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August – The Netherlands

Why eat cake when you can eat cheese? Marie Antoinette got it all wrong.

Q: If there were no rules in your life for one day and you could be outrageous, what would you do?

A: I would eat everything in the world. You do not understand, I would eat everything twice. ~ Brook Mahealani Lee, Miss Universe 1997 from USA

The Plan: To stay on a family-run farm in Holland learning how to make goats cheese and visiting the island of Texel famous for its poo cheese (yes, poo!).

I love food. I love everything about it. The colours, the textures, the taste. But more so I love what it represents in life. Good food to me also means good wine and good friends and family. There is nothing more satisfying than to make a mess in the kitchen and then reduce a dinner party to silence as they tuck into the food in front of them. Cheese is one of life’s great pleasures. It might be stinky, mouldy stuff to some, but to me it is pure indulgence in every form. A fromagerie for me is what Prada is to fashion lovers – heaven on earth. Saganaki (deep-fried cheese) might be a heart attack on a plate, but with a squeeze of fresh lemon on the top, gee, it would be a good way to go. Buffalo Mozzarella with Roma tomatoes, fresh basil with a splash of olive oil and balsamic, simply divine. What would spaghetti Bolognese be without Parmesan? The list goes on. And I want to learn how to make it, tonnes of it. Oh my waistline!

Fast Facts:

-The Netherlands is known as cheese country. In fact, the Dutch are known as “cheese-heads”, who’d rather sell their cheese than eat it themselves.

-In Dutch, “cheese-head” is also used to describe the mould in which the cheese is made. It is rumoured that in the Middle Ages farmers in North Holland used these moulds as helmets and this is how the enemy could identify an army of “cheese-heads” approaching.

-Holland is the world’s largest exporter of cheese, producing more than 550 million kilos of cheese a year.

-The Netherlands is most famous for two cheese named after the towns of Edam and Gouda.