What is the best way to eat Stilton?

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Since I've been living in England I haven't been impressed by local cheeses. Cheddar is OK, Leicester is OK (to me it's pretty close to Dutch cheese in fact), but nothing to write home so far... It's not a critic, I guess Belgians wouldn't be impressed by French beer, neither Italians by French coffee and so on.

article-2061838-0ABCD5AC000005DC-845_468x451.jpg


That was until I discovered Stilton blue cheese! It's by far one of the best cheeses I've ever tasted. Unlike many bland food that can be eaten here, this cheese has temper ; it's strong and tasty, very well balanced to my taste at least. Moreover, I'm not a particularly a big fan of blue cheese usually (Roquefort is way too strong for me, only the lighter cheese such as Saint-Agur suits me). It's really starting to grow on me.

Sales of Blue Stilton have plummeted among younger age groups with most people who buy the traditional delicacy approaching middle age, the latest research shows.

Industry experts say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone.

Consumption by those under 30 years of age has slumped by 23 per cent and few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.

But cheese experts are warning that if the trend continues it could mean that Blue Stilton, which has been in production in the UK for almost 300 years, would only be available overseas.

Now British supermarket The Co-op has decided to step in to lend British Stilton producers a helping hand and has issued an emergency SOS – Save Our Stilton – to the people of Britain to protect Blue Stilton's unique flavours and taste for the future.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...-as-young-people-afraid-to-eat-the-mould.html

The main inconvenient is that like many British cheeses it's crumbly, which is OK if you melt it in a soup (that's what I do with my homemade soups), mix it in a salad or with crème fraîche for a sauce (for pastas or beef), but very unpractical to eat on a slice of bread (unless you cut a slice of Stilton thick enough to hold the cheese altogether). My best results are achieved by mixing Stilton crumbles with butter melting on a hot toast, not the perfect solution, but it works somehow.

I did some research on the internet and read/saw people eating with plum bread (or Asiago bread???) and sweet wine (and even chutney), which I find rather strange because intuitively as a French cheese eater I would prefer some white bread (the baguette from M&S tastes like in France, the Lidl's is OK, and the pain de campagne by Sainsburry's is almost perfect) for its more or less neutral taste in order to savor the cheese and some half dry white wine or some red with tannin to really reveal the numerous Stilton flavors. Even a good beer is likely to do the trick too.

So, in short, how do you eat your Stilton with bread? (I know, not a crucial question, but it matters to me)
 
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Since I've been living in England I haven't been impressed by local cheeses. Cheddar is OK, Leicester is OK (to me it's pretty close to Dutch cheese in fact), but nothing to write home so far... It's not a critic, I guess Belgians wouldn't be impressed by French beer, neither Italians by French coffee and so on.

article-2061838-0ABCD5AC000005DC-845_468x451.jpg


That was until I discovered Stilton blue cheese! It's by far one of the best cheeses I've ever tasted. Unlike many bland food that can be eaten here, this cheese has temper ; it's strong and tasty, very well balanced to my taste at least. Moreover, I'm not a particularly a big fan of blue cheese usually (Roquefort is way too strong for me, only the lighter cheese such as Saint-Agur suits me). It's really starting to grow on me.

Sales of Blue Stilton have plummeted among younger age groups with most people who buy the traditional delicacy approaching middle age, the latest research shows.

Industry experts say that the number of people under the age of 45 buying Blue Stilton has dropped by 18 per cent in the last two years alone.

Consumption by those under 30 years of age has slumped by 23 per cent and few people under the age of 25 would consider buying it regularly.

But cheese experts are warning that if the trend continues it could mean that Blue Stilton, which has been in production in the UK for almost 300 years, would only be available overseas.

Now British supermarket The Co-op has decided to step in to lend British Stilton producers a helping hand and has issued an emergency SOS – Save Our Stilton – to the people of Britain to protect Blue Stilton's unique flavours and taste for the future.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodandd...-as-young-people-afraid-to-eat-the-mould.html

The main inconvenient is that like many British cheeses it's crumbly, which is OK if you melt it in a soup (that's what I do with my homemade soups), mix it in a salad or with crème fraîche for a sauce (for pastas or beef), but very unpractical to eat on a slice of bread (unless you cut a slice of Stilton thick enough to hold the cheese altogether). My best results are achieved by mixing Stilton crumbles with butter melting on a hot toast, not the perfect solution, but it works somehow.

I did some research on the internet and read/saw people eating with plum bread (or Asiago bread???) and sweet wine (and even chutney), which I find rather strange because intuitively as a French cheese eater I would prefer some white bread (the baguette from M&S tastes like in France, the Lidl's is OK, and the pain de campagne by Sainsburry's is almost perfect) for its more or less neutral taste in order to savor the cheese and some half dry white wine or some red with tannin to really reveal the numerous Stilton flavors. Even a good beer is likely to do the trick too.

So, in short, how do you eat your Stilton with bread? (I know, not a crucial question, but it matters to me)
Carr's cheese melts...:)
 
Pairing it with something sweet and textural is the way to go so besides a good cracker (prefer standard Carrs Melts myself) it'll go well with say pear, walnuts and a drizzle of honey at the end of a meal.

It melts beautifully so make some cheese on toast with it, accompanied with any of the above or a chutney.

Finally it does go well with fruit cake/Xmas cake, I think that is a Yorkshire habit but happy to be corrected about that.
 
Pairing it with something sweet and textural is the way to go so besides a good cracker (prefer standard Carrs Melts myself) it'll go well with say pear, walnuts and a drizzle of honey at the end of a meal.

It melts beautifully so make some cheese on toast with it, accompanied with any of the above or a chutney.

Finally it does go well with fruit cake/Xmas cake, I think that is a Yorkshire habit but happy to be corrected about that.
I've also had it with apricot jam. Strange. But true.
 
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