British Cheese in Germany

[neil richardson 7]

Hi All,

 

Been here a few years now and been getting thoroughly annoyed by how bad German cheese is, also been getting sick of soft French cheese or Dutch rubber cheese which quite simply lacks "taste".

 

Anyhow, found this company only on wednesday: British Cheese Emporium - http://www.britishcheeseemporium.de/

 

Theyre in Leverkusen...

 

So i ordered a selection for Christmas, and what can i say!!! the cheese arrived within 24 hours of delivery, the cheese was packed in refrigeration packaging with chiller packs to keep the cheese cool, and i admit to being in awe about how good the packaging and shipping was.

 

I'm just eating some of the cheese now, and already deciding what my next order will be.

 

So, can i recommend this place?? yep, and then some. The customer service is awesome, the prices are affordable, the taste is OUT OF THIS WORLD.

 

N

[JG52 232]

Not much of a cheese shop with nothing in stock. Reminds me of the Monty Python http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPN3KTtrnZM.

[Gwaptiva 7,108]

De gustibus non est disputandum, but bit sweeping in the statements there.

[Derek 969]

 

the cheese arrived within 24 hours of delivery

 

Are you saying it took you 24 hours to open the box?

[Boots 1,930]

Thanks for the tip .- will definitely be checking this out!

[camlough 1,735]

Those prices are shocking :blink:

[crusoe 2,559]

They are (some more than others, to be fair), but the recipes and accompanying photographs are fab.

[MadAxeMurderer 4,984]

I don't get it. I really don't. Oh I'm happy you guys found what you want.

 

I grew up in Ireland. With 6 different flavours of plastic cheddar in 3 colours. No other cheese.

 

If I was stuck in Ireland I might be saying: Great online shop: You can get the best French, Italian, and Swiss cheeses, and if you're a pervert German & Dutch too.

 

But bringing cheddar to a continent that knows what cheese is???

 

Ok I have a fondness for Stilton and might choose it occasionally over Roquefort, and always over Gorgonzola.

And Wensleydale (the cheese not the shop manager) deserves an honourable mention.

 

But cheddar! Why why are you all so hooked up on cheddar??? Did a childhood of plastic cheddar prevent your pallets getting educated?

[Derek 969]

 

I grew up in Ireland. With 6 different flavours of plastic cheddar in 3 colours. No other cheese.

 

But cheddar! Why why are you all so hooked up on cheddar??? Did a childhood of plastic cheddar prevent your pallets getting educated?

 

I grew up on one flavour of plastic cheddar. I don't think you can compare a modern mature/aged cheddar to those 70s/80s el cheapo orange cheddars.

[Uncle Jamal 117]

 

Those prices are shocking

 

They are aren't they?

 

That said the selection looks good and what I briefly saw was not your average supermarket rubbish.

 

English cheese has come a long way in the past 20 years and is up there with French in terms of variety and quality - it's just getting hold of the good stuff (at a reasonable cost) outside of England which isn't easy.

 

I don't really think Germany is the best market for it though as here they really do tend to go for bland stuff. Food is fuel here, generally speaking, and if there's not loads of it on a plate it won't satisfy the value seeking locals.

[thebrucer 543]

 

Did a childhood of plastic cheddar prevent your pallets getting educated?

 

Schoolbooks--now that's an educated pallet

 

[WDave 122]

thebrucer -- I think he meant cheese-related pallets. :rolleyes:

[clickety6 3,571]

If you'd like a decent hard French cheese as a change from the soft ones, try some aged Comte - delicious nutty flavour.

 

And if you have access to a Metro store, they usually have a good range of cheeses including some fairly decent common English ones from time to time. Got some nice Stilton from there last Xmas.

 

The range of British cheese is nowhere near that of the Cheese Emporium's, of course. More like a 1970s Co-Op corner store.

[Small Town Boy 6,658]

 

Those prices are shocking

 

I don't know why you think that. Maybe you eat €8/kilo Butterkäse? Because in Germany even supermarket cheese costs a minimum of €20 a kilo if you want anything even vaguely decent (example). The majority of the cheeses on britishcheeseemporium.de cost between €22 and €35 a kilo, which is quite reasonable considering the vast jump in quality (they are all what is nowadays called "artisan" and cannot in any way be compared with supermarket cheese) as well as the importation costs.

 

To give a concrete example, take the Montgomery cheddar. In the UK this costs £20 (€24) per kilo at Waitrose and £27.50 (€33) at Neal's Yard. On Amazon.de it costs €64 per kilo. And on the website that had your eyes popping out of your head it costs €34.70 per kilo, which in my opinion is very reasonable. If you're not sure why one should spend €35 per kilo for cheddar, may I suggest you try it to find out?

 

 

But bringing cheddar to a continent that knows what cheese is???

 

You can get a pretty good Weißbier in Germany, but does that mean I'm not allowed to also drink a trappist ale from Belgium or a stout from the UK? How boring. Britain has always been one of the world's great cheese producers and the predominately hard cheeses complement well the mostly soft cheeses produced in France for example. Why not eat both?

[MrD 40]

This outfit sells (according to their web site) the following cheeses at various markets in Munich:

 

Cathedral City

Cheddar

Dorset Drum

Elderberry Derby

Garlic Cheddar

Sage Derby

Stilton

Sturminster

Wensleydale & Cranberries

White Stilton & Apricot

 

I met them once at Orleansplatz, but they're not normally there, rather they take their stall to various markets in Munich. They were friendly & the cheese was good.

 

I should add that they also source cheeses from: France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Austria, Switzerland & Spain

[Guest jaycool]

 

I don't know why you think that.

I think it's the Kilo prices. At first I thought it was a bit expensive, too, until I realised it was a pretty normal price when you break it down to 100 gr. prices.

[Small Town Boy 6,658]

Already closed down. Didn't last long.

 

[arunadasi 6,371]

Well, you can get Cathedral City Cheddar at Kaufland, if that's what rocks your boat, and cheddar on occasional Lidly days.

Also, Edeka now has sliced cheddar!!! (Which I will never buy -- I hate sliced cheese.)

[Small Town Boy 6,658]

Sorry, but you cannot compare Cathedral Shitty with the stuff that was sold by BCE. It's like the difference between a Trabant and a Porsche.

[arunadasi 6,371]

I never claimed to be much of a Cheddar Expert. Maybe one day I'll try Gourmet Cheddar. When I become a Gourmet.