Thursday, August 26, 2010

What floats my boat...

When you head off overseas, whether for a holiday or to live for a while, you soon find lots of things are different.

After all, if you wanted to see the same old same old, you'd stay at home.

Some different is fantastic (the doctors here make home visits? Awesome!) while other different is not so fantastic. Like the fact that the public loo at Sault is a squat toilet. Have you ever tried getting a 4 year old girl to use a squat toilet? Take lots of wipes.

I want to document the different for future reminiscing so I'm going to have a little 'what floats my boat' feature from time to time. I may also document some of the not-so-great different at some stage, so I don't get too depressed on my return to Australia. Rest assured there will be no photos of trying to get a 4 year old girl to use a squat toilet in Sault. I couldn't give up a hand to hold the camera.

So, what's floated my boat lately? That thing we all think of when we think of France - food. Specifically, cheese.

We'd received a tip-off about a cheese made in our area, so when I saw a specimen at the local charcuterie I brought it home.

Banon1
I just love the way they wrap everything in this paper.

Banon2
Here she is - unpasturised goat's milk cheese wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied off with rafia.
Oh yeah.

Banon3

The cheese is called Banon - the same as the town where this little package of loveliness is made.

Banon4
Undressing the cheese.

It was at this stage I noticed the cheese was what an uneducated, unFrench nose would call a bit whiffy, but nothing bad enough to turn me off my course. 

Banon5
Especially when just the act of lifting the cheese clear of the leaves caused this to happen. 
I knew this was going to be good.

Banon6

I then had to cut the cheese into four portions as we had guests and I'd foolishly decided to share it with them. I'll know better next time.

I had to move quickly as that baby was ripe and would not be contained!

Banon7

What does one serve with Banon? I have no idea, but I went for fresh figs wrapped in parma ham slices, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Can I just say this was sooooo good. The cheese was mild and creamy, but not heavy in the slightest. I know that my piece disappeared far, far too quickly. It must be said that the figs were also perfect.

Banon8

Lucky there isn't one in the house right now because after seeing these photos again, it would be toast.

4 comments:

Selina said...

Drooling so much over here. I'm headed to France in April next year and this is one of the things I am looking forward to most. Cheese. And lots of it. Yum!

Kirsty @ Bonjour Quilts said...

Selina you won't be disappointed! It is amazing how much cheese they have here, I'll be lucky to make my way through half of them while I'm here. I love cheese too, but too much of it doesn't agree with my wobbly bits. It makes them more wobbly. I'm trying to pace myself!

Eva said...

Oh my! Mouthwatering! I love cheese, too! This one looks incredibly delicious and incredibly beautiful wrapped so carefully! Your pictures really capture the beauty and yumminesss! :-)

Karen from Sew Many Ways... said...

Just wanted to stop by and say thank you for your comment on my empty nest. I'm glad I popped over here...your blog is wonderful and the pictures of the cheese and figs looks so yummy. It's so beautiful, it should be in a magazine!!
Take care,
Karen

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