Travelling With Cheese

Recently I made the mistake of leaving food, mainly dairy products in the car for a couple of hours on a warm day.  Now you would think that someone who has been around a century or two would know better.  Did I listen to my inner warning bells?  Of course not, I was busy, I wasn’t going to be long running other errands, she’ll be right mate!  Well she wasn’t right.  When finally unloading the shopping at home I was met by a smell that had the nose twitching and a gooey, rancid blob of not inexpensive cheese that was quickly dispatched to the bin.

Then I started thinking about what visitors to the region should do when they happen across artisan food producers and country farmers markets in their travels and want to savour those goodies for a little while at home. So I asked Nardia Baxter-Keene of Goldfields Farmhouse Cheese what she recommends travellers do when they buy food stuff and want to get it home safely.

“At this time of year, when heat is a factor and storing food a little problematic, it’s best to think ahead.

Cheese is always a must in a picnic hamper.  A cheese is a living thing and it needs to be looked after and kept cold.  And the same can be said for most food products. When you travel, even if you’re not planning to buy perishable foods, you should still be prepared – you never know what you may find.  Remember to throw an esky or cold bag in the car.  It doesn’t take up much space and if you pop in a cold brick or two, you will have a container all ready to welcome those lovely, yummy things you are going to find.  By chilling the esky or cold bag from the beginning you are ensuring that your purchases will remain in pristine condition – after all, it’s not much good using your cold purchases to cool down your bag, you want the bag to cool your purchases.  And if it’s taking you a bit longer to get home, most service stations sell ice these days, so you can always buy a bag and throw it into the container – alternatively a packet of frozen peas from a supermarket is also effective.

When buying cheese only buy what you are going to eat in the next week or two.  It sounds like an odd thing to recommend, but buying cheese to keep for a later date is not a great idea as it could be forgotten or it will no longer be at its best.   A cheese monger worth their cheese will be selling you cheeses that are ready to eat.

But my best suggestion for travelling with cheese is to take it with some local small goods or charcuterie, a loaf of good bread and a bottle of local wine, beer, cider or mineral water to one of our regions great picnic spots and enjoy.”

Goldfields Farmhouse Cheese is in Albert Street, Creswick and they now have a garden area where you can enjoy a glass of excellent regional wine to accompany a tasting cheese platter. http://www.goldfieldsfarmhouse.com.au