Five Best Toasted Cheese Sandwiches

There's something deliciously indulgent in the sheer enjoyment from a simple wedge of crumbly red cheddar or a sharp shaving of a forthright and tart parmesan.

Eaten fresh from the fromagerie or cooked up into a meal, I love cheese in anything.

But it's best of all in a quick and tasty toasted cheese sandwich.

Put some life into the toasted cheese sandwich!

• Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches with Olive Pate

  Use a a young semi-soft cheese to get that golden melted effect, but it's the Olive Pate that adds the zing to this classic toasted cheese sanger. Use just a small smear spread over one slice of the bread before you add the cheese.

• Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with Apple and Membrillo

  Throwing together a grilled cheese sandwich is easy enough but, when you add apple and that delicious quince, you have a cordon bleu dish fit for a Queen. Here's how to make membrillo Put some thin slices of green apple over the cheese and grill the sandwiches, then spread a layer of membrillo paste over the top piece of bread before serving.

• Grilled Three-Cheese Sandwiches

  For the three cheeses, use some nutty-sweet gouda, then some asiago or emmental (commonly called mountain cheeses) and cover those cheese slices with some very tasty, finely grated, tart peccorino or a sharp vintage cheddar.

• Grilled Cheddar, Bacon, and Avocado Sandwiches

  First cook your bacon slices to crispy, and leave to dry on a paper towel. Arrange the sliced cheddar and some very fine strips of avocado on the bread, top with the bacon. Yum!

• Grilled Cheese with Zucchini and Carrot

  Fool the kids into eating finely grated zucchini and carrot which you have put between 2 slices of sharp aged cheese such as romano or a a bitey cheddar. When the cheese melts, the vegetable slices can't be seen and the carrot taste blends so well. Serve with a spicy tomato dipping sauce.

I love cheese. How can life be bad when there is the anticipation of lunch -- crusty bread, a handful of fat black olives and a creamy rich, buttery brie with its smooth, downy rind and that faint after-taste of earthy mushroom?

Think of that tangy, salty feta, crumbly and rindless, adding its sharpness to the salad and the pure bite of pecorino romano that's melting so beautifully over the pasta.

Or the Tasmanian Heritage Traditional Camembert, organic Kervella goat cheese from Gidgegannup, the lemony taste of Manouri, the sweet Kasseri, velvety Gippsland Blue, King River Gold with its pink rind, the incredibly nutty Pyengana Cheddar, and the creamy Seal Bay Cheese, an extravagant, triple cream cheese made from fresh King Island milk, enriched with pure cream. (Goodbye waist)

Heaven must be full of cheese.

I don't think that mass-produced cheese is really cheese at all. Fortunately for finickyness there are some excellent smaller groceries. I'm fortunate to have plenty of Italian, Greek and Spanish shops close to hand and a fresh food market, the largest in the southern hemisphere, is but a short bus ride away.

For more serious cheese-shopping expeditions, I can drive down into the valley of Gippsland or hop on the ferry across to Tasmania.

You could strike it lucky and find a good cheese counter in one of the large multinational supermarkets, but so far I haven't come across any.

Queen Vic Market
I'm just so lucky! My local store for cheeses is the Queen Vic Market, seventeen acres of fresh food daily in the largest food market of the southern hemisphere, a popular tourist attraction and a heavenly place to see.

Birchs Bay Blonde, from Grandvewe Cheesery , is a pressed fresh curd with lingering piquant aromas of truffle and mushroom. The slightly molten interior will eventually reveal a chalky centre..

You can enjoy Birchs Bay Blonde from an age of 2 to 5 weeks, as the cheese continues to mature and the robust taste increases, try this with a lovely loaf of dark rye and some quince paste.

Grandvewe Sheep Farm Cheesery, a family run business, sits in the lush Huon Valley of Tasmania and sometimes, when I'm feeling carelessly cashed-up, I'll take the ferry over just to get some cheese.

There's a lot of cheese at the Grandvewe, seven different types of sheep cheeses, nine types of cows milk cheeses and sheep yoghurts. You can pick up surprisingly good sheep ice creams as well..

Have you ever tried sheep ice cream? Gorgeous!

The lush and lovely Huon Valley of Tasmania
Tasmania is different from the rest of Australia, it's greener, wetter and much colder. It's a tiny little place, only about the size of Ireland, and sits ro...

The ancient craft of cheese-making is a noble art.

I raise my hat to the dedicated souls who labour tirelessly so that I can revel in the rich and mouthwatering results of their virtuosity.

Thank you.