Good recipe for cheese paste

[dutch1862]

I've got what I hope is a good recipe for cheese paste, although I'd be interested to hear your recipe/s.

 

What cheese is best to add? Particularly if you're going to a venue where you don't know if it gets used. I did read somewhere that I should get my hands on the smelliest cheese I can find. Would anyone agree with that?

[raycab]

hi mate,i use frozen ready made shortcrust pastry and dainish blue cheese,roll out the pastry crumble two packets of dainish blue on top bring all the pastry together and the keep kneading it untill the whole lot comes together if it gets a bit sticky while kneading a little plain flour will sort it ,i have been using this for years never fails.

[lyn]

Yep, shortcrust pastry, I sometimes just use cheddar or stilton/blue. I tend to make my own pastry but most use frozen. You can get cheese flavourings which are really strong for that really strong smell

 

lyn

[Steve Walker]

The best paste I made was all the leftover bits of cheese after Christmas (including some really honking French stuff), powdered hemp and half a tin of anchovies. Microwave until it melts and mash it all together.

[Guest tigger]

I reckon cheese slices would be ok just used as they are. There soft and you could squash them into balls/shapes of whatever sive you want and your hook should strike threough it no prob's if not hair rigged.

[lyn]

Oh, I forgot to add, my Dad used to just mix/knead some chedder and bread together, simple. He always caught, if all else is failing my chesse sarnies get used up in this way

 

lyn

[ColinW]

I'm not sure it has to smell that bad. I just use cheddar. I think fish have far better senses of smell than we give them credit for. The important thing is getting the texture right. If it's still on you hook when you reel in it's too hard!

[Andy Macfarlane]

Andy Macfarlane:

Simple paste:

 

Take 2 slices of day old white bread and make a sandwich with the flavouring of your choice. I've used cheese, jam, marmalade, preserves, just tried mustard and it works well, meat spreads, fish pastes, marmite, bovril, honey, golden syrup, molasses, liquidised sweetcorn etc. etc.

Put the sandwich in the blender and blitz at full speed until the sandwich has been broken down into a loose/dryish crumb.

Now add any other additives you wish to include. Not too much mind. A little squirt of 'Van Den Eynde Liquid Corn' for instance goes a long way.

Check the crumb. It should be slightly moist to the touch and it should be forming a loose dough.

Now beat an egg yolk and introduce that to you mixture a little at a time. Half a yolk should be enough. The egg simply acts as a binder.

Now add any food colouring if you wish. Red and yellow seem to be pretty universal.

Take the mixture and put it in a sandwich bag. Knot it and leave it somewhere warm overnight to 'mature'.

In the morning you should have a paste resembling play-dough. Take a pinch and roll it on the palm of your hand. It should form a stiff ball without much fuss.

Stick it on a hook and cast.

[Anderoo]

As has been said, it's the texture that's the thing to get right. I only really use it in the winter on rivers, so it has to be soft, otherwise it turns solid in the cold and is no use. I like it soft enough so that it falls off when you reel in.

 

Everyone will give you a different recipe. First things first - wait until my better half goes out Then finely grate equal amounts of extra matured cheddar and danish blue into a large bowl, add a good dollop of margarine, and sprinkle over a little shortcrust pastry powder (looks like flour). Kneed it all together until it's smooth. If it's too sticky, add a little more pastry powder. If it's too stiff, add a little more margarine.

 

It's the margarine that keeps it soft in the cold - vital!

 

I only really started using it a couple of seasons ago, but it's true what all the old books say, the chub go nuts for it.

[Steve Walker]

It's the margarine that keeps it soft in the cold - vital!

 

I'll second that - here's what happened when I had a really excellent paste that needed more oil to soften it up. Frustrating, loads of missed bites!