The Off Topic Topic

[The Brain]

I would rather vote for a Pecorino as POTUS.

[mongers]

On that - whenever I read about QAnon I always think about Q, the really good political conspiracy thriller set in the Reformation written by an Italian collective:

I've seen some speculation that they or the leading light from the group may have started QAnon.

Oh that's amazing!

I had never considered that. It sort of makes sense - a collective of authors, books that are kind of allegorical (Q is about the Reformation but the post-script suggests it's really about Operation Gladio and neo-liberalism) and the thwarting of counter-culture/movements of resistance in the 60s and 70s, all of the books have a MacGuffin (in 54 I think it's literally the "MacGuffin Device") a bit like the Trump paedo-cleanse.

This is dangerous - if I keep thinking about this I'm going to end up being a conspiracy theorist about conspiracy theories. Which is, weirdly, what Luther Blissett/Wu Ming would really want

Right because I might be having a senior moment here, Shelf, I'll try and do some research. IIRC it was a small documentary on a news channel or perhaps an item on newsnight a fair few months ago.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Edit: Also that's a weird picture of cheddar - you don't normally get red cheddar

That looks like the Irish Cheddar we get over here

Cheddar looks like this:

Well, that explains it.  That is not the Cheddar I know.  It is orangy red

Cheddar is a very easy cheese to look after and keeps well, in fact the older the better. Tragically this has led to its debasement  . The next time you are in the UK we must arrange a cheese tasting session; I will bring some of the cheddars available from my local supermarket. They are fantastic, they are also 3 or 4 times the price of the industrial stuff of course, hence the problem.

[Eddie Teach]

White cheddar is better, but orange is fine too as long as it's sharp.

[Josquius]

Edit: Also that's a weird picture of cheddar - you don't normally get red cheddar

That looks like the Irish Cheddar we get over here

Irish cheddar?

Like...spanish champagne or Croatian parma ham?

[celedhring]

Edit: Also that's a weird picture of cheddar - you don't normally get red cheddar

That looks like the Irish Cheddar we get over here

Irish cheddar?

Like...spanish champagne or Croatian parma ham?

We make decent sparkling wines, you know...

[Sheilbh]

Irish cheddar?

Like...spanish champagne or Croatian parma ham?

Cheddar isn't protected like champagne or parma ham, or Melton Mowbray pork pies or Stilton. Farmhouse Cheddar is protected and very difficult to get outside the West Country (it's amazing). Which is part of the reason for its debasement as RH says.

We make decent sparkling wines, you know...

Of course - it's excellent but it's its own thing not champagne

(Theree is nothing I am more fiercely, and inexplicably, European about than the protection of DOs and geographical status protections )

[celedhring]

(Theree is nothing I am more fiercely, and inexplicably, European about than the protection of DOs and geographical status protections )

It has led to every two-bit region trying to DO their own variety of everything.

Just checked and Catalonia has like 11 wine DOs (Spain as a whole 138). Priorat, Penedés, Terra Alta, Alella... those I can take, these are traditional wine-making regions. The rest? Tarragona wine, really? 

[Sheilbh]

It has led to every two-bit region trying to DO their own variety of everything.

Just checked and Catalonia has like 11 wine DOs. Priorat, Penedés, Terra Alta, Alella... those I can take, these are traditional wine-making regions. The rest? Tarragona wine, really? 

As a more recent wine producing country (thanks, climate change) we only have four: English wine, English regional wine, Welsh wine, Welsh regional wine

[celedhring]

I've been told that there's some good (and expensive) ones, but the concept of English wine is still abhorrent to me 

[Sheilbh]

I've been told that there's some good (and expensive) ones, but the concept of English wine is still abhorrent to me 

I understand that. But I have heard from people who genuinely know and care about wine, and are Italian that there are good English wines.

I will try them at some point - I think it's mainly roses and sparkling that are good - but I don't know that.

[Richard Hakluyt]

English wine is generally very good; though I have only had about 6 bottles so far 

It is rather expensive.

Then there is British wine; disgusting cheap stuff made from imported grape juice. Anyone fancying giving English wine a go needs to be aware of this distinction.

[Razgovory]

Ugh, this is driving me batty.  I kept having the weird feeling that someone was watching me, just to my right.  I got some more sleep and I feel a bit better.

[Duque de Bragança]

Cheddar isn't protected like champagne or parma ham, or Melton Mowbray pork pies or Stilton. Farmhouse Cheddar is protected and very difficult to get outside the West Country (it's amazing). Which is part of the reason for its debasement as RH says.

It's true but wiki adds the following:

Cheddar produced in Orkney is registered as an EU protected geographical indication under the name "Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar".[39] This protection highlights the use of traditional methods, passed down through generations since 1946 and its uniqueness in comparison to other cheddar cheeses.[40]

(Theree is nothing I am more fiercely, and inexplicably, European about than the protection of DOs and geographical status protections )

True. I guess that why the Brits did not care so much until recently, with predictable results.

PS: English wine? I guess English winemakers voted Brexit. 

[Sheilbh]

It's true but wiki adds the following:

Cheddar produced in Orkney is registered as an EU protected geographical indication under the name "Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar".[39] This protection highlights the use of traditional methods, passed down through generations since 1946 and its uniqueness in comparison to other cheddar cheeses.[40]

?

Everyone's made cheddar for years - see Irish cheddar. It's why it became so debased. I can well believe Orkney cheddar is pretty unique.

True. I guess that why the Brits did not care so much until recently, with predictable results.

PS: English wine? I guess English winemakers voted Brexit. 

I've always been a fierce defender of them

Probably did vote Brexit just given where they're located, and as a matter of averages given that most people voted Brexit