Keeping it nice and cheesy

Anyone who ever met me knows that I love cheese, so much so that I even make my own. The National Dairy Council (NDC) seems to love cheese as much as I do as their latest campaign to promote Irish dairy proves.

The NDC has partnered with none other than Donal Skehan to offer a trip for two to Los Angeles to attend a video workshop and learn about food styling, meet Donal Skehan in his home and take in the sights of Los Angeles.

All you have to do is to shoot a small video of yourself, telling the world why you love cooking with cheese. You can either just talk about your favourite cheese, film yourself cooking or anything that comes to mind, showcasing your love of cheese. Be creative as you like, just keep it cheesy (sorry, couldn’t help the pun).

Deadline for entries is 26 July and have to be emailed to cheese@massivepr.tv. All finalists will receive a food styling and photography workshop in Dublin, these workshops are hard to come by, so for this alone the competition is worth entering.

And in case you need some ideas, you could film yourself arranging a delicious cheese board, talking about the different cheeses.

Or you could make a tasty cheese sauce for cauliflower cheese, my favourite cheese dish is an oven-baked brie with caramelized nuts and apple syrup from Highbank Orchard, so tasty. You can find the recipe on biasasta.ie. Or simply sit in front of the camera and talk about the amazing cheeses we produce here in Ireland, especially in Cork. I can’t wait to see the winning clips. More information on the competition is available on cheeseyourway.ie. This competition is run in association with the European Milk Forum and includes local competitions in Ireland, France and Denmark.

Creating a video is quite easy these days, so don’t worry if you don’t have a video camera as most smart phones have good cameras included with video enabled. Apps like KineMaster and others make editing on the go a doddle as well. So, get started and plan your trip to Los Angeles.

Choosing a favourite cheese is quite difficult with so many outstanding cheeses being made in Ireland. Our cheeses win awards in many competitions like the World Cheese Awards in Italy, Great Taste in UK, Mondial du Fromage in France and many others, proving our cheesemakers are masters of their craft.

I love semi-hard cheeses with a washed rind. Original cheesemakers like Veronika Steele, Jeffa Gill and Gianna Ferguson create the best of these cheeses (all located in County Cork) and it is no surprise that these are still being produced, now by the second generation in many cases. Serve with fresh bread and a dollop of homemade chutney and this girl is the happiest of gals.