Since moving ‘up North’, I’ve discovered the joy of pairing fruit cake with cheese – a Yorkshire tradition and a match made in heaven! I think that the sweet, fragrant cherries and delicate almonds in the Cherry Orchard fruit cake are matched by a stronger, hard cheese such as the buttery Black Bomber – a fabulously strong cheese which packs a punch but is also slightly sweet with a hint of caramel and ‘oh so delicious’ creamy texture.
Candying fruit was devised as a method of preserving food. It takes about ten days for a tray of cherries to become Glacé Cherries. In the olden days, fruit was preserved in honey. It was only around the time of the Crusades that it was replaced by sugar.
The almond belongs to the same family of trees as the plum, the peach and the apricot ... and the cherry ... and also the rose family and is sometimes know as ‘the queen of the rose family’. In the Hebrew Bible, the almond was a symbol of watchfulness and promise due to its early flowering.
If you like a strong cheese then try a Vintage Lincolnshire Poacher with a rich full flavour and a lovely, smooth, lingering aftertaste, often with a hint of sweetness. Alternatively, choose your favourite full flavoured Cheddar such as the piquant, crystally Cornish Cruncher or an authentic vintage cheese from Cheddar itself.