Dont know how many of you out there are aware of the fact that Australia has so much more to offer other then its beautiful beaches, the Opera House, cricket, wine, Crocadile Dundee and Kylie Monogue. One of the things that i miss the most is, Australian Cheese.

I know…i know…cheese is full of high calories and too much of it is bound to make you fat. But its just so hard to resist the temptation..when you are presented with a huge variety of soft, mouth watering, delicious white (at times yellowish) chunk of heaven. I remember whenever i use to come down to Mumbai from Sydney to spend my summer vacations, my mum use to ask me to get cheese….no chocolates…no wines….just cheese. And mind you, not just couple of slabs but a whole handbag. Ahh..it use to be such a pain dragging the bag in and around the airport during my stopover at Singapore airport. Even now this trend hasnt stoped, if any of my friends are coming to Mumbai from Sydney…the only thing i ask them to get is Cheese (obviously in moderate quantity).

Here are some my favourite Ozzy cheese…

1. King Island’s BLACK LABEL BRIE - Made to the traditional French Brie de Meaux style with pasteurised milk. The outer mould should be browning and beginning to break down and the aroma quite strong. When cut the centre should begin to bulge. Its flavour is rich and characterful with good secondary mushroomy flavours. As mentioned originally from France but now also manufactured in Australia and exported to countries such as Japan and Singapore. The cheese is produced by King Island Dairy which was founded already at the beginning of the century, but this one started to be produced only in 1988. The period of maturation takes twenty to forty five days and it has a mushroom aroma and taste. It is made from cow’s milk.

2. Raclette Cheese from Heidi Farm - Raclette is a cow’s milk cheese that has a light-brown rind and a firm texture. It has a round or square shape with smooth, pink to deep orange, slightly sticky, natural rind. It is a hard cheese with a subtle flavor, good aftertaste and firm texture. Raclette is pale yellow inside. Raclette is famous for a Swiss dish, made by melting thin slices over broiled potatoes. Raclette Cheese from Heidi Farm has received the highest accolades of all Australian Cheeses in the 2005 Australian Grand Dairy Awards. Made from goat’s milk.

3. Milawa Goat Camembert - Full flavoured white mould cheese. Full, seductive flavours, Oozing texture. Used for making baguettes, pasta, cheese plate stalwart. Award winning specialist cheese maker located in North East Victoria. Hand made cheeses using traditional methods and free of preservatives. As the name suggests…its made from Goat’s milk.

4. Dairy Farmers’s Cottage Cheese - Cottage Cheese is a low fat, soft, white cheese with a paste-like, grainy consistency. Creamed Cottage Cheese has a curd that is washed and then a cream dressing is added. They are fresh, unripenned cheeses that have a high moisture content, delicate, creamy flavor and short shelf life. Dairy Farmers recently acquired the Kraft Natural cheese business. Made from cow’s milk.

There are so many types and varities of cheese manufactured in Australia, that it would require many blog posts for me to cover them all. Take a look at this, it will give you some info on different categories of cheese avaliable in the market.

*Two very famous Indian cheese, as we all know are Panner and Bandal.

I know i am using the word Govinda (Lord Krishna) and Kachara ( road side filth) in the same sentence but thats the best way i can explain what I saw today.

My way to work….i.e. from Juhu to Andheri East..was completely a different experience to what I am use to since the recent floods and otherwise also. The Juhu locality…especially areas around Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple…were completely CLEAN. I know its sounds shocking….but really this is TRUE.The Huge garbage cans were clean..not only from outside BUT inside too (usually they are over filled and garbage can be seen scattered around the bins).

The roads were looking shiny…I mean you could actually see you face init…nahhh…I am just kiddin…but it really looked as if someone had cleaned them with Ariel or Surf clothing detergent. For once, the BMC workers actually did their job and more so did it PERFECTLY.

I just coundnt understand..as to what brought this change..cause I had not read of any increase in wages for the BMC officials in today’s newspaper. Then hit me….tomorrow is Jamashtami (Govinda) festival….and so there will be huge crowd from today evening itself at the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple. Plus government officials and other celebrities will also be visiting the temple for darshan…and thats why all this cleaning took place and NOT because the BMC officials got a sudden jerk from their inner conscious.

Also there were cops on every damn road in Juhu…traffic officials included. All this arrangement to handle the crowd and traffic for today and tomorrow in and around the temple.

If this what it takes to keep Mumbai city officials to take their job seriously…then I wish that Lord Krishna could visit us more often.

ps..best would be to see the after-effects, what will the roads look like on Sunday??