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Your e-Mails

Keith O'Kane	Dear Nicey and the Wife, I have just read with interest the correspondence from Nick Q relating to the consumption of cheese with fruitcake. This very topic was discussed in the office recently with one of my colleagues, Nicky, admitting to indulging in this very practice. This blows the theory that it is a ‘Yorkshire thing’ as she comes from somewhere just north of London and has no connections with Yorkshire. I was initially slightly perturbed at the concept, but curiosity is beginning to get the better of me and I will probably try some fruitcake with a bit of Wensleydale at the weekend, using your very own recipe. I might also give the tea loaf recipe from Lois McGrath a go. This sounds a bit like something my mother used to make, but she never weighed or measured anything so getting a recipe from her was virtually impossible. Regards, Keith O’Kane
	Nicey replies: Yes I'm slightly curious to know what it's like too. I think if the atmosphere was relaxed with the right sort of cheese and a cake that I was comfortable with then I might give it a go. I did make the tea loaf, I think it could have had another five minutes in the oven as its just a tiny bit soggy at the top. I can see that it certainly is the sort of thing that one could fiddle around with bunging in a bit of this and that. We are about to see this little lot off in a minute with the YMOS.
Nick Q	Hi Nicey My Grandad was a big fan of a bit of cheese with his Christmas cake. All that side of the family did it. They were Lancastrians. I don’t recall him ever leaving his hometown of Clitheroe in his entire life apart from his jaunt to North Africa in the 1940s to deal with Rommel and catch malaria so I don’t think it was a habit he acquired outside his natural environs. The cheese of choice was a nice bit of Tasty Lancs. which is a crumbly cheese with quite a sharp, tangy flavour. I am a Yorkshireman so generally don’t like to discuss my part-Lancastrian ancestry but I feel it is important that I make this contribution to the discussion as it suggests the cheese/cake combo. is not limited to the East of the Pennines. I hope this helps in the debate. NickQ
Frommy	Nicey & Wifey, Having been an avid fan of your site for a few years now, imagine how pleased I was to discover that I was working for a group of likeminded tea-enthusiasts. So much so that we have formed a tea society. We are the Backline crew for George Michael's Band, so we set up the instruments and do a lot of swanning around and such. Our tour merchandise has just turned up and attached is a picture of us all wearing the pure new wool sweaters emblazoned with '25Live Tea Society' around a little teapot on the right arm, and on the breast our names, tea preference, and how we take it. I have Frommy, Earl Grey, White no Sugar. As you can see from the photo we have a blue Delft tea service (second hand from a Plymouth charity shop) with hand knitted tea cosy (Ken's mum-in-law) and a macrameed sugar bowl cover (Ken's Auntie). We take afternoon tea daily after linecheck (this is when we check all the instruments work before the band come in to play). We are the envy of the rest of the tour - so far no comment from George though. Keep up the good work. Frommy & Cyril, Kerry, Ken, Lance, Turbo & Dan (The 25Live Tea Society) same only bigger
	Nicey replies: Well that's really opened our eyes to the glamorous backstage world of a major international recording artist. We never knew it could be so refined. Of course it has to be a distinct advantage having your tea preferences emblazoned on your chest. Should you perchance to doze off you can be gently awakened with the cup of tea of your choice by any passer by. Wifey reckons George would do well to get one of your nice woolies too. Nice Fruitcake and Tiffin shot too.
John E Noir	Dear Nicey, Wifey and YMOS, Hope you enjoyed your bicycle tour and are fully recovered from any lingering saddle soreness. As you may be aware I have expressed interest in fruitcake elsewhere in your lovely site. Your recent fruitcake symposium prompted me to muse on the acceptability of serving fruitcake with cheese. It is traditional in this part of Yorkshire to serve a fruitcake with a nice bit o' Wensleydale a la Wallace and Grommitt. Other similar crumbly cheeses such as Lancashire may pass muster (but NOT in Yorkshire!) It is my opinion that a good moist cake could also stand a nice mature cheddar but it would seem unacceptable to muck it about with blue cheeses or waxy cheeses like Edam or Gouda. I also have reservations about the newer varieties of Wensleydale that incorporate fruits in the cheese such as cranberries or apricot. Not that I have anything against cheese like this just served with fruitcake it seems to be "Gilding the Lily" I am sure your readers would welcome your opinion on this delicate subject and look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter. I include a picture of a recent dabbling into cheese/cake combining and also another pic not necessarily of my addiction to cheese but just to prove the exceptionally dark beverage in the first pic is actually tea served black rather than coffee. Yours John E Noir
	Nicey replies: I think my thoughts on this is that it's a Yorkshire thing that I have no direct experience of. It has been mentioned before but always in the context of Yorkshire-ness. Mind you I do imagine that Caerphilly cheese would work too. We visited Caerphilly in May on a rainy day to see the excellent castle. Afterwards we had a spot of lunch in the town but couldn't find any Cearphilly cheese for sale which was a bit of a blow. Here's a picture of the castle not the cheese
The Biscuit Doctor Dad's Cookies Review	Dear Nicey, As the Biscuit Doctor I feel it is high time that I contributed to your excellent and informative treaties on biscuits. I would like to add to the information on the demised Dads Cookies. When in 1974, I was Technical Director at Chiltonian Biscuits in Lee, South London this company bought the rights from the Canadian company to make Dads Cookies in Britain. Formerly, they were being made at a company called Smiths in Corby. Smiths later closed. There were four varieties, the ‘original’, which was the most popular, and also Coconut, Chocolate Chip and Candy. They were all basically the same recipe including oats, peanuts, raisin paste and a little cinnamon for flavouring but with additions of coconut, chocolate chips or Chellies (Chellies were flavoured pectin drops in various colours). Chiltonian introduced the use of raisin paste (from California) as previously the fruit was either Turkish sultanas or raisins that were mashed up by mincing. The fruit was the characteristic flavour of the cookies and can be greatly recommended. So, Dads Cookies were made by Chiltonian until the early 1980’s when the factory was closed and many of the famous products such as Garibaldi and Lemon Puffs were transferred to Jacob’s Aintree factory. I believe Dads Cookie production was stopped after the closure of the Chiltonian factory. Duncan Manley
	Nicey replies: Thank you for casting some light over so many issues. Not only have you helped reconcile the Dads cookies lineage questions, but also explained why Lemon Puffs in addition to Garibaldis took a turn for the worse back in the 1980s. All these biscuits were glorious under your stewardship and we salute your work. Nicey
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