "re-creates the earthy and fruity aroma of Blue Stilton cheese in an eminently wearable perfume." Personally, I'm holding out for Eau de Prosciutto for my next birthday.

Best cheeses to gross out your friends and neighbors
On smell alone, the crown has to go to Vieux Boulogne, a washed rind cheese from Normandy that topped the list of the world's whiffiest cheeses, as decided by researchers at the UK's Cranfield University. For taste, however, my vote is with Strachitunt, so far the worst cheesy concoction I have ever put in my mouth. I'm willing to give it another try, however, as the piece I ate was positively green, as was my face after eating it... Anyway, it's an Italian taleggio, painstakingly made with morning and evening milk, streaked with blue, gray and green molds and aged in limestone caves for two months.

Best reason to go to Britain this spring
What else but the 2007 Gloucestershire cheese rolling festival. It's been a long, cold winter. You've been stuck inside with nothing to do. Spring breaks, the sun begins to shine and, lo and behold, you find yourself running to the nearest hill with a wheel of cheese in your hands. Feeling triumphant at the top of the hill, you proceed to hurl the cheese, and yourself, down the hill. And a sport is born.

Best way to satisfy your cheese and coffee addictions
Cappucino cheese, of course! Introduced in limited quantities in the UK, it is the product of blending white stilton with Colombian coffee to produce a dark base layer, topped by a layer of white stilton with vanilla. Coming soon to a Starbucks near you?