For a long time, red wine and cheese were the winning association probably because the cheese farmers used to drink a light red wine in France called "Picrate" with very little tannins.

Yes you see me coming, the problem that most enlightened sommeliers and cheese producers understand nowadays, is that, red wines, rich in tannins, turn out to be hard to marry with cheese. As they are tasted along with the fat of the cheese and its crust, the tannins become dry, giving a metallic bad taste in many cases.

As a matter of fact, white wines, champagne and even cider and beer, are better options to savour the taste of your favourite cheeses and make the best of it.

A little tip : whichever cheese you choose, try to marry it with a wine with the same regional origins of your cheese, as it will give the best combinations. In French, it 's called : "accord geographique".

Enclosed is a map of French cheeses and where they come from.

I will give you few examples of great wine and cheese combinations, but the list is not exhaustive and it can be applied to other cheese-producing countries like Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy....

• Goat cheeses like Crottin de Chavignol with Sauvignon based white wine Sancerre, Pouilly Fume...
• Blue Cheeses like Roquefort , Fourme d'Ambert, with Sauternes, Montbazillac or white Bordeaux...
• Comte cheese will go well with white wine from Jura, a Chardonnay and even a Port...
• Munster, Pont l'Eveque and Epoisses cheeses with white wine Gewurztraminer, Pinot gris from Alsace...
• Reblochon cheese, one of my favourites, will go perfectly with White wine from Savoie, a St Joseph Croze Hermitage
• Brie, Camembert cheeses to marry with Sauvignon, Sancerre or Pinot blanc...
• Vacherin and Mont d'Or cheeses with a golden wine from the Jura region...
• Chaource cheese can be married with Petit Chablis from Burgundy area and even will go very well with champagne... no need to wait for dessert !

To close this little blog, I will say that if you really enjoy your red wine, choose from a selection of reds with very little tannins like a Pinot noir from Alsace, a Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil or a red from the Tourraine region.

Enjoy !



NB : In Singapore, I like to buy my cheese and bread either at Chez Choupinette on Bukit Timah Road next to Coronation Plaza, or at Culina on Dempsey hill.

I like to buy my wine at Wine Selection PTE LTD (check FB page) : great selection of French wines and nice champagne too - I recommend the Champagne Gonet Blanc de Blancs Brut Signature.

The art of creating the perfect cheese platter...

At Lemongrass & Aubergine, we love cheese with passion, we love cheese knives and we love cheese boards.

You can have cheese between main course and dessert or have cheese for a snack and my personal favourite is a meal of only cheese. Cheese a big part of the meal in France and personally I like to display it nicely for the pleasure of both eyes and mouth.

Depending on the number of guests and the number of dishes you are serving, you'll need at least three different types of cheese : 1 hard, 1 soft, 1 strong. Count about 50 to 60 g per person and more if it's the only "Piece de Resistance" (main dish in French) of your meal. Mix the textures of the cheeses to make your cheese board more appealing.

Choose 3 or more from this list : 1 blue cheese like Roquefort or Stilton or Gorgonzola ; 1 creamy cheese like Saint-Felicien, Saint- Marcellin, a very soft Camembert or Brie ; 1 goat cheese like Crottin de Chavignol, Chabichou, Sainte-Maure, Rocamadour ; 1 sheep's cheese like Manchego, Ossau-Iraty, Perail.. : 1 medium cheese like Morbier, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, 1 hard cheese like Comte, Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, Cheddar...

Presentation is crucial when you elaborate a Cheese Board, so don't hesitate to add some dried and fresh fruits, nuts, olives, jam, chutney and even some cold cuts, vegetables and dips, olives, if cheese is your meal.

The choice of the board is important too, and the size depends on the number of cheeses you are offering to your guests. Try to avoid metal boards as they give a slight taste to the cheese. Prefer a natural material like wood, marble or slate.

Now, no cheese without bread and crackers. In France we tend to offer only bread but living in Singapore for 13 years and mixing with the international community, I always propose a variety of bread sticks and crackers in addition.

Finally last but not least, the best friend of cheese ( and mine too :-) ) after bread is wine.

It's great if you can pair the wine with each category of cheese, but it will be for another post. For today I would say to offer some Chardonnay  which will go well with soft cheeses and also young Comte, a Dry white wine  for the hard cheeses and champagne for a Chaource..... But above all, propose the wine you like to share with your guests and enjoy drinking it with your lovely cheese platter.

Some examples of presentation:

"The Tropical platter" is rich in colours and items - use natural leaves, flowers..

Giant cheese board from HK Living - Cheese knives model Tiare from Sabre Paris - Glassware from Love Plate - Candle from Lafco. All available at Lemongrass & Aubergine

The Manly Platter - more minimalist .

Marble cheese board from HK living - Cheese knives model Nature black from Sabre Paris. All available at Lemongrass & Aubergine

"The girls at home tonight"" platter -

Wooden round board from HK Living - Cheese knife model Gustave Glitter from Sabre Paris - Glasses from Love Plates.

All available at Lemongrass & Aubergine

• Owner of the Lemongrass & Aubergine shop, I'm Sonia, aka the Boss, aka the Frenchy, aka Ze Froggy.. yes you guessed, I'm French. Been in Singapore for 13 years, my love of home decoration led me to open Lemongrass & Aubergine almost 4 years ago after been an itinerant vendor in hotel and clubs fairs for 7 years.
• I love - not in order - : my family, my friends, music, home deco, shopping, traveling, champagne and white wine, food in general especially French of course, Japanese, and Thai, expresso coffees, dogs especially my two : Rosie the mini-Schnauzer and Pablo the Shih Tzu, chocolate, candles, colours, tennis, fitness, sun-tanning on the beach, Bali, shoes, recipe books, flowers, bright coloured mani-pedi, read, ginger, avocado...
• I like less and even dislike : being late, lemon in cakes, white pepper, shark fin soup, barking dogs ( a speciality of my dog Rosie !), organising holidays (just like to be there already), sweet drinks, repeating myself 20 times (message for my kids :-)), waiting in queues...

My name is Elsie and I have been working at Lemongrass & Aubergine for almost 1,5 years.I'm a person who is positive about every aspect of life. There are many things I like to do, see, experience and eat. Listening to music and making new friends are also part of my favourite activities. I am an easy going person and working in Lemongrass & Aubergine has given me the opportunity of meeting many nationalities of customers. I do not just see them as customers, but a chance to exchange greetings and some small topics we can talk about.

Nice to meet you all, from any part of the world.

Hey there, I'm Nikki Gill. I enjoy travelling, cooking, wining and dining with good friends. Home decor is my passion, hence lovely Lemongrass & Aubergine is the perfect work environment for me.

Hello. I am Prema Thiele, one fifth of the Lemongrass & Aubergine team. I have been with the store since its establishment in July 2012, providing exclusive and exceptional shopping experience to all who walk through our doors. I enjoy my time at L&A as it affords me the pleasure of meeting and dealing with people from all walks of life. Going forward, we are committed to not only excite you but also spoil you with newer and better shopping ideas, in store and also online. To all our customers, I say ' Carpe Diem'!

Bonjour! Bindu here. I joined the Lemongrass & Aubergine team a little over 3 years ago and what a journey it has been. It’s been an incredibly enriching experience interacting with all who walk through our happy store. Thank you! When not in the store on weekends, I participate in full-contact origami. Food, Roger Federer and elephants keep me otherwise happy.

Colour is one of the main elements in interior decoration. Trying to decide on the right colour scheme for a room or an entire home can be difficult. You can simplify the process by using your colour wheel and narrowing down your choices to two colour schemes. There are more, of course, but these are the most effective and provide a great place to start.

Complementary Colour Scheme
Complementary colours are across from each other on the colour wheel, such as red and green, blue and yellow, or purple and orange. Rooms decorated with a complementary colour scheme tend to provide a clear separation of colours and often are more formal and more visually challenging. Complementary colour schemes should be used in the more formal areas of the home — for example, the living room or dining room.

Colour can be spread by simple touches like vases, candles, cushions, that are easy to change when you want to refresh a room.

Here are some meanings to help you with your choices..

Orange is the colour of social communication, creativity, attraction and optimism. Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. Orange is associated with healthy food and stimulates appetite.

yellow is the colour of the mind and the intellect. It is optimistic and cheerful. Yellow is an attention getter that's why few taxicabs companies are painted in yellow. Yellow is effective for attracting attention, so use it to highlight the most important elements of your design, but when overused, yellow may have a disturbing influence (it is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms).

Green is the colour of balance and growth. It symbolises harmony, freshness, safety and fertility. It's the colour of nature. It has a healing power. It's the most restful colour for human eyes.

Blue is  the sky and the sea, the colour of trust and peace. It can suggest loyalty and integrity as well as wisdom, confidence, intelligence.. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body, having a calming effect. When used together with warm colours like yellow or red, blue can create high impact, vibrant designs.

Purple is the colour of the imagination, associated with royalty, power, luxury and ambition, mystery and magic. Children love the colour purple .

Pink is unconditional love and nurturing. Pink can also be immature, silly and girlish.

Red is a colour of universal harmony and emotional balance. It is spiritual yet practical, encouraging common sense and a balanced outlook on life. Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination. It's a very emotionally intense colour. It is use to stimulate people to make quick decisions

Brown is a friendly yet serious, down-to-earth colour that relates to security, protection, comfort and material wealth.

Grey is the colour of compromise - being neither black nor white, it is the transition between two non-colours. It is unemotional and detached and can be indecisive.

Gold is the colour of success, achievement and triumph. Associated with abundance and prosperity, luxury and quality, prestige and sophistication, value and elegance, the colour psychology of gold implies affluence, material wealth and extravagance.

Silver has a feminine energy; it is related to the moon and flow of the tides - it is fluid, emotional, sensitive and mysterious.

White is colour at its most complete and pure, the colour of perfection. The colour meaning of white is purity, innocence, wholeness and completion.

Black is the colour of the hidden, the secretive and the unknown, creating an air of mystery. It keeps things bottled up inside, hidden from the world. Black is also associated with power, elegance, formality and mystery. Black gives the feeling of perspective and depth, it makes other colours stand out.

Did you know ? ...

Good Friday is the day on which Christians commemorate the crucifixion and death of Jesus Christ on the Cross. The date depend on the date of the first full moon on or after 21 March, so is the date of Good Friday.

Some catholics treat Good Friday as a day of fasting, while others observe a partial fast involving the exclusion of meat.. In some areas of the UK, it is common to eat hot cross buns. These are made of leavened dough, to which sugar, currants and spices have been added. The top of the bun is marked with a cross made of flour and water paste. The buns are eaten as they are or split in half, toasted and spread with butter.

Hot Cross Bun - Recipe and photos by Bindu

"The aromas from these spiced hot cross buns will make your kitchen smell amazing".

Cooking Time : 2.5 hours - Yield : makes 16

Ingredients

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm milk

3 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated white sugar

2 tsp ground spices (1/2 tsp cardamom, 1/2 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1/4 nutmeg)

1 tsp salt

4 tsp butter softened

2 eggs room temperature

1/2 cup currans

1/4 cup chooped candied citrus peel

2 tsp grated orange zest

Glaze : 1 egg, 1 tsp milk

Frosting : 1 teaspoon milk, 3 to 4 tsp powdered sugar

In a bowl, stir together 1/4 warmed milk + 1 teaspoon sugar. Sprinkle the yeast over the mix et stir for 5-10 minutes until foamy.

In a large bowl, vigorously whisk 3 cups of flour, salt, spices and 1/4 sugar.

Create a well in the flour, add foamy yeast, butter, eggs and remaining milk. Using a wooden spoon, mix the ingredients until well incorporated. The mixture should be shaggy and quite sticky. Add currants, candied peel and orange zest.

Start to knead the dough using your hands. Slowly sprinkle in additional flour, a tsp at a time, kneading to incorporate after each addition, until the flour is slightly sticky.

Form a ball of dough place it in a cover bowl with a damp cloth for 1.5 hours, until dough has doubled in size.

Press down gently to compress the dough. Roll the ball into a log shape and cut it in 2 halves. Place 1 back in the bowl while working with the other, cutting it into 8 equal pieces.

Take the individual pieces and form them into smooth mounds, placing them 1 1/2 inches apart on a baking sheet.. Do the same with the remaining dough. Cover with cling wrap at room temperature for 30 minutes to double volume.

Preheat oven to 190 deg. C> prepare egg wash by whisking the ingredients together. Cut a cross pattern on the bun fairly deep and brush the egg wash on it.

Place in oven for 9-10 minutes until buns are slightly browned and let it cool down onto a wire rack.

Paint a cross on top of the buns when buns are cool with the frosting mix.

Enjoy !