Macaroni Mushroom Toss

This is from Make a Meal of Cheese, published in 1973 by the Cheese Information Service (no,  really, it’s a thing). The introduction briefly outlines the history of cheese and describes a few UK specialities such as Stilton, Cheshire, Wensleydale, Derby, Dunlop, Caerphilly etc.  Ignoring, as this book does, the wealth of foreign cheeses, it was with some surprise I read the following ‘All the cheese referred to in the recipes is of the hard-pressed type, usually Cheddar, because this variety is most suitable for use in cooked dishes’. C’mon! A cheese cookbook where they only use Cheddar? This is demented. So it was with some trepidation that I browsed the recipes, and rightly so. I would like to add at this point that I love cheese, and will eat it in many divers, varied and challenging contexts. Make a Meal of Cheese goes too far. Perhaps at a later date I will be brave enough to try the Somerset Cake – a sponge cake with a raspberry jam and grated cheddar filling, but right now just reading this recipe destroys any appetite I may have. There’s also Savoury Welsh Surprise (anyone who’s thinking this might be one that features a Welsh cheese rather than Cheddar must steel themselves for disappointment). This dish is leeks rolled in ham, baked in a cheddar sauce. Horrifyingly this recipe ends with this tip: For a change, try substituting bananas for the cooked leeks. An exciting combination.  Dangerously exciting, if you ask me.