FONDUE

Fondue is usually made with a mixture of cheeses. In this recipe the Gruyère gives flavour, the Emmentaler richness and the Vacherin melts nicely. The cheese should be heated in an earthenware caquelon (pan) on a gas or electric hob, and then the pan transferred to a spirit burner.

Serves 6
plenty of good crusty French-style bread
300g Gruyère, grated
300g Emmentaler, grated
300g Vacherin Fribourgeois, cut in cubes
1 clove garlic
300ml dry white wine
juice of 1/2 a lemon
a little freshly grated nutmeg
2 tsp cornflour
1 small glass Kirsch
black pepper

• Cut the bread in good chunks and put them in a basket
• Put all the prepared cheese in the fondue pan with the garlic, wine, lemon juice and nutmeg
• Mix the cornflour into the Kirsch and stir until smooth, add to the pan, bring the cheese very gently to the boil, stirring continuously in a figure of eight, and simmer for 3-4 minutes
• Season with pepper and bring to the table
• Serve with the cubes of crusty bread

CHEESE TERRINE

Here’s a good-looking and delicious recipe for a layered ‘terrine’ of cheese. It’s not cooked, just an assembly job and you can use leftover pieces that are still good (but maybe not quite good enough for the cheese board) or you can buy a selection – the point is to have a combination of soft and hard cheeses, including some blue if possible, so it looks nice when you slice it. You need 500-600g cheese, weighed after rinds have been removed. Serve the terrine as a starter sliced and garnished with walnuts and some dressed salad leaves and a little blob of chutney, or as a main course after a bowl of soup for lunch or supper.

Serves 6-8
500-600g assorted soft and hard cheeses, rinds removed, cut in thin slices
6-8 halved walnuts to garnish
some lettuce or lamb’s lettuce leaves

• Line a small terrine (14 x 9 cm) with clingfilm/Saran wrap
• Arrange the sliced cheese in layers in the terrine, pressing down hard each time and keeping a balance of textures and colours – start with hard, then soft, hard again, then blue etc.; finish with a layer of hard cheese
• Close the clingfilm up over the terrine, cover and chill for several hours
• Turn out the terrine and peel away the clingfilm
• Cut in slices with a very sharp knife, garnish each one with a halved walnut and serve with the dressed salad leaves and/or some chutney