Irish Cooking can also be found at The Petit Chef.
Rock of Cashel
I first had this hot blue cheese dip at a pub in Cashel, a town in County Tipperary in the southern midlands. We were on a day trip to see the Rock of Cashel, a site hosting a ruined church and fortifications, formerly the seat of the Irish kings of Munster. Cashel is one of Ireland's most popular tourist sites. The Bolton Library houses many books found nowhere else in the world. Cashel is also famous for its blue cheese so the pub presented every customer with a small crock of this hearty dip.
I asked the proprietor for this recipe, and he pleasantly complied. Maybe because of my American accent, he knew I would not be his competition. Or maybe it was just that Irish good humor. Here it is in all its glory. They served this hot dip at the bar with Irish crackers. It will not be exactly the same unless you have Cashel blue cheese. As with any dairy product, this is the area in which Ireland excels. You have never had such cheeses and butters and creams.
At the end if the post, I will include a description of the different types of blue cheese. From the article: "If you love blue cheese, you will want to try it in as many combinations as you can. But be forewarned: your family members will probably either love it or hate it--there seems to be no middle ground when the subject is blue cheese."
I believe that last statement is so true. My mother was a great lover of blue cheese. She always crumbled it on a salad or melted it on a hamburger before it was fashionable. I also remember the day when restaurants always used roquefort in their dressings. It was actually called roquefort dressing. There really was no comparison. Roquefort is much creamier, richer, and less salty and pungent--almost sweet--than most other blue cheeses. And, of course, more expensive so restaurants stopped serving roquefort. The transition was made in the late 70s/early 80s on most menus, and after awhile I stopped asking the waitstaff if the roquefort dressing was made from roquefort. It never was. Menus finally changed the name to blue cheese dressing instead of calling it roquefort dressing. I have tried to make it buying a slab of roquefort, but where I live in upstate NY there is not a market for it so the cheese is stale sitting in the grocery dairy counter along with most of the other imported cheeses. I imagine in the cities where there is rapid turnover of dairy products it would be possible to make the roquefort dressing of old. For me, it is just another food memory I savor.
Of course, this recipe used the Irish Cashel Blue, and it was extra scrumptious since it was so fresh as it was made right there in the county.
Irish Hot Blue Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
16 oz. of cream cheese
1 cup of mayonnaise
6 T. of crumbled blue cheese
Dash of tabasco sauce
Dash of pepper
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and melt until thoroughly combined. Spray an oven-proof crock or lightly grease. Fill the crock and bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20 to 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. You could also place the crock under the broiler to ensure the top is lightly browned. Serve with crackers or crusty bread of your choice and a pint of Guinness or Harp, and I guarantee you will be transported back to County Tipperary on a beautiful autumn afternoon.
I enjoyed reading an online article by Renaissance Woman from Warren, MI at AC on the different blue cheeses made in various countries. I will include some of it here. "Are you a blue cheese fanatic? Salty, crumbly, and pungent, blue cheeses possess some of the most distinctive flavors available to us, and many people think they are among the most delicious! Blue cheeses have been around for a long time. It is believed that they were originally discovered by accident and have been enjoyed ever since. The distinctive blue veins are actually the result of penicillum bacteria--related to the same mold that is used to make penicillin. The mold is injected into the cheese and allowed to grow, usually in a cooled environment (traditionally, blue cheeses were made in caves.)
Blue cheeses are generally categorized by the region in which they are made, and the type of milk they are made from. Here are a few of the most common varieties of blue cheese:
Roquefort is probably the best known blue cheese, and may be the oldest. It is made from sheep's milk. It has been made under a French crown patent since 1411, and is only made in the Aveyron district of south central France. It is smooth and firm, and almost spreadable in texture.
Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese, made just north of Milan in northeastern Italy. This one is made from cow's milk. It is exceptionally creamy, and more butterlike than Roquefort. It has a somewhat spicy taste.
Stilton is an English blue cheese. It is only made in the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottingham. (Stilton, Roquefort, and Gorgonzola all have protected designation of origin status under the European Union, which means that they can only bear those names if they have been manufactured in the appropriate geographic location. Ironically, Stilton cheese cannot be manufactured in the village of Stilton, as it is located in Cambridgeshire County.) Stilton is cow's milk cheese with a somewhat fruity, nutty flavor, that gets stronger as it ages.
Maytag Blue is probably the best known of the American blues. It was developed in 1941 by Frederick and Robert Maytag, grandsons of the founder of Maytag Appliances. It's a cow's milk cheese with a smooth, spreadable texture.
Cabrales is a Spanish blue cheese, made from a mixture of cow's, sheep's and goat's milk, and has a very strong, and quite salty, flavor. Valdeon is another well-known Spanish blue cheese, somewhat milder than Cabrales.
Blue cheeses from other parts of the world include such goodies as: Ireland'sCashel Blue, Denmark's Danish Blue, and Germany's Cambozola.
How should you serve your blue cheese? It can be served with practically any course. You can serve it with salad, either in a scrumptious blue cheese dressing, or crumpled on top with a light oil and vinegar topping, or even just fresh lemon juice. You can use it to give a little extra zing to pasta dishes or soups. It can be served on a baked potato or melted on a steak or chicken dish. And for a delicious dessert, try serving it plain, with a fresh fruit accompaniment, a few honeyed walnuts, and a sweet dessert wine."
Rock of Cashel
I first had this hot blue cheese dip at a pub in Cashel, a town in County Tipperary in the southern midlands. We were on a day trip to see the Rock of Cashel, a site hosting a ruined church and fortifications, formerly the seat of the Irish kings of Munster. Cashel is one of Ireland's most popular tourist sites. The Bolton Library houses many books found nowhere else in the world. Cashel is also famous for its blue cheese so the pub presented every customer with a small crock of this hearty dip.
I asked the proprietor for this recipe, and he pleasantly complied. Maybe because of my American accent, he knew I would not be his competition. Or maybe it was just that Irish good humor. Here it is in all its glory. They served this hot dip at the bar with Irish crackers. It will not be exactly the same unless you have Cashel blue cheese. As with any dairy product, this is the area in which Ireland excels. You have never had such cheeses and butters and creams.
At the end if the post, I will include a description of the different types of blue cheese. From the article: "If you love blue cheese, you will want to try it in as many combinations as you can. But be forewarned: your family members will probably either love it or hate it--there seems to be no middle ground when the subject is blue cheese."
I believe that last statement is so true. My mother was a great lover of blue cheese. She always crumbled it on a salad or melted it on a hamburger before it was fashionable. I also remember the day when restaurants always used roquefort in their dressings. It was actually called roquefort dressing. There really was no comparison. Roquefort is much creamier, richer, and less salty and pungent--almost sweet--than most other blue cheeses. And, of course, more expensive so restaurants stopped serving roquefort. The transition was made in the late 70s/early 80s on most menus, and after awhile I stopped asking the waitstaff if the roquefort dressing was made from roquefort. It never was. Menus finally changed the name to blue cheese dressing instead of calling it roquefort dressing. I have tried to make it buying a slab of roquefort, but where I live in upstate NY there is not a market for it so the cheese is stale sitting in the grocery dairy counter along with most of the other imported cheeses. I imagine in the cities where there is rapid turnover of dairy products it would be possible to make the roquefort dressing of old. For me, it is just another food memory I savor.
Of course, this recipe used the Irish Cashel Blue, and it was extra scrumptious since it was so fresh as it was made right there in the county.
Irish Hot Blue Cheese Dip
Ingredients:
1 stick of butter
16 oz. of cream cheese
1 cup of mayonnaise
6 T. of crumbled blue cheese
Dash of tabasco sauce
Dash of pepper
Preparation:
Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and melt until thoroughly combined. Spray an oven-proof crock or lightly grease. Fill the crock and bake in a preheated 375° oven for 20 to 30 minutes until bubbly and golden brown on top. You could also place the crock under the broiler to ensure the top is lightly browned. Serve with crackers or crusty bread of your choice and a pint of Guinness or Harp, and I guarantee you will be transported back to County Tipperary on a beautiful autumn afternoon.
I enjoyed reading an online article by Renaissance Woman from Warren, MI at AC on the different blue cheeses made in various countries. I will include some of it here. "Are you a blue cheese fanatic? Salty, crumbly, and pungent, blue cheeses possess some of the most distinctive flavors available to us, and many people think they are among the most delicious! Blue cheeses have been around for a long time. It is believed that they were originally discovered by accident and have been enjoyed ever since. The distinctive blue veins are actually the result of penicillum bacteria--related to the same mold that is used to make penicillin. The mold is injected into the cheese and allowed to grow, usually in a cooled environment (traditionally, blue cheeses were made in caves.)
Blue cheeses are generally categorized by the region in which they are made, and the type of milk they are made from. Here are a few of the most common varieties of blue cheese:
Roquefort is probably the best known blue cheese, and may be the oldest. It is made from sheep's milk. It has been made under a French crown patent since 1411, and is only made in the Aveyron district of south central France. It is smooth and firm, and almost spreadable in texture.
Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese, made just north of Milan in northeastern Italy. This one is made from cow's milk. It is exceptionally creamy, and more butterlike than Roquefort. It has a somewhat spicy taste.
Stilton is an English blue cheese. It is only made in the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottingham. (Stilton, Roquefort, and Gorgonzola all have protected designation of origin status under the European Union, which means that they can only bear those names if they have been manufactured in the appropriate geographic location. Ironically, Stilton cheese cannot be manufactured in the village of Stilton, as it is located in Cambridgeshire County.) Stilton is cow's milk cheese with a somewhat fruity, nutty flavor, that gets stronger as it ages.
Maytag Blue is probably the best known of the American blues. It was developed in 1941 by Frederick and Robert Maytag, grandsons of the founder of Maytag Appliances. It's a cow's milk cheese with a smooth, spreadable texture.
Cabrales is a Spanish blue cheese, made from a mixture of cow's, sheep's and goat's milk, and has a very strong, and quite salty, flavor. Valdeon is another well-known Spanish blue cheese, somewhat milder than Cabrales.
Blue cheeses from other parts of the world include such goodies as: Ireland'sCashel Blue, Denmark's Danish Blue, and Germany's Cambozola.
How should you serve your blue cheese? It can be served with practically any course. You can serve it with salad, either in a scrumptious blue cheese dressing, or crumpled on top with a light oil and vinegar topping, or even just fresh lemon juice. You can use it to give a little extra zing to pasta dishes or soups. It can be served on a baked potato or melted on a steak or chicken dish. And for a delicious dessert, try serving it plain, with a fresh fruit accompaniment, a few honeyed walnuts, and a sweet dessert wine."
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