Delissimo Cheeses and Fresh Eggs

Local and speciality foods, homeware and gifts

9 Crewe Road, Alsager, Cheshire. ST7 2EW. Tel 01270 884200

Oils, Vinegars and Dressings

Dairy - Cheese and Eggs

English Cheese

Staffordshire Cheese Company - Staffordshire

The Staffordshire (V) - a cloth bound cheese which is matured for at least three months. This cheese has received a European Designation of Origin mark which protects food names on the basis of their regionality.

Cheddleton and Chives (V) - a crumbly cheese with chives added

Moorlander Oak Smoked (V) - a smoked cheese with gentle aromas

Cropwell Bishop Creamery - Nottinghamshire

Cropwell Bishop Stilton (V ) - Rich, creamy with a rounded flavour. Still made using traditional methods to ensure consistent quality and flavour.

Joseph Heler - Cheshire

Lancashire Cheese - As it's name suggests, was originally made in the locality of Preston and found fame in Robert Louis Stephenson's book 'Treasure Island'. Lancashire has a crumbly texture with a sharp and tangy flavour.

Appleby's of Hawkstone - Shropshire

Applebys Cheshire (UV) - one of the only hand-made cloth bound Cheshire Cheeses to be made in the 'old fashioned' way. It is produced using a traditional recipe and milk from the Appleby's own farm. This combination gives the cheese its unique texture and flavour.

Butler's 9 month mature (V) -

Welsh Cheese

Y-Fenni (Abergavenny) (V) - made from mature cheddar cheese blended with whole-grain mustard and Welsh ale. Pasteurised cows' milk is used. The mixture is then pressed firmly into moulds and then coated in a pale yellow wax. It has a full tangy mustard flavour, moist texture, pale-yellow colouring speckled with the mustard grains.

Irish Cheese

French Cheese

Brie de Nangis (U) - Raw milk with a full flavoured tangy Brie with a slightly salty finish

Cantorel Brie (V) -

Italian Cheese

Pecorina Romano (U) - is a ewes' milk cheese which is made all over Italy – but the best and most useful in the kitchen is Pecorino Romano, as this is aged and hardened especially for grating. It is similar to Parmesan but sharper, with much more bite, and this gives a lively kick to many Italian dishes, particularly pasta with carbonara sauce or the lovely four-cheese sauce. Delia like this one!

Parmigiano Reggiano (U) - making is restricted to the dairy farmers of Emilia Romana, and begins with a mix of morning and evening unpasteurised milk. This is heated in huge cauldron-like boilers and cut and drained with incredible dexterity, then the young cheese is brine bathed and allowed to mature for a minimum of eighteen months. The cheese are tested several times before they are passed for sale with Parmigiano Reggiano imprinted all around the rind. The flavour is a fantastic mixture of just enough salt and sharpness with milky buttery-ness and a grainy texture that is never dry. Delia like this as well

Buffalo Mozzarella (UV) - A fresh, textured cheese with a porcelain-white colour, it has an extremely thin rind and delicate taste. When cut, it produces a white watery fluid with the aroma of milk enzymes. The peculiarity of this cheese is entirely due to the technology used in its traditional preparation. It is produced exclusively from whole buffalo milk and, after drawing and moulding, may also be smoked, but only using natural traditional procedures

Taleggio - Buttery, delicate, semi-soft and subtlety sweet cheese from Italy made from cow's milk. It usually has a square shape. The cheese has a special taste and aroma. The crust is pinkish-gray and the paste is white, supple and fruity. It ripens in 25 - 50 days and has a fat content of 48 per cent. There is also a cooked-curd version which is firmer and bears a resemblance to Mozzarella. Taleggio is also known as Stracchino (from the Italian stracche (fatigued) which referred to the cows of the area after travelling back to the valley from their grazing season in the high pastures. Taleggio is an excellent dessert cheese that goes very well with a robust wine. It's excellent with salad greens or served with fruit for dessert.

Spanish Cheese

Manchego - Manchego is named for the Spanish region of La Mancha, also home of Don Quixote. This historic cheese is produced in the La Mancha region from pasteurized sheep's milk. It has a black gray or buff colored rind with a crosshatch pattern, the interior ranges from stark white to yellowish, depending on age. The aroma should suggest lanolin and roast lamb. The final cheese is usually smeared with olive oil and surface mould is removed. It has a number of holes and a mild, slightly briny, nutty flavor. It is sold at various stages of maturity: at the age of 13 weeks it is described as curado (cured) and, when over three months old it is referred to as viejo (aged). There is a peppery bite to cheeses that have reached a great age. It is best known of a series of sheep's cheeses and is similar to Zamorano, Cadiz, Calahora or Castelleno.

Greek Cheese

Feta (V) - Feta is one of the most famous cheeses in Greece. It is made in various sizes, often as a loaf-shape. Feta is solid, but crumbly with some fissures. Pure white, it has a milky fresh acidity. Feta was originally made with either ewe's milk or a mixture of ewe's and goat's milk, but today most feta is made with pasteurized milk and tastes of little besides salt. Some people are put off by the strong salt content but the salt is intended only as a preservative and is not supposed to overpower the taste of the cheese. Feta can be soaked in fresh, cold water or milk for a few minutes or longer, if necessary, to make it less salty. It has a fat content of 40 - 50%. Feta makes zesty addition to salads and many cooked dishes

Halloumi (V) - Great when pan fried and drizzled with lime juice

Eggs

Fresh Chicken Eggs from Oakhanger - just down the road