Fig, honey and oooooh…which to choose cheese canapés: the battle of the blues
“here’s an imagined
-Zoë Skoulding, A Revoloutionary Calendar
structure of sweetness;
whose algorithm
is it humming
under your breath”
So there I was, in the middle of Daylesford, a sort of farm shop on steroids in the middle of the Cotswolds. And I thought I’d better try some of their blue cheese (in the interests, as always, of research for Saucy Dressings).
I’d got the cheese – but then, what to put it on. I fingered an alluring biscuit tin containing a selection of mixed cheese biscuits – a hedge-your-bets solution, or so I thought.
“I wouldn’t buy those to eat with that cheese if I were you”, cut in a prescient assistant, reading my thoughts, and heading off the incipient, ill-advised purchase. “This is what we recommend…” his long arm reached up purposefully towards a box of charcoal biscuits. It seemed churlish to spurn his advice, so, reader, I bought them.
But then the fun commenced.
Once back at Filly Island, my temporary HQ, I prepared three charcoal squares with Daylesford (cows’ cheese), topped with figs which I’d just harvested from a bush at the back of the house. And some honey, helpfully provided by Mouse.
And then, the same procedure for Ribblesdale blue goats cheese.
Ribblesdale versus Daylesford – which would triumph?
Which won? It was the Ribblesdale Blue, hands down…there was something about the sour goatiness of it which countered the sweet fig and honey, and because Ribblesdale isn’t a soft cheese, it’s not over-the-top rich. On the other hand, it does have that tangy touch of blue….
Daylesford did well though – the charcoal biscuits were indeed the perfect canvas for these little miniature works of art!
For those that don’t drink, incidentally, these canapés pair well with elderflower cordial.
Method for Ribblesdale blue goats cheese, fig and honey canapés
- Find friends to help you as you will eat these as fast as you make them! Listen to Billie Holliday singing Lady Sings The Blues (below) while you do this….a true classic
- Take a small square Daylesford (or, in fact anybody’s) charcoal cheese biscuit
- Cover with a thinnish piece of Ribblesdale blue.
- Cover that with a thin slice of freshly picked fig (or, one you have bought in the supermarket)
- Drizzle over clear, runny honey.
For other canapé recipes on Saucy Dressings, follow this link.
Music to cook to
These canapés take no time to make. Listen to Lady Sings the [Ribblesdale] Blues while you prepare them.
