La Fromage Jaunes Est Arrivę

I seem to have been though the entire development of the Polish yellow cheese market, from limited availability of, usually Edam (made from surplus milk by white and cream cheese producers - a company president told me), through the welcome ...damer name variation explosion (and its subsequent deterioration in consistency of taste), into the movement from cut block cheese in the supermarkets to factory pre-packed slices and chunks. All that was left was the production and easy availability of a quality tasting cheese suitable for the cheeseboard. It's arrived.



A few months ago, a range of four different types of six month matured Polish made cheese arrived in Tesco's. I tried two, but they weren't very good - Radamer and Gouda. The Radamer, which can be a good unmatured cheese, was most disappointing, whilst the Gouda was bought mainly because I couldn't imagine Gouda being a high quality table cheese, even matured (within my own personal preferences, obviously) and I wasn't surprised that it wasn't. (I now wonder if Lidl's Gouda is matured, as it taste's the same, but much cheaper.)

In the thrill of anticipation the same day, however, I saw another six-month matured cheese and bought it - Stary Olęder, Old Hollander, I guess it means. It is a strong tasting hard cheese, which I can best describe as being halfway towards the taste and texture of some of the lesser costing parmesan type cheeses - Grand Padarmo, or something like that. (This may just be false memory, but it is good enough to think along those lines.)

The amazing thing, however, was that ...



... it is a Biedronka own product, although, it is produced by Spomlek, which also makes the matured cheeses in Tesco under their own brand. I didn't think about a price comparison, but I had the feeling that the price was reasonable for a 'better quality cheese' (even more so now that I have tasted it).

Tesco also does three levels of English matured cheddar, but even the longest matured didn't taste like the strong mature cheddar I recall in England. I can't remember the brand - maybe something Kingdom, but I did see it in the Warsaw Fish and Chip shop. Stary Olęder is superior.