Discovery Corner

A cold and wet afternoon, went mooching in Menai Bridge and discovered the most fabulously understated cheese shop - &Caws

The proprietor a fairly familiar face in North London, who’s decided that North Wales might be a better place to raise children, and - importantly - sell Cheese.

And not just cheese, but acoutrements.

It a ‘kiddy in a sweet shop’ kind of place where the only thing holding you back is the number of pennies in the purse and the number of eating opportunities available.

So … this will be a slow exploration. Think I’ll start a ‘Choose a Cheese Tuesday’ feature to outline my findings.

The first of which - not a cheese - but one of those ingredients I kept hearing on Masterchef and other posh TV cooking shows - Nduja.

Nduja is a particularly spicy spreadable pork sausage which hails from Calabria in southern Italy. It’s said to be a bit like Sobrassada that you find in Ibiza, and is roughly based on the French Adouille.

None of which I have ever tried.

It’s made with Calabrian chilli peppers which gives it a somewhat fiery taste. No complaints there.

Nduja is often served with slices of rustic bread and ripe cheese.

It’s also handy for soups and sauces.

This particular Nduja wasn’t from Italy. It came from … approximately 3km as the crow flies from where I was born in Monmouthshire. A Charcuteries called Trealy Farm.

The quest is on now to find something - other than smearing it on a cracker - to do with it.

R