Celebrate Cheese Lovers Day With Whitestone Cheese

January 19, 2021

Cheese. Proof of a higher power or just a gooey accident that tastes like home? Either way, cheese has been sparking happiness in humans since…well, no one knows. The origins of cheese predate recorded history. A commonly held theory places the invention 8,000 years ago at the hands of an Arab trader who was transporting his milk in a sheep’s stomach pouch. On the one hand, that sounds disgusting. But, on the other, cheese!

The tangy, nutty, creamy, sweet, earthy, gooey food makes us smile even when we’re not about to have our photo taken. Fun fact, in the Victorian era a stone cold expression was desired over a smile. To get those tightened lips the phrase used was “say prunes” instead. Not as joyous. Or as delicious.

Because we love cheese so much, we visited Whitestone Cheese and came up with 5 ways for you to celebrate this Cheese Lovers Day:

1. What better way to celebrate your deep and unyielding love for cheese than taking a tour at Whitestone Cheese in Ōamaru to learn about the cheese-making process? Their guided tours are a deep dive into how the 20,000 litres of North Otago milk delivered onsite every day ends up as neatly packaged product in your local supermarket. Tamin Wilson, Whitestone Cheese’s marketing manager, says the company is true to the source of their local grass-fed milk and believes the natural flavours should be allowed to carry through, “We use handmade techniques, and we like to add a little Kiwi innovation to the mix…We’re simply showcasing our amazing North Otago milk in our cheese and we’re very proud of it.”At the end of every tour, you can experience a cheese tasting, which may open your tastebuds to a new favourite. Tours are held at 10am and 11.45am, Monday-Friday.

2. Put together a cheese platter for friends & family. Cheese has a healthy habit of bringing people together. Being a family run business since 1987, everyone at Whitestone Cheese understands this. As Daisy Lea, Whitestone Cheese’s tour manager, tells it, “It’s definitely a social thing. Cheese is something you can share easily.” So, don’t forget to grab a Windsor Blue, a Totara Tasty, a Mt Domet Double Cream Brie, a bottle of bubbly and get ready for a good night.

3. You’ll find Whitestone in the supermarkets, or you can scroll through Whitestone Cheese’s ever-expanding selection of cheeses and order online. During the Covid lockdown, cheese that could not be utilized by the hospitality sector was sold direct to consumers on Whitestone’s website, as Whitestone accepted returns from the food service distributors who were in lockdown. You can also join Whitestone’s cheese club where you’ll enjoy a seasonal selection of cheese delivered to your door every month.

4. Spend Cheese Lovers Day not just eating cheese but thinking about all the cheeses to come. Whitestone Cheese will be releasing two new cheeses within 2021: Ōamaru Blue, a blue cheese that’s been in the works for two years and ‘Round Hill’ that’s promised to be a firm, nutty, and sweet cheese. Head cheesemaker Chris Moran loves to innovate; “We have recently discovered our very own New Zealand blue mould strain—discovered on a haybale at Shenley Station near Fairlie. It’s now being used in our Shenley Station Blue and our Ōamaru Blue”.

5. Expand your appetite and try a new cheese. Daisy’s favourite part of the tours is seeing the wide eyes of a new cheese lover, “On the tours the Windsor Blue, our flagship cheese, is a converter cheese. You can see people change…Seeing their instant reaction is awesome. They say at the end of the tour “Suddenly I’m into cheese now! What have I missed out on?”

Is there a more beloved food than cheese? We think not.

It can add a thunderbolt of flavour to your pizza. It can be a sophisticated after dinner, pre-dessert plate or an anytime tasty snack. Ensure you bring the cheese to room temperature, resisting the urge to eat it straight from the fridge – you will be rewarded with truer flavours and softer textures.

Make sure you join in on Cheese Lovers Day no matter how you eat it!

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Celebrate Cheese Lovers Day With Whitestone Cheese

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