Gjtost? Ye gods, man, who has aroused such ire?

Hey, I actually like Gjetost.

I'll admit, it is a distinctly odd substance, compared to cheese.

I'll also admit that my first encounter (in a hotel in Oslo) did not impress me at all.

But the Gjetost I get from the Bury Lane shop is the nice stuff. I think it's because it's nice and fresh and not-at-all dried out.

I am sorry to admit that I first encountered the substance in a situation where it was not clear that it was... some dairy substance, and not fudge. Unlike the unfortunate Marmite/Nutella Confusion Incident of 1989, I've never recovered.

Well, if you expect fudge, you're going to be rather confused. And if you expect cheese, you're sort of out of luck too.

But if you treat it as a food substance somewhere out in the theoretical phase space of potentiality, something dwelling beneath that ocean out of which the peaks of 'cheese' and 'fudge' poke up as islands, well, then it's quite nice. It goes well on Ryvita as a Scandiwegian snack.

We popped into the deli in Wootton Bassett today for some cheese, and they had Stinking Bishop, so we have some for our Christmas cheeseboard. And Yarg (mmm, love Yarg). Also a couple of local cheeses - Brinkworth Blue and Wiltshire Loaf from Ceri's Cheeses, which are really rather good.

Duck is out of the freezer, and will spend tomorrow uncovered in the fridge to dry the skin. Sprouts are on the stalk in the garden still, but will need to be picked tomorrow so they will thaw.

P.S. I'm assuming you are proper civilised and the Wensleydale and Christmas cake are a couple?

One of us is civilised. The other seems to think that Wensleydale and cake go together, so the pair were bought together.

(Since half the household this Christmas will be Yorkshire born, I'm giving up the battle.)

And the Ballotine (what the butcher names as Ballentine) is now in the oven, to roast gently this evening.

Fruit cake and cheese are a match made in heaven. Mmm.
We have lots of Wensleydale, and mrscosmopilite made a quick-and-dirty Christmas cake the other day.

The duck will be roasted for about 2.5 hours with a cherry jam glaze, and served with a sour cherry sauce. There's just about enough breast meat on a duck for the three of us, and the legs and other oddments will be used for crispy duck next week sometime.