Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I forgot to mention that on Wednesday this week just gone we drove over to Busselton to do some shopping, have lunch with my parents at the Ship Hotel (BTW, excellent value! $12.95 for a full-size Scotch Fillet with chips and salad; for the North Americans, Scotch Fillet is what you call Rib Eye steak).

On the way home (between Busselton and Nannup) we stopped in at a place we’ve often driven past: the Cambray Sheep Cheese factory and shop. Neither of us was familiar with sheep cheese until we starting watching the excellent “Cheese Slices” series presented by Aussie Will Studd on the Lifestyle Food channel. So here was our opportunity to try some. They have free cheese tastings and if you want something more substantial, you can buy a cheese platter to eat on the veranda looking out over the lush green paddocks to the rams’ enclosure.

As is typical with any cheese factory, the smell hits you as you walk in the door. Phew! But after about a minute your nose acclimatises and you don’t notice it. They have some fabulous hand-made cheeses—we tasted them all and ended up buying a hard cheese (similar to a pecorino), and three soft cheeses (similar to brie and camembert, and their own special Friesette from their East Friesland sheep).

The Cambray sheep cheeses weren’t cheap but they sure were nice!