CHARELLI'S CHEESE CHICKS

One of Victoria's best places for dinner...

is now open for lunch on Friday and Saturdays from 11:30-2pm. Go check out their locally inspired menu and experience their great service and delicious food.

New Product

We have a new addition to the store...and it's tasty.

Made in Vancouver these meals are perfect for those nights when you don't feel like cooking or have last minute guests. Just add a pot of rice or some naan bread and you are set. Large enough for 2-3 people to share. They are made with all natural ingredients, are grilled instead of fried, and are trans fat free.

Malai Tikka, or chunks of chicken, are marinated in spices and cream then baked in a tandoor oven. It's origin are the same as Chicken Tikka. These are a rich, flavourful and tender chunks on chicken to tantalize your taste bud.

Chicken Tikka, or chunks of chicken, are marinated in spices and yogurt then baked in a tandoor oven. There are a couple of different notions of it's origins. Some believe that it was conceived in either a British Pakistani or a British Bangladeshi restaurant then there are many who believe that it is merely a variation on an Indian dish known to the Mughal Emperors.

THE DREAM CHEESECAKE

For all your special occasion needs...
Allow us to prepare your exclusive specialty cheesecake.

Charell's Cheese Shop and Delicatessen
your search for the best has not gone unnoticed...

The finest of finest Gift Packaging.... Customized to your needs

SPECIALTY PACKAGING FOR EVERYONE AND ANYONE....

Charelli's focus is you and ensuring your friends, guests, colleague are impressed. We would be pleased to assist you in creating your personalized, beautifully

wrapped gift-package, from our gourmet store inventory. give us a theme and we can customize it to your needs.

Charelli's specializes in providing exceptional service and awesome creations.

We start with a container, cutting board, serving tray or a beautiful bowl.
When the goodies are gone the recipient has a useful gift to remind them
of the occasion.

Gastronomies from home around the globe; Italy, Germany, Netherlands,
France, Spain, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Australia, USA,
Portugal, Canada, and many more.

In addition to our vast selection of gourmet perishable, included in cheeses, house made pates, spreads, meats, fois gras, french butters, imported seafood's, specialty drinks, mustards, spices, salts oils, vinegars, truffles we can also add fresh fruits, beverages and any other special requests, including glasses, napkins any other accessories available through our shop.
We will make it look spectacular, so let us know.

Come into our shop and we can assist you with your selection or order ahead of time and we can have them ready for you to breeze in and pick up at your convenience.

We can offer same day delivery to Victoria and next day to Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland

We are your gourmet Specialist!

CHARELLI'S

Cheese Mongers & Specialty Food Merchants
since 2003

Breakfast Lunch Tea

Another excellent new cookbook from one of our favourite, food-worshiping cities:

"It might come as a surprise to some that one of the most trendy and successful bakeries in Paris is run by an Englishwoman. But it shouldn't. With the triumphant success of Rose Bakery in Paris's 9th Arrondissement, Rose Carrarini quickly earned a reputation for creating simple, yet uncompromising foods that focus on the importance of using fresh, flavorful ingredients and a loving attention to detail. Like the Rose Bakery itself, Carrarini's new cookbook BREAKFAST, LUNCH, TEA: The Many Little Meals of Rose Bakery dissolves the distinctions between restaurant cooking and home cooking, and holds firm to the belief that flavor need not be complicated."

Full details here.

Happy Drinko de Mayo!

In honour of the day, here's a rough but really interesting little video on Mezcal production in Oaxaca. Salud!

Fromage For Your Phone

Here's one for all you iClones out there:

'Fromage' is a fun and fabulous resource - preview/download here. Just remember: no silly techno-gadget can take the place of your friendly, neighbourhood mongers! (Or dish out affectionate abuse like Carmen...)

International Moments in Grilled Cheese

This Boston Globe post on grilled cheese sandwiches around the world (croque monsieur, welsh rarebit, quesadillas), worthy of note in and of itself, led to a search for an appropriate image. We're quite enamoured with the result:

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. We're also enamoured with the site it came from, whatwereeating.com, and the post they used this image for: "jalapeno cheese bread...jarlsberg, havarti, and sharp cheddar... tomato soup... fresh vine-ripened tomatoes... sauteed onions, garlic, roasted red peppers, and fresh thyme... garnished with fresh basil pesto and truffle oil..." (Just to give you a sampling.) AND we love the fact that, according to these fine folks, April is National Grilled Cheese Month. Hurray!

As many of you already know, our secret weapon in this arena is using Thai Curry Chedder. Pair with a cold beer. Perfection.

Wine Glass Sponge

Thanks to Swiss Miss for this:

Definitely one of those 'why didn't I think of/patent that' moments. If desired, they can be aquired from The Spoon Sisters.

Salt Salt Salt

We have some very good salts right now.

Flor de Sal d'Es Trenc : Harvested with traditional rakes from the Es Trenc beaches of Mallorica, dried in the sun, and blended by Michelin Star chef Marc Fosh. So far we've brought in Rosa (with rose petals and Sarawak and Sechuan peppers) and Olivas Negras (with roasted kalamata olives) and we're very impressed. The aroma alone is pretty unbelievable.

Beyond the Shaker : Beyond the Shaker has some really unique blends, like Chanterelle Vanilla, and Bamboo Jade. It's such an easy way to make dinner distinctive. We're not saying you're lazy, but we are. (Lazy, that is.)

"School punishes students with cheese sandwiches"

Pretty much how we would define cruel and unusual punishment.

Springtime (Why Aren't We) In Paris

The travel section of the Saturday Globe has great main feature: 'At home in Paris: Find an apartment, explore exquisite patisseries and fromageries, and learn to cook like a real Parisisan'. (See also: Shop like a local in Paris.) Speaking from experience, at least insofar as an apartment and careful exploration of patisseries and fromageries is concerned, this is highly recommended. Here are a few pictures to help whet le appetite:

Pink bubbly and pastries was a Sunday habit really, but it's not like there's a bad time - go ahead and get the most out of your Saturday. And yes, the pastries cost more than the bottle. So for those of you who are cringing:

(Ahh... how did that get there?!)

Fol Epi: Good Morning Victoria!

Cliff says Hi. He made these for you, and we've got them at the shop all warm and waiting. Roll up!

Happy Easter!

We wish we could say we made these, but they're by Natasha Collins, UK-based baker extraordinaire, otherwise known as neviepiecakes on flickr, and as the author of this great new blog: amelie's house. Both sites are worth combing through. For example, not to mix holidays but check out these amazing cookies she made for World Book Day:

And we're quite partial to this Tailor of Gloucester christening cake. Obviously. Look at his little crossed feet!

Charelli's Partners with Starbucks

Less stinky cheese and more of what you really want: frothy, hot triple-venti lattés.

Joking! We're joking. April Fools and all. Jokes aside, though, we're pleased to be back at the blog and you can anticipate regular updates for April and beyond.

And if you're interested in a far more clever and ambitious April Fools prank, why not serve your friends and/or family these Tromp L’oeil Eggs and Toast for dessert tonight?

Explanation and recipe here.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

And thank you, Carol, for taking the time to send us such warm feed back - we really appreciate it. :)

I just wanted to send you a note to thank you so much for helping to make my Mom's (Pat E) 85th birthday parties so successful on February 6th!

The cheese and antipasto platters, crackers and cakes from Cakes Etc. were HUGE hits! People kept asking where the cheeses and cakes were from! The cheese and antipasto platters were absolutely magnificent and the presentation was amazing! The selection of crackers were delicious, and the cakes were more than beautiful and delectable!

Thank you so much for arranging for the cakes to be picked up at your store. It helped us immensely! There was so much to do in so little time, it made our Saturday morning run around so much easier!

I'm hoping that you will get lots of new business from many of the people that attended Mom's parties! I should have asked for your business cards, as so many people inquired about the cheeses!

Thanks again, so very much, for helping to make my wonderful Mom's 85th birthday so very special!!!!!

Carol, BC

Andalucian Ham

More fun photos from our globetrotting customers! Mouth. Watering.

"Here are the photos I took of the ham factory in Trevélez in the Alpujarras of Andalucia, and of the restaurant where we sampled local food. The ham is preserved only using salt and the cold air of the mountains. It was quite spooky walking around in there, with hams above you and on all sides. A regular ham, not the kind from the black footed pig that eats acorns, costs about 50 euros, and is hung in the kitchen and sliced thinly as needed. Delicioso!"

Recipe: Apple Panettone Pudding

As if Panettone weren't tasty enough on its own...

A 250g Panetonne, Crusts lightly Trimmed

B 500ml Milk

250ml Whipping Cream

C 3 Eggs

3 Yolks

80g Sugar

15ml Vanilla

5 ml Lemon Zest

D 30 ml Dried Cranberries

45 ml Rum

E 1 Apple Large, Peeled 5mm dice

30 ml Sugar

good pinch Nutmeg and Cinnamon

F 30 ml Butter

METHOD

1. Dice (A) into 1cm cubes, place in a large bowl.

2. Combine (B) and scald over medium heat.

3. Combine (C) and whip until smooth.

4. Slowly stir in (B).

5. Add (A), fold in gently, let stand 5 minutes.

6. Combine (D), bring to a simmer, cool briefly, add to (A).

7. Combine (E) in a bowl.

8. Heat a larger sauté pan on high heat.

9. Add (E), sauté quickly to caramelize the apples, lightly golden, add to (A).

10. Butter a 1.5L casserole or soufflé dish, gently, add the pudding.

11. Bake in 350F (175 C) oven for up to one hour, it should be golden & spring back when touched.

12. Serve warm with custard sauce, lingonberry or cloudberry preserves.

Winter Art Show

For those looking for something a little bit different with which to adorn your door (or table, mantle or wall), we recommend the following:

An Invitation From Michael Langkammer and Branching Out

Winter Art Show

Sunday December 6, 2009
1 to 4 pm

3150 Midland Road, Victoria.
(the home of Terry LeBlanc).

*Original works of Botanical Art for your mantle, table, or wall.

The proceeds from the sale of Michael's art go to the gardens
at Government House.

Also enjoy Jennifer Lawson's art work.
Come and join Michael and Jennifer in a glass of mulled wine.

High(brow) Tea

Apparently, the English are endeavouring to re-raise their tea bar. This is an interesting and informative little video/article on making a decent 'cuppa', but... um, she puts the milk in after the tea. What on Earth? We thought this had all been settled years ago.

Cheese...? Or Font?

This is fun.

It's worthwhile way to while away a bit of time, in our opinion.

Cheese Reports from the Field

More beautiful, international moments in cheese from our lovely customers. Paul sent these to us: "the photo taken from a market in Beaune pretty much sums up how much the French care about their chesese!" Thank you!

Vancouver Island Chef of the Year

A press release of interest:

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

The Victoria branch of the Canadian Culinary Federation is proud to announce the fourth annual;
Vancouver Island Chef of the Year Competition

This competition is open to all professional chefs and cooks resident on Vancouver Island and will take place at Camosun College, Hubert Hall, Interurban Campus, 4461 Interurban Rd. on

Sunday November 8th, 2009

Local chef’s have 6 hours to prepare from scratch and present a four course meal utilizing Vancouver Island products in contemporary and unique styles. The competition meals will be served to 100 guests at a gala event raising money for the Canadian Culinary Federation, Victoria Branch junior scholarship fund.

The 2009 scholarships will be presented at the event to deserving young cooks from our region by respected members of the culinary community

The ten chefs have been selected by a panel of professional chefs from entries submitted with blind menus. Competitors will contend for $1000.00 cash first prize, trophy plate and the coveted title Vancouver Island Chef of the Year.

Chefs from the following establishments are taking part in this year’s competition;
BEAR MOUNTAIN RESORT
BISTRO 161
CHATEAU VICTORIA - VISTA 18
DEMITASSE BAKERY
FAIRMONT EMPRESS HOTEL (x4)
HERON ROCK BISTRO
GLO EUROPUB
We invite all media groups to be a part of this exciting annual event showcasing our culinary pedigree and excellence.

Information & tickets for this event are available to all members of the public through the Victoria branch of the Canadian Culinary Federation from Philippe Renaudat at;
Ø Tel 250-294-0099
Ø renaudatp@hotmail.com
Tickets to the gala event are $100.00 per person for a cocktail reception followed by an award winning four course meal including wine. Entertainment will be provided by the Spectrum High School Jazz band.

For more information contact steve@ambrosiacentre.com or 250-217-7003
Steve Walker-Duncan, CCC
Vice president (CCF Victoria)

Happy Halloween!

This is pretty much the scariest costume we've ever seen...

Hope you have fun tonight!

Savouries, Sweets & Sips

Carmen and Nicole are going to be official judges at Savouries, Sweets & Sips ~ A Culinary Safari For Your Tastebuds, a fundraising event for Great Victoria Eldercare Foundation.

More than a dozen of the Island’s top chefs will fuel their creative juices and compete for a variety of prizes, including People’s Choice, Media Choice and Critic’s Choice. All competing chefs are challenged to create a fabulous appetizer paired to a specific South African Wine and/or a sumptuous dessert using Amarula Cream as one of the ingredients. Winegrowing in South Africa celebrates its 350th birthday this year, making its “new world” wines part of a tradition as old as bubbles in champagne.

Come help us choose the winners!

At The Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort & Spa
Monday, November 23rd, 2009 7:00pm till 10:00pm
$60.00 per person

Full details and ticket order forms are here.