I
bet that some of you have noticed the lack of an apostrophe in the ‘goats
cheese’ in the title of this blog post. And I bet that it really annoyed some
of you. That’s the funny thing about grammar and punctuation – they make people go crazy.
When
I was writing this post I wasn’t sure where to put the apostrophe in ‘goats
cheese’. Like any other normal person, I was pretty sure that I would find the
answer easily on Google, and that would be the end of it. And then I could
write another perfectly pleasant blog post about the many joys of my local Farmers’ Market. I had no idea that can of worms it would unleash. It
seems that there is no consensus on the placement of the apostrophe: on
the BBC website it is goat’s cheese
and on UKTV Food it is goats’ cheese.
On Twitter I asked Xanthe Clay and Felicity Cloake and they both said Goat’s
Cheese, but I wasn’t convinced.
This
is what happened on Facebook to my question of goat’s cheese or goats’ cheese?
- Goat cheese. Problem
solved!
- That may be good enough for Americans, but it isn't English!
- Capric cheese.
- The Cheese of goats?
- If the cheese belonged
to the goat, then it would be goat's... If it was made from a goat but didn't
belong to it, it would be goats'... Right????
- if the single cheese
was made from a single goat it would definitely be goat's cheese. Other than
that I have no idea.
- I'd go with goats'
cheese as you can't guarantee its the cheese from a single goat
- I'd say goats' cheese!
- Not sure why but I
find this thread really funny!
- Depends, do you want
to give it back to them?
- I would have thought
*goats cheese*. Have just looked in the fridge to find Goats milk yoghurt and
Goat's Cheese. Maybe there isn't just one answer??
- Once had a long
conversation with my in-laws in a restaurant over what the menu meant by
"a small goat's cheese salad"
- Goat's cheese. Cheese
of the goat species. Or just be pretentious and say 'chèvre'.
- The cheese doesn't
belong to the goat. The milk did, so that would be goat's milk or goats' milk.
Now it's turned into cheese, the goat in question is an adjective rather than a
genitive noun. Therefore I would go with goat cheese or goats cheese but
wouldn't put an apostrophe.
- Neither, as the goat
in question does not posses the cheese. It’s not spring's water or olive's oil,
is it? Ergo, it is Goat Cheese.
I
decided to go with goats cheese. If you disagree, please let me know. But to be
honest, I would much rather talk about food than grammar. And I would much
rather eat goats cheese then think about how to punctuate it.
Ingredients:
100g
creamy goats cheese
2
beetroots – golden if you can get hold of them
Olive
oil
Rocket
leaves
Fresh
spinach – or similar sweet, dark green leaf, like winter purslane
2
tsp. honey
3
sprigs fresh thyme, lemon thyme or a mixture
2
tsp. white wine or cider vinegar
Preheat
the oven to 180c
Beetroot
1: Rinse the beetroot and scrub off any dirt, but don’t peel. Slice it into 4
or 6 wedges running lengthways. Drizzle lightly with oil and sprinkle with
salt. Wrap the wedges loosely in foil and bake for about 40 minutes, until
soft. Slice each of these wedges in half again once cooked. Keep warm until
ready to serve.
Beetroot
2: Peel one of the beetroots and slice it as thinly as possible – use a
mandolin if you have one. Make sure that your slices are going horizontally, so
that you get a beautiful ring of colour in every slice. Put the slices in a
bowl and toss with a little bit of oil, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Dressing:
In a small bowl, mix the honey with a little bit of boiling water to loosen it,
and add the thyme leaves to steep. When cool, mix in the vinegar.
Goats
cheese: Depending on the consistency of the cheese, either crumble or cut into
small squares.
Leaves:
Wash in cold water and dry – use a salad spinner if you have one.
Assemble:
Build salad in this order – Large flat plate, leaves, beetroot 2, goats cheese,
beetroot 1, dressing.
Good decision, I in apostrophe denial myself
ReplyDeleteThanks!! Apostrophes are so annoying, what's worse is I have started noticing their (mis)usage everywhere!
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