“Cheese?” I asked, with knife poised. I had just cut a slab of rich fruitcake and put it on the plate. The half-stifled “ewww…” and the horrified expression was all the answer I needed. I sighed. People don’t know what they are missing. You simply cannot eat the dense, dark confection without cheese… or at least, not if you come from Yorkshire.
It is one of those oddities of taste that does not seem to have wandered far from its roots, though it did make it across the Pennines and into parts of Lancashire, I am told.
There is no knowing just how far back this culinary tradition goes, but it has been around at least since Victorian times when the modern Christmas Cake became part of the festive fare. It may have descended from an even earlier traditon, and certainly my great grandparents, who were born when Victoria held the throne, would always bring out the cheese with the cake. The cake itself had already made it into the realm of folk magic, and formed part of the New Year tradition of ‘first footing’, when the first person through the door…always a man and preferably dark-haired… would bring a piece of coal, a silver coin and a slice of cake into the house. The cake would be ceremoniously wrapped and kept , with the coal and coin, until the following New Year. In this way, there would always be money, coal and food in the house.
The traditional Christmas could be kept that long because there was little in it that could deteriorate. Packed solid with dried vine fruits, heavy with sugar and best butter, what little actual cake there was holding the stuff together would be effectively embalmed by the judicious and copious application of brandy, sherry and/or rum. Apparently, my great grandmother’s strict interpretation of Methodist temperance did not extend to her kitchen.
The cakes would be made in late summer, cooled, triple wrapped in waxed paper and laid away in sealed tins. Every couple of weeks they would be carefully unwrapped, pricked with a skewer and drenched in a libation of alcohol. By the time Christmas had arrived, one slice was potent enough to knock a small army on its back.
During the war years, with rationing making the baking of rich fruit cakes nigh-on impossible, great-granny developed a substitute recipe. Margarine took the place of butter. Dried egg powder was often all they had and was supplemented with a tablespoonful of malt vinegar. Gravy salt was added to darken the mixture and the dried fruits, were boiled to make them plumper, moister and go further. Grated apples and carrots were added too, for sweetness, given the sugar rationing and to supplement the currants and raisins. There was no shortage of ingenuity.
Great granny passed her recipes down and, when the boys were at home, there were always boiled fruit cakes in the cupboard to add to lunchboxes and, at a pinch, serve with custard as a dessert. The proper fruitcakes were reserved for celebrations, being rather expensive to make, and many people, not knowing the origins of the recipe (or its ingredients!) preferred the slightly lighter and much cheaper wartime version.
These days, I seldom bake… except for special occasions and requests from my menfolk for my lemon meringue pies…. so with Christmas stock well and truly on the supermarket shelves, I will treat myself to a slab of their own brand Christmas cake and a nice, sharp cheese. Having become a lazy so-and-so these days, and with a view to saving on dishes, two slices of cheese slapped either side of a slice of cake will hold it together to be eaten without crumbling, in the manner of a sandwich and in place of a meal. I would normally, at this point, insert an illustrative picture…but I ate it.
If anyone fancies trying granny’s recipe, adapted to more modern tastes, it is very easy. All weights approximate… it is a very forgiving recipe:
240g (8oz) self-raising flour (or plain with baking powder)
320g (12oz) mixed dried fruit
30g (1oz) glace cherries
I small can crushed pineapple, drained (optional)
A spoonful of chopped nuts (optional)
120g (4oz) butter or (block) margarine
1 beaten egg
15cl (1/4 pint) water (plus the juice from the pineapple, and/or a splash of brandy or fruit juice)
1 tablespoon malt vinegar
120g (4oz) dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon spices to taste (mixed spice, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg)
Method
- Put all liquids (except the vinegar), margarine, sugar and fruit into a large pan. Once boiling, cover, turn down and leave to simmer gently for 20 minutes. Leave to cool.
- Once cooled, beat the egg with the vinegar, and and this, the flour and spices to the pan. Stir well, making a wish as you go (it’s traditional).
- Grease and line with greaseproof paper either one 20cm/8″ cake tin or two small loaf tins. Bake in a low oven, (150C/300F/Gas mark 2/3) for about an hour. The cakes are done when they are firm to touch and a warm skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Cool on a wire rack, wrap in greaseproof paper and seal in an airtight tin. Leave them alone for a couple of days at least to get the best from the cakes.
If you can’t wait, try baking a small quantity in a cupcake tin, just so you can try it 😉
Wow…I never knew these Christmas traditions. Sounds so interesting and yummy!
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Terrible for the waistline, though 😉
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Hahaha…most of the yummy treats are! Who cares 😛
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Not me…yet 😉
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Neither do I 😛
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🙂
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Don’t forget Spotted Dick! or my childhood favourite snack – a freshly pulled Manglewurzle. Yum, yum, yum…
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But you can’t put custard on a mangel 😉
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Thank god for that!!!
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😀
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Nope… Never heard of the cheese accompaniment before!!!!
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It is surprising how little the idea has spread. Do try it 😉
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I may just have to 😊
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makes me understand the fruitcake a bit more and i do understand the unlikely combination with cheese. here, people often pair a thick slice of cheddar cheese with fresh apple pie.
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Cheese and apples go so well together… Okay, I just like cheese 😉
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Cheese is the best part
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Always 🙂
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My mum or one of my sisters always used to send us a Christmas cake and a round of Wensleydale. Husband, who’s from Essex loves both. I’m not sure they have cheese down there 🙂
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Lovely.
(A lot of people just don’t understand the good old ‘Brummie’ jam and cheese sandwich….choice of jams and cheese to your personal taste.)
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I’m not a big lover of jam, but I can see how that would work 😉
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The two tastes meld so nicely.🤗
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I may have to try 🙂
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Blackcurrant jam and an unassuming cheddar go well together.😃
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I can see how they would complement each other 😉
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The permutations with differing types of bread and spreads can make each sandwich an adventure!
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I sense passion in your replies, Roger 😉
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🤗🤗
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Yep, rich fruit cake and cheese has always been enjoyed in my family. I like your idea of making a sandwich with the cake between cheese slices! On Boxing Day, leftover Christmas pudding was sliced and fried with bacon – yum. Thank goodness we only have it once a year 🙂
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It saves washing up and crumbs 😉
Bacon and pudding… not that sounds interesting too… 😉 Sally’s Mum served cold pudding with cheese…
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I like your thinking. Christmas pud and bacon go beautifully together – and I usually add a slice of black pudding. I saw Sally’s comment about her mum liking cold pudding and cheese – not so sure but am quite prepared to give it a go. Let’s face it cheese goes with just about anything!
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I can see how it would work… I have to say that I’d pass on the black pudding though 😉
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
In our household both Christmas cake and what remained of the Christmas pudding (my mother preferred hers cold) was served with a slice of mature cheddar.. something my father who came from the North East brought to the party. Sue Vincent celebrates this marriage of rich, dark fruit cake (sometimes slightly enebriated with a little brandy) with cheese. Plus you get her gran’s Christmas Cake recipe… this cake will withstand the test of time and can be made months ahead… go for it.. but don’t forget the cheddar…#recommended
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Reblogged this on anita dawes and jaye marie.
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Thanks for sharing 🙂
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This recipe sounds tasty, so I will be making several of these for Christmas!
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They are best made in batches… and kept wrapped for a while. They keep really well and just get better.
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I will remember that, Sue…
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Wonderful history of the Christmas cake! My mother used to bake one every year and oddly enough, I would always get some cheese to eat with it. I do not think my Mom knew about the cheese, but it is yummie. She has been gone now for many years. Armed with your Great gran’s recipe, I will bake one for my father this year. He always enjoyed the cake.
Thank you, Sue! 💗
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This is a fairly light fruitcake, but delicious, especially with a bit of cheese ❤
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I still bake a christmas cake but only a small one nowadays. We always had cheese with cake at home, probably after living in Yorkshire. When i was a toddler I ate the whole family’s cheese ration (1951) which had been stowed in my pram.
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Oh dear! prams were useful things where dhopping was concerned… though apparently not for the cheese 😉
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Fruitcake and cheese sounds absolutely fine to me, the stronger and sharper the better – yum! Sweet and savoury together isn’t really that odd, what about the usual combination of pancakes and bacon in American breakfasts? And in my house a traditional toasted teacake with crisp grilled bacon inside tastes divine, it makes for a very different take on the standard boring bacon roll. Mind you my friend’s dad always used to like a plate of thick homemade vegetable soup with a slice of fruitcake as accompaniment rather than bread… but I think that’s maybe pushing it a bit… 🙂
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Fruitcake goes with pretty much everything, given half a chance. I’ve never tried bacon in teackaes though. Not yet anyway 😉
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My paternal grandparents were strict methody but still had Rum in the house. Grandfather had been in the Army in WW1 and anyway we were part of the Cumberland ‘rum belt’ where rum is a food staple
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‘Medicinal’… that’s what great granny used to say. And it was. Mixed with soap flakes, it was great for chillblains as a poultice. Stank to high heaven though…
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I never knew there were so many ways to make fruitcake. Piercing with a skewer every so often and soaking in liquor. My, my!
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Oh, that is obligatory 😉
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🙂
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When Becca first came here, she introduced me to cheese and Christmas cake, I’ve never looked back since. xxx
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It gets addictive ;)xx
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My wife – Norfolk born and bred – introduced me to cheese and fruit cake ( she also added sliced apple- Norfolk huh?) When I first met her in 1976. My mum (London and home counties) looked at her rather oddly but Dad (Northamptonshire and The Fens) knew exactly where she was coming from.
The making of the Christmas Cake with the monthly stir and wish as alcohol was added was a childhood treat. Gran even had some that were several years old in the 60s – one famously with cobwebs when it was cut. Didn’t stop gran enjoying it. Waste not…
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They just get better with age… though my grandfather used the Christmas Cake recipe for my wedding cake too. A fabulous confection… but whether there was too much brandy or too little time between the marzipan and the icing, mother, the icing went brown. The night before the wedding, mother and I had to chisel the lot off and re-ice it.
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Brown, now that makes for an interesting take on the clout criteria for a wedding. A brown wedding… hmmm what could that be?
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It wasn’t just the colour… the icing was as hard as marble 😉
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Now you’ve made me hungry.
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If you try this recipe, let me know what you think. With cheese 😉
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I’m not much of a baker, but I may just have to buy myself a fruitcake. And I will definitely try it with cheese. I am a big fan of sweet and savoury combos.
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Me too Fransi. Let me know what you think 🙂
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I will 😊
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I remember my aunt Sarah’s Christmas cakes all those years ago, I am an American but my lineage is Welsh, and Sarah and other relatives brought their recipes with them from the old country. Thank you, friend, for bringing those precious memories back to me. Best, David
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Well, thre is a good old-fashioned recipe to try… and an easy one too. But don’t forget the cheese 😉
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Sue, that sounds wonderful, thank you! And sooo pretty to look at too 🙂
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It is a mouthful of heaven and home 🙂
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Piercing with a skewer and soaking with booze we have always done..Not eaten with cheese but I can imagine how good it would be…Pressed This and scheduled for Saturday and will definitely be eating a sandwich with cheese…Thank you for sharing, Sue 🙂
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Thank you, Carol… and do let me know what you think when you try it 🙂
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Love fruit cake with cheese, and I’m from Dorset!
As for Christmas Cake, I would make it in September, wrap and seal, then at the end of October and November, dose it up with brandy. Two weeks before Christmas t would get its final dose and marzipaned, then iced on Christmas Eve.
A dear friend made her cake and her son helped himself to a slice as it was cooling. She didn’t say a word, marzipaned and iced it as usual, but come Christmas, he wasn’t allowed any as he’d already had his!
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Oh that’s not fair! 🙂 I can’t imagine Christmas without a bit of cake.. so I’m starting early 😉
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I shall probably cheat as it’s only the two of us and buy a small dundee instead.
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The local supermarket does a nice fruit cake bar… it does me, but the lads usually expect me to bake anyway. And Mum’s mince pies are obligatory. 😉
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I buy those too, but have to leave them to the last minute as they never see the end of the week in which purchased otherwise.
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Week? They won’t last a couple of days if I have some decent cheese 😉
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Exactly. I buy them on the Thursday, they’re gone by Friday. I’ve even tried hiding them, but Hubby gets peckish and I weaken…………..
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I bought mine to put up for later… it taunted me… 😉
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They’re like sirens aren’t they……….. calling from the cupboard.
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I have no willpower… except, oddly enough, if I have run out of cheese…
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Will Power is just a distant friend at the moment. My only plan of attack is not to buy the niceties, but I do……… for Hubby of course.
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Thankfully, I don’t have that excuse to tempt me into trouble… not that I need any help 😉
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ha!
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Sue, I’m not a fan of that cake, but appreciate the history behind it. And cheese too? Lol. OKay, seems I’m far from being a Brit with the passion for these cakes, lol. 🙂 xxx Wondering if Ani likes it? ❤
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Ani is not allowed it, whether she likes it or not… it is packed with raisins and vine fruits, and they can cause acute kidney failure in dogs. 😦 But she shares the cheese 😉 xx
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Oh yes of course! But cheese, oh ya, Ani love cheese. 🙂 xx
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She’ll do almost anything for cheese 😉 xxx
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🙂 😉 xx
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There are many uses for cheese, Sue. My dad used to say “Apple pie without cheese is like a kiss without a squeeze”.
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I can understand that, Lynn, and have often backed it with a cheesey pastry 🙂
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Never heard of that before but we might just give it a try in a couple of months time. 😀
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Do, I promise it makes a wonderful combo 😉
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Sounds yummy, Sue! Thanks for sharing! 🤗😘
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It is, Janice 🙂
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I’m going to give your recipe a try, Sue. It’s amazing how certain foods, eaten certain ways, carry such vivid memories… as if they’re stored in the flavor. My Dutch grandmother would get fruitcake for all of us at Christmastime. I remember making a face, but what I would give for those moments again. 🙂
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The memories come flooding back with some things… the senses remember and open the doors for the mind.
There were always coins hdden in the fruitcakes too… terrible if you forgot and took a proper bite without looking first! 🙂
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Ha ha. Ours didn’t have coins, but I do recall a hard-boiled egg for some reason (?).
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I’ve never heard of that one before!
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Reblogged this on Have We Had Help? and commented:
Weird tastebuds 😉
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I’ve never had fruit cake with cheese, but I see how that could work, and intend trying that taste combination.
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, Tori 🙂
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I’ll let you know. 😉
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Fruitcake, the kind made with real dried fruit (not just the citrus pieces) and nuts, and as you noted, drenched with its coating or rum or whatever other liquor might be available at the time is my absolute fave, and this last Christmas I made my very first one myself. I had always relied on getting a piece hopefully from someone else, but one piece is never enough. You must have some all through the holidays with good hot steaming tea, coffee, or whatever else might float your boat. And cheese, oh how could anyone else know that I am one of the true cheese mongers? I would try to walk on my hands to get some good cheese. I just read somewhere that Cheddar cheese was first created in the U.K. My favorite cheese is brie, but any delicious cheese will do. I guess a glass of champagne or some good wine would do nicely too. I just hope that I can always make a fruitcake, and my other favorite is (and you can imagine this one) cheesecake. Just made one today for Valentine’s day for my sweetie and me, but it has to sit for several hours more in the refrigerator to get just right, and I am growing tired, so we will likely have a piece of it for breakfast with our coffee. I just tried in the lemony cheesecake some dried and reconstituted cherries and blueberries and we made the crust with ginger snaps, so it should be really good. Oh, this made my day, simple creature that I am, to read about eating my fruitcake with cheese. Next Christmas when we get the fruitcake out, I will make sure I have a variety of cheeses to eat with it! Thank you kindly.
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