[Sca-cooks] Spice and cheese question for armored turnips

[srberry at teleport.com]

Greetings Mistress Eibhlin, Cheese Goddess and all,

WOW!  I never knew that I never knew so LITTLE about cheese..... jeez!  I had a feeling that my question was a valid one though, and thank you for confirming it!!!

So, to sum up your wonderful primer:  Arwen lives in 1576 Ipswich, which is northeast of London, and a fairly substantial river port.  I could expect to see boats on the quay from Europe, and certainly from the Low Countries with whom we were trading heavily then.  

The recipe calls for a soft cheese, so you would recommend that I look for a soft Dutch cheese or locally made English cheese?  I can argue that.  I was thinking about the Italian cheese angle until I realized that Arwen doesn't LIVE there.... DUH!

I'll get the spices whole from one of the Genovese boats, or maybe those wily Portugese who have recently opened up a trade route around the horn to the Indies and Cathay.  

I hear that the Spanish are practically beside themselves because they fear they are losing their grip on the oceans to the English, they fear they are going to lose Calais to the French, and no one will need them anymore.... how sad.

Q: What's the best way to view the Spanish Armada?
A: From a glass-bottom boat!!!

Q: What ever happened to the Spanish Armada?
A: It got Draked across the shoals.....

Thank you everyone!

Arwen