Good Cheese 2012-13

goodcheese 2011-12 EDITION

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2012-13

Making it, selling it, enjoying it

TRY THESE

Stunning

starters, mains & PUDS

With recipes from Mat Follas, Rachel Khoo, Catherine Fulvio, Antonio Carluccio & more

Home comforts

Six great cheese shops reveal their favourite local cheeses

INSIDE: AMERICAN ORIGINALS STORE DIRECTORY BLENDED CHEESES CHAMPION CHEESEBOARDS

DARK AGES

Unearthing the secrets of cave-aged and cellar-aged cheeses

START YOUR OWN DAIRY!

How to get started in artisan cheese-making

AOC, the sign of special products...

A traditional cheese

The cheese of western Switzerland, with a delicate, distinguished flavour.

Made since at least 1115 AD in and around the small town of Gruyères, today it is still produced by village cheese dairies in western Switzerland according to the traditional recipe.

Le Gruyère AOC owes its characteristic delicacy and flavour to the top quality raw milk produced by cows fed on grass in the summer and hay in winter, coupled with the skill of the mastercheesemakers.

No less than 400 litres of fresh milk are needed to produce a single wheel weighing around 35kg.

During the slow maturation process, which takes several months in special cheese cellars, the wheels are turned regularly and rubbed down with saltywater. The maturing process lasts between five and 18 months.

Each cheese is systematically identified by the number of the mould and code of the cheese dairy. The day and month of production are also noted on the wheel. These black markings are made with casein, the cheese protein. No artificial additives are involved here either.

Le Gruyère AOC takes pride of place on any cheese platter. It makes for a delicious desert and can be used in tasty warm dishes. What’s more, no real fondue would be complete without genuine Gruyère AOC.

From this time on, the name ‘Gruyère AOC’ and the code of the production facility appears on the heel of each wheel of Gruyère AOC as an effective way of preventing fakes and guaranteeing authenticity.

This technique employs branding irons, which give an indentation in the wheel. It is this marking that makes it possible to identify and trace each individual cheese.

The humidity and rind washing process develops the characteristic appearance of the cheese and assists in bringing the cheese into full maturity.

This is what gives Le Gruyère AOC its famous, distinct flavour. It’s no great surprise that this authentic gift of nature is appreciated by cheeselovers throughout the world.

www.gruyere.com ruyere.com Cheeses from Switzerland.

Switzerland. Naturally.

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www.switzerland-cheese.com

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Counter culture what’s new this year?

Regional favourites selected by retailers Recipe ideas ten top dishes from the experts Blended cheese a misunderstood category Starting a business a guide to cheese-making Cave-aged cheese ancient & modern methods US artisans making a splash across the pond Selecting the best champion cheeseboards Shop directory where to find good cheese

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Discover a world of great cheeses with the NEW World Cheese Awards app You can tap into a whole world of fine cheeses, simply by downloading the 2012 World Cheese Awards app. Organised annually by the Guild of Fine Food, publisher of Good Cheese, the World Cheese Awards brings together thousands of cheeses from over 30 countries to be judged by more than 250 international experts. With the World Cheese Awards app, you can find out about all of 2012’s winners and you’ll even be able to watch the World Champion being crowned. Simply scan the QR code with your smartphone’s reader or visit the website to download the app automatically. www.worldcheeseawards.com #worldcheeseawards

I ’d like to dedicate this issue to moderation, but with one important proviso: if we eat moderately we must only ever eat the best.

In our tasting theatres at food shows, I often ask audiences what’s in cheese. Mostly, they tell me it’s milk and fat. When questioned further, they also know cheese offers calcium and minerals and a few other things beneficial to our bodily welfare. But fat pretty much tops the list.

If everyone knows cheese contains fat, why does Government and our food police feel the need to remind us of it on every label and pack? In moderation, cheese is a good thing, as is the odd glass of wine. So are fish, meat, green vegetables and fruit.

The key word is moderation.

Sadly, there was little or no opportunity for moderation on the day I was invited to taste-test 14 supermarket cheese board selections for delicious magazine. I worked through the thin end of around 55 assorted wedges and you can read my verdict on page 45.

In the wake of that experience, I’d like to dedicate this issue of Good Cheese to moderation, but with one important proviso: if we eat moderately we must only ever eat the best.

The best cheeses often come from caves, or perhaps even cellars (see page 35).

Even more are made locally, and you’ll find recommendations from an illustrious panel of cheesemongers starting on page 9. MasterChef judge Charles Campion argues on page 23 that occasionally cheeses can be good when mixed with weird flavours.

Over the past decade, good artisan cheeses have been produced in the USA and on a couple of occasions, have come within a half point of winning the World Championship at the World Cheese Awards. Now we learn they’re about to make an appearance in cheese shops over here (page 39). But supplies may be limited, so it won’t be too difficult to exercise moderation there.

If you’ve reached the conclusion that the winner of the rat race is always a rat and you want a taste of the ‘good life’ you’d better read the advice offered on page 27 about taking your first steps into cheese-making. You’ll also discover how one couple that took the plunge is getting on two years down the line.

Great recipes from top chefs using only the best cheese start on page 16 and while I personally enjoy cheese as an ingredient, my preference for moderate fat intake is at the end of the meal, in the company of a worldclass cheese trolley (page 45) and a glass of wine. All taken in moderation, of course.

Enjoy your cheese

Bob Farrand

Bob Farrand is publisher of Good Cheese and chairman of the Guild of Fine Food, organiser of the Great Taste awards and World Cheese Awards EDITORIAL Editor: Mick Whitworth Assistant editor: Michael Lane Art director: Mark Windsor Contributors: Jeanne Carpenter, Charles Campion ADVERTISING Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Gavin Weeks Circulation manager: Tortie Farrand Publisher & Chairman: Bob Farrand Associate publisher & managing director: John Farrand

THE GUILD OF FINE FOOD Membership & director: Linda Farrand Administrators: Charlie Westcar, Julie Coates, Karen Price Accounts: Stephen Guppy, Denise Ballance Printed by: Blackmore Ltd, Dorset Good Cheese is a sister magazine of Fine Food Digest. © Great Taste Publications Ltd and The Guild of Fine Food Ltd 2012

t: 01963 824464 Fax: 01963 824651 e: firstname.lastname@finefoodworld.co.uk w: www.finefoodworld.co.uk Reproduction of whole or part of this magazine without the publisher’s prior permission is prohibited. The opinions expressed in articles and advertisements are not necessarily those of the editor or publisher. The publisher cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, recipes, photographs or illustrations.

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counter culture

What’s new this year?

WHEY TO GO

CURD-OGRAPHY

A Swiss ricotta cheese – made from left over raw milk whey – is the latest cheese the Slow Food foundation has pledged to support and promote under its ‘Presidia’ system. The foundation has set up a presidia group with local makers to protect production of Alpziger cows’ milk cheese, which is made in the Fribourg, Bern and Obwalden Alps and eaten fresh, aged or smoked.

Wholesaler Cheese Cellar teamed up with artist Kate Lowe to create a map showcasing cheeses of the UK and Ireland. The poster was first developed as a tool for retailers but it is hoped that it will grace the walls of shops, restaurants and art-lovers’ homes alike. Kate says she did not realise just how many cheeses are made across the British Isles. “The challenge has been fitting them all in. I am sure that there will be even more to add as people spot a few gaps.”

www.slowfoodfoundation.com

ORGANIC CHAMPION High Weald Dairy has added to its growing trophy cabinet by winning the cheese category at the Soil Association’s Organic Food Awards for its sheep’s milk Sussex Slipcote. It is available from Riverford and Abel & Cole as well as delis and farm shops. The West Sussex firm also plans to continue offering its cheese-making courses throughout 2013. Check W the website for dates. learn ant to what more ab www.highwealddairy.co.uk o a che it takes to ut esebe Chec maker? k out page 27.

www.cheesecellar.co.uk

UP AND COMER IN A PICKLE Paxton & Whitfield has created a range of accompaniments that will be available from its shops in London, Bath and Stratfordupon-Avon, as well as other speciality retailers nationwide.

Its Nuts About Figs paste has been developed to complement blue cheeses, while its British gooseberry chutney is ideal for strong cheddars. It is also offers classic British pickled onions. www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

Keep your eyes peeled for a new venture from former cheesemonger and School of Artisan Food graduate David Jowett. The 21-year-old has set up in a barn near Stratford-upon-Avon and will begin production of ‘Jowett’, an alpine-style hard cheese made with raw cows’ milk, in 2013. Follow his progress at: blog.jowettcheese.co.uk

BLUR’S ALEX GOES ARTISAN WITH NEW RANGE If you thought celebrity cheese-maker Alex James had sold his soul to Asda with his ketchup-flavoured cheese concoctions, then think again. The Blur bassist has re-launched the artisan end of his ‘Alex James Presents…’ range with three cheeses. Alex has worked with Pete Humphries at Somerset’s White Lake Cheese to develop a new Guernsey milk cheese, Goddess, washed in cider brandy. Humphries will also be making tweaked versions of James’s Little Wallop and Farleigh Wallop goats’ milk cheeses. www.alexjamespresents.co.uk

GIVE THEM SOMETHING DIFFERENT Northumberland Cheese Company has really geared up for gift-giving this year. Not only does it have a number of new sets, including a fourwedge box and wicker cheese hamper, but it is also offering punters the chance to experience a day in the life of a cheese-maker. What’s more, participants in the firm’s cheese-making days (£85 per person) will be sent a truckle of the cheese they made three months later. All gifts are available to purchase online: www.northumberlandcheese.co.uk

GREEN CREDENTIALS Dutch brand Landana has unveiled two new unusual flavour combinations that it hopes to bring to the UK soon. It now offers a honey & thyme goats’ cheese and, due to public demand, has also added a wasabi & seaweed cheese. www.landanacheese. com

our Like y with se chee avour? fl d e d 3 for ad age 2 les p o t r n a r h u T ritic C on food c ion’s take . e Camp ed chees d n e l b

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counter culture

What’s new this year?

WHEY TO GO

CURD-OGRAPHY

A Swiss ricotta cheese – made from left over raw milk whey – is the latest cheese the Slow Food foundation has pledged to support and promote under its ‘Presidia’ system. The foundation has set up a presidia group with local makers to protect production of Alpziger cows’ milk cheese, which is made in the Fribourg, Bern and Obwalden Alps and eaten fresh, aged or smoked.

Wholesaler Cheese Cellar teamed up with artist Kate Lowe to create a map showcasing cheeses of the UK and Ireland. The poster was first developed as a tool for retailers but it is hoped that it will grace the walls of shops, restaurants and art-lovers’ homes alike. Kate says she did not realise just how many cheeses are made across the British Isles. “The challenge has been fitting them all in. I am sure that there will be even more to add as people spot a few gaps.”

www.slowfoodfoundation.com

ORGANIC CHAMPION High Weald Dairy has added to its growing trophy cabinet by winning the cheese category at the Soil Association’s Organic Food Awards for its sheep’s milk Sussex Slipcote. It is available from Riverford and Abel & Cole as well as delis and farm shops. The West Sussex firm also plans to continue offering its cheese-making courses throughout 2013. Check W the website for dates. learn ant to what more ab www.highwealddairy.co.uk o a che it takes to ut esebe Chec maker? k out page 27.

www.cheesecellar.co.uk

UP AND COMER IN A PICKLE Paxton & Whitfield has created a range of accompaniments that will be available from its shops in London, Bath and Stratfordupon-Avon, as well as other speciality retailers nationwide.

Its Nuts About Figs paste has been developed to complement blue cheeses, while its British gooseberry chutney is ideal for strong cheddars. The range also includes British pickled onions. www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

Keep your eyes peeled for a new venture from former cheesemonger and School of Artisan Food graduate David Jowett. The 21-year-old has set up in a barn near Stratford-upon-Avon and will begin production of ‘Jowett’, an alpine-style hard cheese made with raw cows’ milk, in 2013. Follow his progress at: blog.jowettcheese.co.uk

BLUR’S ALEX GOES ARTISAN WITH NEW RANGE If you thought celebrity cheese-maker Alex James had sold his soul to Asda with his ketchup-flavoured cheese concoctions, then think again. The Blur bassist has re-launched the artisan end of his ‘Alex James Presents…’ range with three cheeses. Alex has worked with Pete Humphries at Somerset’s White Lake Cheese to develop a new Guernsey milk cheese, Goddess, washed in cider brandy. Humphries will also be making tweaked versions of James’s Little Wallop and Farleigh Wallop goats’ milk cheeses. www.alexjamespresents.co.uk

GIVE THEM SOMETHING DIFFERENT Northumberland Cheese Company has really geared up for gift-giving this year. Not only does it have a number of new sets, including a fourwedge box and wicker cheese hamper, but it is also offering punters the chance to experience a day in the life of a cheese-maker. What’s more, participants in the firm’s cheese-making days (£85 per person) will be sent a truckle of the cheese they made three months later. All gifts are available to purchase online: www.northumberlandcheese.co.uk

GREEN CREDENTIALS Dutch brand Landana has unveiled two new unusual flavour combinations that it hopes to bring to the UK soon. It now offers a honey & thyme goats’ cheese and, due to public demand, has also added a wasabi & seaweed cheese. www.landanacheese. com

our Like y with se chee avour? fl d e d 3 for ad age 2 les p o t r n a r h u T ritic C on food c ion’s take . e Camp ed chees d n e l b

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We are proud to present the exciting new packaging for our award-winning cheddars FIND US ON

FIND OUT MORE AT:

www.wykefarms.com 2

goodcheese 2012-13

NOW ARRIVING IN LONDON The Finest Award-Winning Artisan & Speciality Cheeses From America

Please contact The Artisan Cheese Exchange for more details regarding the monthly pre-order services.

Christopher Gentine | +1.920.803.8100 | cgentine@cheese-exchange.com 8

goodcheese 2012-13

regional favourites

Local loves

Across the British Isles, local and regional cheese-makers are thriving. We asked specialist cheese shops around the nation to name the best newcomers and established favourites on their home turf

Shumana Palit and Paul Grimwood Ultracomida Aberystwyth, Wales Husband and wife team Paul Grimwood and Shumana Palit (pictured above) started their Ultracomida deli-restaurant business in 2001 and now have outlets in Aberystwyth and Narberth on the west coast of Wales, as well as a steadily expanding wholesale trade.

Their Welsh and Spanish fusion deli format was inspired by extensive travel, Spanish and Welsh ancestry, and a love of good food.

This year Ultracomida celebrated being named runner-up in the UKwide Deli of the Year competition run by fine food brand Olives Et Al.

Ty Mawr

This is a buffalo milk cheese from Duncan Aitkenhead in Llanon, Ceredigion.

Loosely based on an Ossau Iraty recipe, Ty Mawr is tangy, with a semifirm texture and works excellently for cooking – it gives a nice stringy finish.

Duncan makes Ty Mawr using raw milk from his own herd of buffalo.

Mouldy Mabel

A rich, creamy blue, made by the Bowman family near Whitland, Carmarthenshire, who also make Cowpots ice cream. It’s a full flavoured, soft blue with the buttery feel from the Bowmans’ own delicious Jersey milk.

Tysilio

One of several goats’ milk cheeses made by Nigel Jeffries of Y Cwt Caws in Anglesey, this is a light, soft, fresh cheese with a slight “spring” to its texture and not too sharp. It’s beautiful served with some crusty bread, olives and olive oil. The pasteurised milk in Tysilio comes from Nigel’s own mixed herd of Saanan, Toggenburg and Alpine goats.

Hafod

A truly great, organic cheese from Sam and Rachel Holden at Llangybi, Ceredigion, made with raw Ayrshire cows’ milk for a full, buttery taste and long finish. Earthy notes and just the right amount of sweetness come through.

Gorwydd Caerphilly

The Trethowan family make this classic Welsh cheese in LlanddewiBrefi, Ceredigion, using raw cows’ milk sourced from three surrounding farms. The curds are hand cut and the cheeses are matured a little longer than is usual for this kind of cheese, and the result is a smooth, creamy and slightly earthy exterior contrasting with the crumbly, clean tasting centre.

Teifi with nettle

We’re not normally huge fans of cheese with additions.

However the range of gouda made by John Savage Onstwedder and his family in Llandysul, Ceredigion is excellent and the combinations work fabulously. The raw milk Teifi with nettle is a current favourite with staff and customers – the slight bitterness of the nettles adds a sharpness to the sweet taste of this matured gouda.

Perl Wen

This soft, bloomy rind cheese from Cenarth, Pembrokeshire is made by Carwyn Adams of Caws Cenarth by combining recipes for Caerphilly and brie. Delicate, mushroom aromas to the rind are enhanced by a clean, fresh tasting interior.

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regional favourites Leggygowan Blue

Laura & Mark Brown Arcadia Delicatessen Belfast A long-established, independent family food store, Arcadia has been given a new lease of life under its latest generation of owners, who have taken it to consecutive Northern Ireland Deli of the Year titles.

“Historically in Northern Ireland cheese-making was practically ignored in favour of making rich butters and creams, so there was no great range of indigenous cheeses,” says co-owner Laura Brown, “but with the new interest in artisan foods and the increased need for farmers to add value this is beginning to change. There have been a number of new artisan cheeses launched in recent years and we’re aware of more in development.”

Launched just this year, this unusual goats’ cheese from the three Kelly brothers of Leggygowan Farm in Saintfield is another local Co Down product making waves. It’s the first blue goats’ milk cheese from NI and is selling well in local outlets. It also won a bronze award at Nantwich.

It has a semi soft texture with a creamy flavour and a subtle strength.

They’ve also expanded their range by smoking the blue cheese, which adds a lovely aroma and flavour to the cheese and texture to the rind without losing its distinctive blue characteristics.

Glebe Brethan

We’d also like to mention Glebe Brethan, an artisan cheese made from unpasteurised Montbeliarde cows’ milk at the Tiernan Family Farm, Dunleer, in the border county of Louth. It is a Le Gruyère-type cheese, made in 45kg wheels, which are matured on spruce timbers for 6-18 months. It is hand-turned and salted to form a natural rind, which enhances its flavour. You’ll find it on the menus of many top Irish restaurants.

St Gall

A customer suggested we stock St Gall. Made by a German-Irish couple in Cork it’s been selling well at our cheese counter. This cheese has a velvety, rich texture which feels creamy in the mouth. It’s both fruity and nutty, long and can be extremely complex.

To be announced…

Kearney Blue

This open textured, creamy cheese with a balanced blue finish has won numerous awards in its short lifetime. It recently took gold in the ‘new cheese’ category at the British Cheese Awards, and last year it won a bronze at the World Cheese Awards and Best Irish Cheese at Nantwich.

goodcheese 2012-13

We are very excited to have a personal link to at least one of these new cheeses currently being developed in NI. Michael Thomson is an ex-employee of Arcadia who, inspired by his time spent behind our cheese counter, enrolled in the School of Artisan Food’s Advanced Diploma in Dairying. After gaining valuable experience at Sparkenhoe Farm in Leicestershire, he has returned to Northern Ireland and is planning to make a raw milk blue cheese, similar to Stilton, using traditional hand-ladling techniques, in County Down. The milk will be bought direct from a single herd and the cheese will be matured for over three months.

Coverdale

Although not as well known as the Wensleydale, this is a superb Yorkshire Dales cheese. It’s made at Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, but it’s creamier than Wensleydale with a richer, sharper flavour.

Gemma Aykroyd The Cheeseboard Harrogate, North Yorks The Cheeseboard of Harrogate was established in the historic spa town back in 1981 and is still going strong under current owner Gemma Aykroyd. Stocking over 200 cheeses from around the world it is one of the most respected purveyors of cheeses in the region, and also enjoys a brisk trade in birthday cheese hampers and wedding cheese cakes.

Admiral Collingwood

Doddington Dairy in Wooler, Northumberland, make some wonderful cheeses but one that’s more unusual and a big seller for us is Admiral Collingwood. It’s an unpasteurised, semi-soft cheese, washed in Newcastle Brown Ale, that’s sweet and sticky with a full, tangy flavour.

Harrogate Blue

This is a new variety made by the Bells at Shepherd’s Purse Dairy, Thirsk. It’s a soft and creamy blue cheese, coloured with annatto.

It’s mellow at first with a peppery, rather than salty, aftertaste. This has certainly taken Harrogate by storm – and it’s not just because of its name. It’s a truly beautiful cheese and customers keep coming back for more. We’re selling at least six whole cheeses of it a week and that makes it our fastest seller, beating even Wensleydale! Harrogate Blue won Best New Dairy Product at the 2012 Great Yorkshire Show. It’s definitely one to watch!

Elsdon

This is a natural-rinded, mature hard goats’ milk cheese from the Northumberland Cheese Company.

It’s mellow at first, but develops a complex flavour as it matures, with overtones of coconut. Goats’ and ewes’ milk cheeses have become huge sellers for us over the past couple of years, so it’s great that there are so many versions on the market, but this particular one stands out for its flavour.

Ruby Gold

This was created six years ago by Cryer & Stott.

They wanted to make a local cheese using local produce and, as they are based in Wakefield, the obvious choice of flavour was the famous rhubarb.

The result was a ewe’s milk cheese with a flaky texture and a lemony, zesty flavour that marries really well with the sweetness of the rhubarb.

King Richard III

I had to include a Wensleydale, being from Yorkshire! This one was developed at Fortmayne Dairy in Newton-le-Willows, in the Yorkshire Dales, by Suzanne Stirke. The result is a cloth-wrapped cheese made to a pre-war recipe she found in her grandmother’s diary. It’s open textured and crumbly, with a creamy, lactic flavour. Delicious with fruit cake! The cheese is named after King Richard III, who spent most of his childhood years in Middleham Castle in Wensleydale.

MEMORIES OF YESTERYEAR Quintessentially English Preserves Crafted in the Devonshire Countryside and Free from Additives

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Tel: 01805 804545 Email: enquiries@thevictoriankitchen.com www.thevictoriankitchen.com

Contact us for our Product List

Following our triumph at Nantwich International Cheese Show 2012, here are some details of our Award winning cheeses of outstanding quality.

Give your customers a real treat

Gold Winner

SUPREME CHAMPION

And Trophy Winner For Best Catering and Food Service Cheese in Show

Rougette has the appearance of

a washed rind cheese. Its reddish rind is achieved by the use of red cultures. It has a unique flavour that develops while maturing.

Montagnolo Affine with its grey edible rind and the unrivalled creamy blue flavour is a cheese for the connoisseur. Once cut into, this cheese is pale cream with blue veins that give an intense blue flavour which deepens as the cheese ages.

Bronze Winner

It

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And First in Soft Blue Cheese Class at the Great Yorkshire Cheese and Dairy Show 2012

Cambozola, with its unrivalled creamy soft texture and a subtle blue tone, has established itself as the UK’s most popular Blue Vein Brie.

For more information about our products or to find your nearest wholesaler, visit our website: www.elite-imports-limited.co.uk Contact: Tel: 020 7819 9704 – Email: info@elite-imports-limited.co.uk

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regional favourites

Justin Tunstall Town Mill Cheesemonger Lyme Regis, Dorset Not content with winning Best Independent Retailer in this year’s Taste of Dorset awards, Justin Tunstall’s tiny Town Mill Cheesemonger was also crowned South West Speciality Retailer of the Year at the 2012 Flavour awards run

by Taste of the West.

first name. The rind is somewhat sticky with a blush peach effect. The paste is both dense and malleable with a meaty and creamy flavour together with a savoury tang. There’s a lot going on here! Francis was recently acclaimed Best New British Cheese and James is certainly “a cheesemaker to watch”.

Dorset White

Hmmm…

Dorset! The other phoenix rising from the Cranborne Chase ashes is Chalke Valley Cheese, launched by Alison French and Sue James. Our favourite in their range is this beautiful white mould-rinded 200g log of unpasteurised cows’ milk cheese. The exterior is sweetly mushroomy, while the paste is luscious, creamy and rich.

If you liked the old Goldhill, you’ll love this cheese.

Dorset Drum Francis

The demise of Cranborne Chase Cheese left a massive void in the range of Dorset-made cheeses.

Thankfully its redundant cheesemakers have launched two new enterprises, so we’re now better off than before! James McCall started James’s Cheese a few short months ago. He is a washed-rind maven, learning his craft with the late James Aldridge after whom the 800g Francis is named – it was Aldridge’s unused

to the whole family, from more timid palates to ‘what’s your fiercest cheddar?’ types. Dorset Drum, sold in 2kg truckles (but we’ll portion it in the shop) is a mild to medium clothbound cheddar that doesn’t make one feel as though one’s gums are receding, but offers a wealth of farmyness to entertain the most demanding flavour seeker. Always a Christmas best-seller.

Being based in a tourist destination, we often get asked for the ‘most local’ cheese. Thankfully, we’re only too happy to endorse our nearest producer, Denhay Farms. There’s a place for a cheddar that can appeal

Sharpham Savour

Savour was originally made in 2010 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the South Devon Area of National Beauty – and picked up a World Cheese Awards gold in the process. It was such a hit that it’s now a regular part of Sharpham’s excellent roster of cheeses. Savour is an unpressed, unpasteurised semi-hard ‘washed curd’ cheese made from a mix of Jersey cows’ and goats’ milk. It’s velvety, as creamy as you’d expect from the Sharpham family, and the tang of goat beautifully complements the luscious richness of the Jersey milk.

Rachel

Beenleigh Blue

This is the ewes’ milk option from a trio of great blues made by Ben Harris at Devon’s Ticklemore Dairy. Although the cows’ milk Devon Blue and goats’ milk Harbourne Blue are superb, Beenleigh is our favourite. Less salty than Roquefort, it has a wonderfully rich, sweet and fruity flavour. Ivory coloured paste contrasts nicely with the blue/green mould. Thankfully it’s now available almost year-round, though this year was unavailable in early Spring. Its return is always celebrated in the shop!

Myth surrounds the naming of this washed-rind goats’ milk beauty, from Pete Humphries’ White Lake Dairy near Shepton Mallet in Somerset.

Suffice to say whoever inspired the cheese has a wonderful namesake.

It’s a winner even with those who are sceptical about goats’ milk and offers a lovely faded orange rind and a stark white interior. Pliant, rich, wellrounded, sweet and nutty – who was this Rachel?

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Revisiting our Italian offer FARMERS AND CHEESEMAKERS

Producing the very best in Organic and Conventional Cheddar since 1952 Handmade using fresh milk from our local herds, traditional family skills are combined with the latest technology to produce Organic and Conventional Cheddars of exceptional quality.

CALL 01934 864600 for more information Visit our website now and watch your cheese being made! www.lyecrossfarm.co.uk Lye Cross Farm, Redhill, North Somerset BS40 5RH

One of the projects we had this year was to look closely again at our Italian cheese range and were pleased to appoint our own Agent in Italy to ensure we have a comprehensive and top quality selection. Paolo has really come up with the goods and we have a superb Parmesan maker in Ambrosi who provide us with whole cheeses, 2kg cuts, wedges, grated and shaved options.

The Taleggio by Casarrigoni is premier quality with a sweet buttery flavour and the Gorgonzolas, both sweet and picante hit all the right notes.

Our 125g Buffalo Mozzarella now from Cantile comes in a tub to avoid damages and we have extended the Mozzarella range to include 125g cows milk Mozzarella ‘cherries’ as well as 125g Buffalo Bocconcini. The real star is the Burrata which is available to order because of its short life but they are only in cases of 6 and have become a ‘talking point’ as customers are ordering in advance for this cream enriched cows milk Mozzarella.

01892 838999 www.rowcliffe.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL

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regional favourites Diane Brown Provender Brown Perth, Scotland Diane Brown’s delicatessen in Perth has been featured in The Independent’s Top 50 Delis in Britain and has twice been named Scottish regional Deli of the Year in the UK-wide competition run

by Olives Et Al. Alongside the usual deli fare of traditionally cured hams, artisan salamis and handmade preserves it offers one of the best ranges of farmhouse cheeses available in Scotland.

Barwheys

This is a rich, hard, raw milk cheese with a long, complex flavour, handmade by Tricia Bey and her team at Barwheys Dairy in Ayrshire using milk from their own herd of pedigree Ayrshire cattle.

The first taste is slightly tart, then you get hints of nut and caramel.

Barwheys picked up a gold award at this year’s British Cheese Awards and Tricia tells me she has an extra mature version, Barwheys Beastie, coming out in time for Christmas and Burns Night.

Definitely one to watch out for.

Corra Linn

Developed by Selena Cairns, daughter of Humphrey Errington, this is a hard, raw milk sheep’s milk cheese that’s matured in cloth for anything from six to 10 months. Similar in style to Ossau Iraty or a Manchego, it is dry and creamy with an earthy sweetness.

Since taking over the farm from her father, Selena has been working at expanding the business and also now has a goats’ milk blue, Biggar Blue.

Corra Linn is made with milk from the farm’s own flock of Lacaune sheep.

Hebridean Blue

A strong, savoury, meaty but creamy blue, Hebridean Blue is from the same stable as Isle of Mull cheddar. It’s made by Chris and Jeff Reade of the Mull Cheese Co. on their farm near Tobermory, using milk from their own herd: largely Friesians, with the odd Ayrshire, Jersey and Brown Swiss cow. It’s similar to Stilton but with less acidity and made with raw milk – Scotland’s version of Stichelton.

Jezebel and Fearn Abbey

Scotland didn’t have a goats’ or ewes’ milk brie until recently; Rory Stone of Highland Fine Cheese Co in Tain, Ross-shire, is now producing both. The Jezebel goats’ milk brie (previously known at Morangie Goat) is mild and creamy with hints of mushroom, and won a silver award at this year’s British Cheese Awards. The Fearn Abbey (previously Morangie Ewe) could be one to look out for. I’ve not managed to taste it yet, but it won a gold award at the British Cheese Awards and I hear it is similar to Wigmore.

Paddy’s Milestone and Ailsa Craig

A pair of beautiful little rockshaped cheeses from Ann Dorward, the one cows’ milk, the other goats’. Both are fresh, soft, almost moussey, cheeses with a white bloomy rind, both creamy and delicate but with a hint of goat in the case of the Ailsa Craig. Quite unique. Ann makes these with pasteurised milk from her own herds at Dunlop Dairy in Stewarton, Ayrshire

Fiona Kay Cheese Please Lewes, East Sussex Twice named Sussex Food Shop of the Year, Fiona Kay’s store at 46 High Street stocks around 100 cheeses, many of them from specialist producers in the South East.

Sussex Mansion

This is made by Arthur Alsop and Nicholas Walker in Mayfield, East Sussex. You could compare the flavour to a mature Gouda or a caveaged Gruyère – a bit of a tang and a long, fruity finish, with a sweet, nutty aroma – and the texture is really unusual: quite granular, with big cracks and holes. It’s delicious in thin slivers or grated on jacket potato and has a real following round here.

Mayfield

Another one from Alsop & Walker, this is like a Jarlsberg type of cheese but with a less rubbery texture and a nutty flavor. It’s firm and golden and has oval holes that give it some character – it has been likened to a Tom & Jerry cheese!

Mayfield is good for those occasions when you want an interesting cheese without going for intense flavours. It’s also a good sandwich cheese accompanied by our own Cheese Please Chutney.

Little Sussex

A delightful, fresh little 80g sheep’s cheese with a bloomy coat that’s an ideal accompaniment to quince cheese and fig crackers. It’s made

by Mark and Sarah Harding of High Weald Dairy, based on the recipe of their plain Sussex Slipcote.

Little Sussex is matured for just over a week before they pack it. It’s quite mild at that stage but develops more flavour as it ages.

Winterdale Shaw

Made by Robin Betts of Winterdale Cheeses in Kent, this is a mature cheddar-style cheese in the traditional style, hand-made with unpasteurised milk from the family’s own Friesians. It’s cloth-bound and then matured for at least six months in a cellar dug into the chalk of the North Downs. It has bite, flavour and all the trappings of true farmhouse cheddar without the acidity and with a more moist, smoother texture. It’s a favourite now as a base for wedding cheese cakes.

Flower Marie

This is my Desert Island cheese, made just down the road from here at Greenacres Farm by Golden Cross Cheese, and it’s our best seller at Cheese Please. It’s an unpasteurised sheep’s milk variety, sold relatively young at between four and six to weeks, and has a gentle flavour and smooth texture that’s just amazing.

You should only serve with plain crackers or you could easily mask the subtle flavour.

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recipe ideas

Stirring stuff Top food writers, chefs and cheese-makers give us their choice of tasty cheese recipes, from simple suppers to sophisticated dinner-party stunners Beetroot & Cheese Panna Cotta

By Mat Follas

Mele in Camicia Ripiene di Gorgonzola (Poached Apples Stuffed with Gorgonzola)

By Catherine Fulvio

2009 Masterchef champion Mat Follas runs the 2 AA-rosette The Wild Garlic restaurant in Beaminster, Dorset, which is also listed in Michelin Guide, Good Food Guide and Trencherman’s Guide. This year Mat opened the brilliant Chesil Beach Café near Portland, in partnership with Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Catherine Fulvio is one of Ireland’s top culinary stars. An award-winning food writer, TV Chef and proprietor of Ballyknocken House Cookery School, in Co Wicklow, she has just launched her third cookbook: Eat Like An Italian – Recipes for the Good Life.

SERVES 8

Ingredients

300ml milk 300ml double cream 50g cheddar (I use Godminster) 50g hard goat’s cheese (I use Brock Hall Farm Dairy’s Capra Nouveau ) 3 gelatine leaves 1 pack of precooked beetroot 300ml water table salt

Method

12 hours before, roughly chop the

Darren Russell

Queso de Cabra Frito con Miel (Fried Goats’ Cheese with Honey)

By Claudia Roden The combination of a slightly salty goats’ cheese with fragrant honey is surprising and exquisite.

I tasted it in Andalusia but it is also made elsewhere. Use a hard goats’ cheese.

Ingredients

About 75g fine matzo meal, for dredging 4 slices (about 200g) of hard goats’ cheese about 1cm thick 2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten 2 tablespoons olive oil, for frying A pot of orange-blossom or other fragrant clear honey, to pass round.

16

goodcheese 2012-13

beetroot into small pieces and place in a pan, add water (just enough to cover them), bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Take off the heat and carefully, using a stick blender, whizz them until a smooth paste is formed, then add a pinch of salt to season. Pour into an ice cube tray and freeze.

Place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of cold water until they’re soft.

Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan, bring to a simmer, add

the grated cheese and a pinch of salt, stir until combined then take off the heat.

Still whisking, add the gelatine sheets one by one, stir to combine and cool to room temp.

Pour the panna cotta mix into moulds until half full, then carefully place a beetroot cube on top before filling the rest of the mould. The beetroot should remain suspended in the mixture, but hidden.

Place the moulds in a refrigerator for 4 hours to set before serving.

SERVES 4-6

Method

Method

Recipe from The Food of Spain – A Celebration by Claudia Roden (Penguin)

Recipe from Eat Like An Italian by Catherine Fulvio (Gill & Macmillan)

Put a good layer of matzo meal on a plate. Turn the slices of goats’ cheese in the egg yolks and use your fingers to cover them well with the yolks, being careful not to break the slices.

Lay the cheese on top of the matzo meal and sprinkle with more, so the slices are well covered.

Fry the cheese slices in mediumhot oil in a non-stick frying pan for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, turning them over very carefully with a spatula, until golden on both sides.

Lift them out and serve immediately. Pass the honey round for people to help themselves to a teaspoonful or so.

Ingredients

300ml red wine 200ml water 100ml Marsala 50g caster sugar 4 tbsp honey 1 lemon, zest and juice 2 rosemary sprigs 6 Golden Delicious apples, halved and cored Garden salad leaves 160g Gorgonzola, crumbled 3 tbsp roughly chopped walnuts Combine the red wine, water, Marsala, sugar, honey, lemon zest and juice and rosemary in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the apples and poach for about 15 minutes, then allow to cool in the poaching liquid. Remove and slice the apples in half.

Bring the poaching liquid to a simmer and reduce until it’s slightly more syrupy.

Place the salad leaves on a platter.

Place the apples on the leaves and sprinkle with Gorgonzola and walnuts. Drizzle over a little of the syrupy poaching liquid.

Keep the leftover poaching liquid for drizzling over desserts.

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Winner of ‘The Best Butter’ at The Global Cheese Awards 2012

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The Award Winning Vale of Camelot Creamy Mature and Strong Mature Cheddar.

Produce or supply butter, cream, cheddar, local milk and over 1500 other cheese and dairy products.

We provide chilled and ambient foodservice products from rice to charcuterie, olives to oils and dry goods. We offer a fast, efficient and friendly refrigerated delivery – nationwide to wholesale, delicatessens, restaurants, farm shops, pubs, nursing homes and schools.

www.longmancheese.demon.co.uk For all enquires please call 01963 441146

recipe ideas Vanilla Cheesecake with Sugared redcurrants

By Sybil Kapoor This is an incredibly light and fragile cheesecake as it has no pastry base. Goats’ curd is made by artisan producers and can be found in good cheese shops. It has a delicious lemony taste, but if you’re unable to find any, you can use cows’ milk curd cheese or full-fat fromage frais instead.

SERVES 6

Ingredients

450g goats’ curd ¼ tsp vanilla extract Finely grated zest of 2 lemons 1¼ tbsp cornflour Juice of 1½ lemons 4 medium eggs 115g caster sugar, plus extra for the redcurrants 340g redcurrants, washed

Nids de Tartiflette (Cheese & Potato Nests)

By Rachel Khoo Tartiflette was the brainchild of Reblochon cheese producers in the 1980s. With so many French cheeses to compete with, they needed to find a way of making theirs more popular, and they did it with this cheesy potato gratin. Reblochon comes from the Haute-Savoie in the Alps.

SERVES 6 as a side dish or starter

Ingredients

Tim Winter

1 tablespoon soft butter 500g waxy potatoes, e.g. Maris Peer or Charlotte 1 onion, finely chopped 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped 1 bay leaf 200g lardons or cubes of smoked bacon 100ml dry white wine 250g cubed Reblochon cheese

Tomato & Taleggio Tart

By Catherine Hill The Taleggio in this tart melts to a delicious, unctuous mass that benefits from sitting for a minute or so before slicing.

Ingredients

375g pack ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry 650g mixed fresh tomatoes (I went

Method Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C and brush a 6-hole muffin tin with the soft butter. Peel the potatoes and use the julienne blade on a mandoline to make thin matchsticks (or slice by hand).

Put the onion, garlic, bay leaf and lardons into a large non-stick frying pan and cook until the lardons are golden. Add the wine and reduce until only a couple of tablespoons of liquid remain. Stir in the potato matchsticks and take off the heat, then remove the bay leaf and stir in the Reblochon cubes.

Divide the potato mix between the 6 holes in the muffin tin and bake for 15–20 minutes or until golden and bubbling.

Preheat the oven to fan 180°C/gas 5. Lightly oil a 20cm/8in spring-form cake tin. Line the base and sides with

baking parchment (see page 19 for instructions).

Place the goats’ curd cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and lemon zest. Place the cornflour in a small bowl and mix in the lemon juice to form a smooth paste. Tip into the cheese. Using a balloon whisk, gently whisk the ingredients together until they’re just mixed through. Do not over-mix.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs and caster sugar, then gradually whisk them into the curd cheese. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown. It should still tremble when it comes out of the oven, but it will set as it cools.

Once cold, remove the cheesecake from its tin and use the paper to help slide it onto a plate, using a palette knife. You can either leave the redcurrants on their stems or strip them. Just before serving, toss the currants in lots of caster sugar and pile on top of the cheesecake.

From National Trust Simply Baking

by Sybil Kapoor (National Trust Books)

Recipe taken from The Little Paris Kitchen

by Rachel Khoo (Michael Joseph)

for 1 beef tomato, halved and thickly sliced, 2 plum tomatoes, cut into thick wedges and 150g baby plum tomatoes) 1 tbsp olive oil 200g Taleggio cheese, cubed

Method

Preheat oven to gas 7/220°C/200°C fan. Allow the pastry to come up to room temperature a little before unrolling. Find your largest flat baking sheet and roll the pastry out so it fits pretty much perfectly.

Carefully lift onto the baking sheet.

Score a 3cm rim around the

pastry and arrange the tomatoes over the pastry within this area. Drizzle with oil and season with plenty of black pepper.

Bake for 5 minutes. Scatter over the cheese, then return to the oven for 5–10 minutes until golden and bubbling. Slice and serve with rocket leaves and a glass of chilled wine.

Recipe taken from The Weekend Cookbook

by Catherine Hill (Penguin)

goodcheese 2012-13

19

recipe ideas British Cheese Board

Torta di Ricotta (Ricotta Tart)

By Antonio Carluccio The Italian chef says his countryfolk love ricotta –a by-product of cheese-making – but it must be really fresh. If there’s even a hint of sourness, the ricotta is off.

SERVES 6-8

Ingredients

50g butter 3-4 sheets of filo pastry (frozen) 500g fresh ricotta cheese 120g caster sugar 5 eggs, separated 150g mix of orange and lemon zest, cut into small cubes Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 50g bitter chocolate, broken into small pieces

Duck Egg Salad with Dunsyre Blue

By Mark Greenaway

Method

Preheat the oven to 180ºC/Gas 4.

Grease the inside of a 25cm flan tin with a little of the butter, melting the remainder in a pan over a low heat.

Line the tin with the filo pastry, brushing each sheet with some of the melted butter.

Put the ricotta in a bowl and loosen the texture with a fork. Mix in 100g of the sugar and the egg yolks, followed by the cubes of zest, the grated zest and the chocolate. Mix well together.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, then add the remaining sugar. Fold this carefully into the ricotta mixture using a large metal spoon, taking care not to lose the airiness of the whipped whites.

Spread this filling onto the filo pastry on the base of the tin. Brush melted butter over the remaining sheet or sheets of filo. With scissors, cut ribbons of buttered filo pastry and spread these decoratively on the tart. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes and leave to cool before serving.

From Antonio Carluccio: The Collection (Quadrille)

Mark Greenaway is one of the rising stars of Scottish cuisine and head chef of Edinburgh’s 3-AA-rosette Restaurant Mark Greenaway. The beauty of this salad, says Mark, is that it needs no dressing. The yolk of the soft boiled eggs and the refreshing pea purée act like dressings but without the need for oil, mayonnaise, butter or cream.

Ingredients

160g Dunsyre Blue cheese (4 generous slices) 16 roasted hazelnuts 300g fresh spring peas 50g fresh spring peas (keep raw to go through the salad) 2 duck eggs 1 frizzy lettuce or baby gem lettuce Salt Wild or fresh herbs of your choice

Sun-Dried Tomato & Smoked Garlic Chicken

By The Victorian Kitchen Garlicky chutney enhances this recipe from Devon preserves maker The Victorian Kitchen.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

4 boneless chicken breasts 100g Godminster Organic mature cheddar Victorian Kitchen sun-dried tomato & garlic chutney ½ cup breadcrumbs 1 egg Olive oil Salt & pepper 20

goodcheese 2012-13

Method

Boil duck eggs in salted water for 6 minutes and refresh in cold water to cool down. Once cool, peel and set aside.

Bring 500mls of salted water to a rolling boil and drop in fresh peas, return to the boil and cook for 3 minutes. Then drain the peas, reserving some of the cooking liquid.

Using some of the water you used to boil them, blend the peas at a high speed to achieve a fresh smooth purée, adding a little of the cooking water until you have the correct consistency.

Pick and wash all lettuce and herbs well in clean cold water, then build the salad.

Place a slice of the blue cheese at the bottom of your serving bowl.

Top with duck egg cut in half lengthways.

Dot some of the pea purée around the cheese and egg.

Scatter the lettuce, hazelnuts, fresh herbs and reserved peas around the top of the egg.

Serve individually as shown, or in a larger bowl in the middle of the table for a lovely spring or summer lunch.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C, and grease a baking dish with oil.

Divide the cheese into four, then beat the egg for use later.

Slice the chicken breasts lengthways to form a pocket, and fill each with two teaspoons of tomato & smoked garlic chutney.

Add a slice of cheese in each pocket, then secure the chicken breasts with cocktail sticks and place in the baking dish.

Brush each breast with the beaten egg & cover with breadcrumbs. Season with salt & pepper Place the chicken dish in the oven and bake for around 45-60 mins until the chicken is cooked and the breadcrumbs are brown.

Serve with jacket potato and salad.

Baked Marrow Stuffed with Two Cheeses

By Quickes Traditional This tasty vegetarian dish is suggested by multi-award-winning cheese-maker Quickes Traditional, based near Exeter in Devon. It makes a healthy, light meal.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

100g Quickes Traditional mature cheddar, grated 50g Quickes Traditional Red Leicester, grated 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 small onion, chopped 2 celery sticks, trimmed and chopped 1 red or yellow pepper, deseeded and chopped 50g frozen sweetcorn 50g frozen peas 50g fresh breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives or parsley Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 marrow, cut into 8 slices and deseeded

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.

Lightly grease a large baking dish or baking sheet with a teaspoon of the olive oil.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onion, celery and pepper for 3-4 minutes until soft.

Remove from the heat and stir in the sweetcorn and peas.

Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the breadcrumbs, then stir the rest into the vegetables with the mature cheddar and chives or parsley.

Season to taste.

Arrange the marrow slices in the baking dish or on the baking sheet.

Pack with the vegetable mixture, and sprinkle with the remaining breadcrumbs and grated Red Leicester.

Cover with foil and bake for 25-30 minutes, removing the foil for the final 10 minutes to brown the tops.

You can vary the vegetables used according to your own preference.

Mushrooms also work really well.

Passionate about Cheese We deliver the finest cheeses and speciality foods to deli’s, farm shops and the food service industrty.

South East (Head Office) 0207 819 6001 Central 01905 829830 North East 01347 822977 North West 0161 279 8020 South West 01392 908108 sales@cheesecellar.co.uk www.cheesecellar.co.uk www.facebook.com/cheesecellar

Specialist suppliers to the food industry  Importers  Maturers  Wholesale distributors - Friendly & reliable service - Extensive product range - New and Exclusive products available only to us - Free & regular deliveries - Menu & Merchandising advice - Fantastic product knowledge from all the team We go further to please!

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The Truckle Cheese Co is home to our evermore popular Vintage Mature Cheddar truckles and our range of delicious cheeses in truckle form, Including our creamy blue Stilton, our gold award-winning Oak Smoked Cheddar and World Cheese award winning Vesuvius (Cheddar with Chilli) to name a few.

Not forgetting our range of award winning chutneys to include our Onion Marmalade, Chilli & Pineapple Chutney and London Ale great with most cheeses and many other foods. New for 2012 we launched our Parmigiano Reggiano ‘hearts’ and Spicy Strawberry & caramelised onion chutney, which are both proving very popular with our customers. We also have gift hampers, gift vouchers and many more exciting products available online www.trucklecheese.co.uk Tel: 01223 234 740 • Email: info@trucklecheese.co.uk

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For details call 01963 32286 email: info@keenscheddar.co.uk www.keenscheddar.co.uk

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goodcheese 2012-13

blended cheeses

With Bowland, David Williams proved ‘additive cheeses’ are not about masking cheap raw material with extra ingredients

Stop your

snobbing I

Cheese buffs get awfully sniffy about ‘cheeses with additives’ yet every good cheesemonger stocks at least one. Food critic and MasterChef judge CHARLES CAMPION casts prejudice aside to find out more.

t is called ‘class envy’ and it is most acute when two cheese judges compare notes at the start of the day. However carefully the head judge has divided up the classes it is inevitable that some have more appeal than others. Traditional Cheddars?

“Yes please!” Rind-Washed Cows’ Milk? “Delighted!” New Cheeses with Additives? “Who have I upset?”

When you face an array of cheeses blended with chilli, chocolate or chutney, your fellow judges fight hard to suppress a snigger as they speculate about which of last year’s mistakes earned you this demotion.

At the storm-bedraggled 2012 Nantwich Show I joined Brian Murrell of wholesaler Bradbury & Son as the judging team for class DP73, ‘Cheddar Cheeses with Additives’, and there were more than 30 of the blighters.

Despite the large amount of money they deliver to the tills, blended cheeses have a really terrible press.

Time and again you will hear cheese folk offering much the same opinion

– which is pretty unusual in itself – and it goes something like this: “If a cheese is good enough it doesn’t need additives, and if a cheese isn’t any good then additives won’t save it”.

Even though some traditional cheeses have always contained additives – think of the green mottled Sage Derby – it was the Ilchester Cheese Co (now part of the international dairy company Norseland) that was the first to make them big business. Its Cheese with Beer has a fine back story.

In the early 1960s Ken Seaton was proprietor of the Ivelchester Hotel in Somerset, and if his customers wanted cheese he would confront them with a whole truckle of cheddar, encouraging them to spoon out the interior. Pretty soon there was a large amount of cheese clinging to the rind and well past its best, so Seaton mixed it with beer, herbs and spices, transforming this stale cheese into a gourmet delight.

The Ivelchester Hotel did a great

trade in this cheese-with-beer and legend has it that when a visiting Harrods buyer tried the mixture on a biscuit he was impressed enough to place a large order. Seaton’s cheese

cheddar from Cricket Malherbe, which was owned by Lord Beaverbrook, and a popular beer, Worthington E. One of Davidge’s better coups was ensuring Worthington paid a fee for the valuable extra exposure they were getting on the pots!

Ilchester Cheese with Beer in the little pots may have run its course – the product, now made with Fullers ESP, is only produced for export markets at the moment – but another Ilchester cheese took over the mantle. Applewood Smoked is wildly successful, and its secret is that it is not actually smoked: a quality base cheese is blended with a sophisticated flavouring, giving a pleasant smoky taste without the drying effect that would happen in a traditional smoking process. ➔

Despite the large amount of money they deliver to the tills, blended cheeses have a really terrible press business was eventually bought by John Davidge, who says: “During the 1960s the dairy cabinet in any store was a very bleak place, and our Cheese with Beer stood out.”

Sold in pots, Ilchester’s Cheese with Beer was distinctive in that it quickly went from being a way to use up leftovers to a delicacy in its own right. It was made using decent

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blended cheeses

Ilchester started the ball rolling with Cheese With Beer – sadly not on sale here now, but doing well in export markets

David Williams’ favourite: Red Leicester with black pepper

For a couple of decades Ilchester had the cheese-with-additives sector pretty much sewn up. Then, in 1982 at Godfrey C. Williams (an old established ‘speciality grocer’ in Sandbach, Cheshire), David Williams set about solving the problem of selling a magnificent Lancashire cheese so crumbly that it fell apart when cut into portions.

His inspiration was a pudding that his grandfather made to a family recipe each Christmas, the dominant flavours of which were apple, raisins and cinnamon. Young David Williams took that very crumbly Lancashire and mixed it with the apple and raisins, then pressed it overnight in a screwdown cheese press, finally dusting the outside with cinnamon. Then it was entered at the Nantwich Show where

it won an unexpected first prize.

Today David Williams’ blended cheeses are listed by Bradbury’s and the operation is based in a recently extended, modern factory. It turns out 2½ tonnes of Bowland each and every week, and has a total output of more than 625 tonnes a year.

Perhaps the strangest of the everlengthening list of blended cheeses is one that came out of a ‘blue sky’ brainstorming at Bradbury’s – the aim was to identify very successful food products and see whether they would work when turned into a blended cheese. Sticky Toffee Pudding was the most popular pudding in Britain so why not create a Sticky Toffee Cheese? The finished cheese has a cheddar base with added dates, raisins, toffee pieces and golden syrup. It hasn’t displaced Bowland on British cheese counters but it does sell a very respectable 2 tonnes a week in the USA and Canada, which says quite a lot about how most North Americans think of cheese and is

Applewood, blended with a smoky flavouring, has proved a huge hit for Ilchester

an indicator of just how sweet the transatlantic tooth can be. We can only be grateful that another Williams invention – the Chocolate Mint Cheese – has not, as yet, caught on.

If you ask David Williams what kind of cheese he takes home with him at the end of the day, he will specify his Red Leicester with black pepper. All the blended cheeses he is responsible for are made using territorials from Belton and they are always first grade.

It seems irrational to buy the very best cheese for blending but it does make sense: you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear It seems irrational to buy the very best cheese for blending but it does make sense. The old adage is true: you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

As to what the Next Big thing is going to be… in the ‘Cheese with Additives’ class one thing is for certain:

you cannot predict what will tickle the public’s tastebuds. At cheese shows where I have judged over the years I have seen Christmas pudding cheese, biltong cheese and even a coffee cheese, in which coffee grounds were blended into the mix and then the finished cheeses were rolled in grounds too.

When Brian Murrell and I stepped up to the table at Nantwich 2012 there was cheddar with curried chutney (it fell apart); cheddar with balsamic onions (an unfortunate sludge brown colour) and various cheddars with chilli (often too hot). Chilli seems to be the additive everybody is trying to make a go of. We gave gold to a very sound cheese that had been rolled in roasted and powdered hops. The added flavour worked very well – it was sharp against the fruitiness of the cheese – and the texture of the cheese was good.

And that is the point. Cheese blended with additives can be good or bad and sold at any number of price points. Setting aside the prejudices that make our palates what they are, if a cheese, any cheese, tastes good it will sell. Next time you hear someone damning the cheese with additives sector with faint praise, ask them if they have ever tried a truffled brie. www.godfreycwilliams.co.uk www.ilchester.co.uk

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A Family of Six Distinctive Cornish Cheeses Trelawny Traditional Farmhouse cheese.

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goodcheese 2012-13

Winners of 3 Great Taste Awards in 2011

Gold British Cheese Awards 2012

blended cheeses

With Bowland, David Williams proved ‘additive cheeses’ are not about masking cheap raw material with extra ingredients

Stop your

snobbing I

Cheese buffs get awfully sniffy about ‘cheeses with additives’ yet every good cheesemonger stocks at least one. Food critic and MasterChef judge CHARLES CAMPION casts prejudice aside to find out more.

t is called ‘class envy’ and it is most acute when two cheese judges compare notes at the start of the day. However carefully the head judge has divided up the classes it is inevitable that some have more appeal than others. Traditional Cheddars?

“Yes please!” Rind-Washed Cows’ Milk? “Delighted!” New Cheeses with Additives? “Who have I upset?”

When you face an array of cheeses blended with chilli, chocolate or chutney, your fellow judges fight hard to suppress a snigger as they speculate about which of last year’s mistakes earned you this demotion.

At the storm-bedraggled 2012 Nantwich Show I joined Brian Murrell of wholesaler Bradbury & Son as the judging team for class DP73, ‘Cheddar Cheeses with Additives’, and there were more than 30 of the blighters.

Despite the large amount of money they deliver to the tills, blended cheeses have a really terrible press.

Time and again you will hear cheese folk offering much the same opinion

– which is pretty unusual in itself – and it goes something like this: “If a cheese is good enough it doesn’t need additives, and if a cheese isn’t any good then additives won’t save it”.

Even though some traditional cheeses have always contained additives – think of the green mottled Sage Derby – it was the Ilchester Cheese Co (now part of the international dairy company Norseland) that was the first to make them big business. Its Cheese with Beer has a fine back story.

In the early 1960s Ken Seaton was proprietor of the Ivelchester Hotel in Somerset, and if his customers wanted cheese he would confront them with a whole truckle of cheddar, encouraging them to spoon out the interior. Pretty soon there was a large amount of cheese clinging to the rind and well past its best, so Seaton mixed it with beer, herbs and spices, transforming this stale cheese into a gourmet delight.

The Ivelchester Hotel did a great

trade in this cheese-with-beer and legend has it that when a visiting Harrods buyer tried the mixture on a biscuit he was impressed enough to place a large order. Seaton’s cheese

cheddar from Cricket Malherbe, which was owned by Lord Beaverbrook, and a popular beer, Worthington E. One of Davidge’s better coups was ensuring Worthington paid a fee for the valuable extra exposure they were getting on the pots!

Ilchester Cheese with Beer in the little pots may have run its course – the product, now made with Fullers ESP, is only produced for export markets at the moment – but another Ilchester cheese took over the mantle. Applewood Smoked is wildly successful, and its secret is that it is not actually smoked: a quality base cheese is blended with a sophisticated flavouring, giving a pleasant smoky taste without the drying effect that would happen in a traditional smoking process. ➔

Despite the large amount of money they deliver to the tills, blended cheeses have a really terrible press business was eventually bought by John Davidge, who says: “During the 1960s the dairy cabinet in any store was a very bleak place, and our Cheese with Beer stood out.”

Sold in pots, Ilchester’s Cheese with Beer was distinctive in that it quickly went from being a way to use up leftovers to a delicacy in its own right. It was made using decent

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23

blended cheeses

Ilchester started the ball rolling with Cheese With Beer – sadly not on sale here now, but doing well in export markets

David Williams’ favourite: Red Leicester with black pepper

For a couple of decades Ilchester had the cheese-with-additives sector pretty much sewn up. Then, in 1982 at Godfrey C. Williams (an old established ‘speciality grocer’ in Sandbach, Cheshire), David Williams set about solving the problem of selling a magnificent Lancashire cheese so crumbly that it fell apart when cut into portions.

His inspiration was a pudding that his grandfather made to a family recipe each Christmas, the dominant flavours of which were apple, raisins and cinnamon. Young David Williams took that very crumbly Lancashire and mixed it with the apple and raisins, then pressed it overnight in a screwdown cheese press, finally dusting the outside with cinnamon. Then it was entered at the Nantwich Show where

it won an unexpected first prize.

Today David Williams’ blended cheeses are listed by Bradbury’s and the operation is based in a recently extended, modern factory. It turns out 2½ tonnes of Bowland each and every week, and has a total output of more than 625 tonnes a year.

Perhaps the strangest of the everlengthening list of blended cheeses is one that came out of a ‘blue sky’ brainstorming at Bradbury’s – the aim was to identify very successful food products and see whether they would work when turned into a blended cheese. Sticky Toffee Pudding was the most popular pudding in Britain so why not create a Sticky Toffee Cheese? The finished cheese has a cheddar base with added dates, raisins, toffee pieces and golden syrup. It hasn’t displaced Bowland on British cheese counters but it does sell a very respectable 2 tonnes a week in the USA and Canada, which says quite a lot about how most North Americans think of cheese and is

Applewood, blended with a smoky flavouring, has proved a huge hit for Ilchester

an indicator of just how sweet the transatlantic tooth can be. We can only be grateful that another Williams invention – the Chocolate Mint Cheese – has not, as yet, caught on.

If you ask David Williams what kind of cheese he takes home with him at the end of the day, he will specify his Red Leicester with black pepper. All the blended cheeses he is responsible for are made using territorials from Belton and they are always first grade.

It seems irrational to buy the very best cheese for blending but it does make sense: you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear It seems irrational to buy the very best cheese for blending but it does make sense. The old adage is true: you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

As to what the Next Big thing is going to be… in the ‘Cheese with Additives’ class one thing is for certain:

you cannot predict what will tickle the public’s tastebuds. At cheese shows where I have judged over the years I have seen Christmas pudding cheese, biltong cheese and even a coffee cheese, in which coffee grounds were blended into the mix and then the finished cheeses were rolled in grounds too.

When Brian Murrell and I stepped up to the table at Nantwich 2012 there was cheddar with curried chutney (it fell apart); cheddar with balsamic onions (an unfortunate sludge brown colour) and various cheddars with chilli (often too hot). Chilli seems to be the additive everybody is trying to make a go of. We gave gold to a very sound cheese that had been rolled in roasted and powdered hops. The added flavour worked very well – it was sharp against the fruitiness of the cheese – and the texture of the cheese was good.

And that is the point. Cheese blended with additives can be good or bad and sold at any number of price points. Setting aside the prejudices that make our palates what they are, if a cheese, any cheese, tastes good it will sell. Next time you hear someone damning the cheese with additives sector with faint praise, ask them if they have ever tried a truffled brie. www.godfreycwilliams.co.uk www.ilchester.co.uk

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Award winning blue cheese from Carron Lodge

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kers of Award-winning ma n Great British Stilto methods ed r u o n o h em ti g in us

Our flagship blue cheese, Lancashire Blue is made using milk exclusively from our herd of pedigree British Holsteins.

Made from pasteurised milk and suitable for vegetarians.

Gabriel Blue - Gold International Cheese Awards Nantwich 2011

since 1780

Produced using traditional methods, developed over many years our Ewe’s milk blue veined cheese is a mild flavoured blue that melts in the mouth.

A perfect addition to any cheese board.

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Made using milk from Bob Palmers herd of water buffalo in Warwickshire, Shipston Blue is our latest addition to ‘The Cave Range’.

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starting a business Julie Wing of Blackdown Hills Cheese Co in Somerset set up her dairy a year ago, with a 200-litre ASTA eismann vat from Jongia UK

So you want to be a

cheese-maker?

Many cheese lovers dream of becoming cheese-makers. But what’s really involved? Here’s some practical advice from JAAP de JONGE of dairy fit-out specialist Jongia UK In the 1960s, French president Charles De Gaulle famously complained: “How can you govern a nation that has 246 different kinds of cheese?”

If he was right, our own government is in real trouble.

The UK now has more than 200 cheese-makers making an estimated 700 varieties. From the Shetlands to the Isle of Wight, the nation is dotted with dairies, many of which only appeared in the last two decades.

The movement began with dairy farmers trying to add value to their milk. More recently they have been joined by others looking for a lifestyle change or hoping to turn a hobby into a profession.

Most start small, with a cheese vat in the 100-300 litre range.

Carolyn Gunner of Lincolnshire’s Goatwood Dairy – a typical artisan cheesemaking start-up

With 100 litres of milk making around a 10kg of hard cheese (or slightly more soft cheese), this is unlikely to be the only source of income for the smaller producer.

But a good artisan cheese can command a retail price of about £20/kg, so there is definitely money to be made – especially if you can sell direct to the public and avoid paying a distributor’s margin.

So what is involved in setting up a cheese dairy? Like everything, preparation is very important.

Talking to fellow cheese-makers can prevent many of the pitfalls, and membership of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association is strongly recommended. But here are some of the main points – and main expenses – to consider before you take the plunge. ➔

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27

We advise, design, construct, deliver and install: ssories

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www.asta-eismann.de In the UK & Ireland contact: Jongia (UK) Ltd., email: info@jongiauk.com, Tel: 0121-7444844 www.jongiauk.com

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starting a business DAIRY EQUIPMENT First of all you have to decide what you want to make. Soft cheese requires different equipment from hard cheese. Hard cheese might require a curd mill and a press.

Also you will need different moulds and more ripening space.

Items to consider are: a cheese vat; cheese moulds; stainless steel table; sink; washing up tank; boiler; thermometer and pH meter or acidity titration kit; and a foam cleaner for easy wash-down. If you have a separate ripening room you will need storage racks and air conditioning.

Specialised equipment is available for particular types of cheese. Items such as a tipping vat can be useful for handling soft cheese, but investing heavily in one type of cheese may limit you later on. A general cheese vat, available in a variety of shapes and sizes, might prove a better investment when you want to make different products. Always, always, plan with the future in mind. Do not buy a small 50 litre cheese vat when you know you want expand fairly soon.

It’s cheaper to think relatively big at the start than to buy another vat a year or so later. Remember, you can put 200 litres of milk in a 500 litre vat, but not 500 litres into a 200 litre vat.

It’s okay to earn money, so small devices that can save time without making your cheese any

less artisan are recommended.

You can think about blue cheese piercers, for example, to aid blue mould development. Soft cheeses need to be turned a number of times on the day of production, and a multi-mould turner that does this in one swift movement can save laborious manual work.

Heating milk for cheesemaking consumes a lot of energy, especially when you pasteurise, which requires high temperatures.

Although a cheese vat with electric elements is convenient, it is a relatively expensive way of heating milk. A cheaper option for a cheese-maker who batchpasteurises is using a domestic boiler to boil water, then running this through a small plate heat exchanger to heat the milk. If you also recover the heat when cooling down you can store hot water for use in cleaning. Almost every kcal will be reused.

Air conditioning in the ripening room is very important.

Temperature, moisture and airflow all need to be well managed. There is also air treatment equipment available that removes micro organisms from the air, reducing unwanted moulds on the cheese, but prices start at about £2,500.

PREMISES Cheese-makers can be found in both rural and urban areas,

Budgeting for the dairy The costs involved in the basic fabric of the building naturally vary hugely, depending on whether you are converting an old barn, putting up a new build or perhaps using an old refrigerated container. But here’s a thumbnail guide to fit-out costs.

IALS: £500 ESSENT course ,500g in

vat £1 000 Train e s e e h c re £2, 100 lit 1.50From £ ould moulds £150/m Cheese £800

s s e r p £500 Cheese sin 800 for a re £

m r e q il s o

B er g fridge £100 p Maturin lass r o o r fibreg Floor fl 0 per sq m fo £4 wall cladding s e c a f r u Wall s E: O-HAV £3,500 NICE-T rners 350 u Mould t se piercer £ ,500 2 ee Blue ch tion system £ , 000 2 a £ r lt fi

e Air dvic a y c n a Consult triple… est in a ment.

T v E in G , R le O F DON’T supply: if possibr-hungry equip airy waste r e w powe sist d o P

• ply for : EHO may in aste. p u s e s gw ilk age pha -washin spoilt m te drain dequa ted from hand you get rid of e good •A k a is separ posal: how do ing pigs to ma is r a d e e r • Wast se? Consider or chee ey! h use of w

Vintage cheese presses add interest and eye-appeal to the Mousetrap Cheese operation in Herefordshire, where the dairy is linked to a shop and café in a popular visitor attraction

but most of those that survive the start-up phase have one thing in common: they wish they had started in bigger premises.

So make the dairy as large as possible, keeping in mind future expansion.

Goatwood Dairy in Lincolnshire is a typical start-up, and its cheese room – opened last year in converted outbuildings – covers 24 sq metres and contains a 100-litre vat, a table and sink. Six cateringsize standing fridges for ripening the soft cheeses are held in a separate room. It’s important that you have enough space to store cheese while ripening. Soft cheese is ready to leave the dairy after two weeks or so, but when making hard cheese you will store the cheese much longer and will need more ripening space.

Think of the flow of the product through the dairy while it is processed, and also think about ease of access.

Your environmental health officer will want to see that the premises can be easily cleaned.

Flooring should be top of the list.

Whey is aggressive and cleaning solutions are very tough on the floor. Try to save money by using a cheap floor finish and you may find it needs relaying after all your equipment is in place, which is inconvenient and expensive. A food-safe resin finish on a cement screed floor is a good option.

If you are able to put big windows in the dairy, people can watch the process without disturbing the cheese-maker or needing to be “suited and booted” for hygiene reasons. If you have the opportunity, think of selling from your premises, perhaps in a little shop with other local products, and perhaps a tearoom as well.

Making your cheese-making operation part of a larger tourist

destination is more complicated, but it can all create income. Visit Mousetrap Cheese’s Pleck Farm café, shop and dairy in Monkland, Herefordshire, to see how this can work.

TRAINING Many courses are now available, at many locations, for hobbyists, business start-ups and professional cheese-makers, covering both producing and retailing cheese. There are also consultants who can assist with designing a dairy. Find a list of contacts at: http://bit.ly/ cheesecourses SOURCING MILK Most small cheese-makers have their own animals – “lifestyle” producers tend to choose goats – but this is not essential. One new start-up, Wildes Cheese, makes cheese in a central London industrial unit.

SALES It might be easier to sell your cheese in a highly populated area, but when your output is 10-100 kg/ day, you should be able to sell this on a few farmers’ markets and in a few local shops. Remember that local restaurants are eager for produce with low food miles.

Create attractive packaging and use social networking to create a buzz about your cheese. Some cheese-makers give lessons to hobbyists and open their dairy for viewing. Local schools might also want to visit and this all creates goodwill.

Of course, the quality and consistency of your cheese is important. But if that has been achieved, there has never been a more enthusiastic market for new local cheeses. www.jongiauk.com

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starting a business CASE STUDY: Feld Fere Produce

Living the dream

By MICK WHITWORTH Fans of classic self-sufficiency sitcom The Good Life might see echoes of Tom and Barbara Good in smallholders Psi and Riz Atkins (pictured above).

“I was working in a factory designing and building conservatories,” says Psi, “and had just reached the point where I thought enough was enough.”

But while Psi, like his fictional TV counterpart, was seeking an escape from the daily grind, his wife was altogether better prepared for running a productive smallholding than the ditzy, dungaree-clad Barbara Good.

“Riz comes from a dairy farming family, so she already had 30 years’ experience,” says Psi. The couple opted out of the rat race back in 2010 and are now making goats’ cheese and rearing livestock on an 18-acre patch of Worcestershire countryside, trading as Feld Fere Produce. Their Old Hovel cheese, matured for a minimum of three months, was launched this year, attracting customers in farm shops and delis across the region.

The pair had spent two or three years looking for an affordable property before finding Wells Brook Farm near Evesham, but they could hardly have hoped for anywhere better, since the site was already geared up for cheese production.

Together with an existing goat house 30

goodcheese 2012-13

raw milk and freshly made cheese; and fencing, it included a ready-built milking parlour and adjoining cheese- a 100 litre ASTA-eismann cheese vat from Jongia UK (making 10-11kg of dairy, with partly plastic-clad white hard cheese per batch); and a £130 walls and a washable concrete floor, titration kit for checking the acidity all housed in a sturdy timber building. of the milk, which varies through the “The woman who had it before seasons. There is a separate chiller, was making a small amount of soft cheese,” says Riz, “so she had already outside the dairy, for storing and maturing cheeses. built the production room The cheese vat was the – although by the time we main expense: prices for a arrived it was just a bare 100 litre ASTA unit range space apart from some from £1,500 to £2,500 kitchen units against two depending on extras such walls.” as a built-in agitator and Each side of the whether the tank has operation – milking parlour extra insulation for use as and cheese room – is the a pasteuriser too. Simon size of a double garage. says the total cost of “That’s exactly what they Psi Atkins saved equipping Feld Fere’s dairy, had been originally,” says £100 by making his including sundries such Psi, adding that this is own cheese press as cheese moulds, was just about the minimum around £3,000. space you would want for “You could make cheese-making. “You wouldn’t want it cheese without having the titration much smaller, for ease of movement.

And you have to remember you will be kit,” he says, “but you couldn’t make it consistently each time. Obviously, in there for hours every day, so it can what the goats eat will change the get quite claustrophobic. milk, so you get different butterfat and “We’re looking to knock the two protein levels.” together eventually to make a bigger While a titration kit is fragile and milking parlour, and then build a new technical, Psi was able to save around production room that’s as big again.” £100 on one piece of more robust With washable screed flooring equipment: a simple cheese press, already down and handy kitchen units which he made himself out of timber in place, Psi and Riz only needed a and threaded steel. few essentials in the production area: Riz milks her 14 dairy goats twice three small refrigerators for storing

a day, and the milk is filtered into a churn and stored in a fridge until needed. With the current volume of milk available, the 100 litre vat is more than adequate, allowing Simon to make a 10kg batch of cheese every couple of days. But, as Riz builds the milking herd, the couple expect to be going back to Jongia for a larger unit within a year or so.

In theory, given enough milk, Psi could double production in due course simply by making a batch every day.

But he says it would be impossible to handle this on his own, given the set-up and clean-down time involved in each batch. Most cheese-makers like to make fewer but bigger batches to minimise cleaning time.

Production at Feld Fere Produce could also be stepped up more quickly if the couple bought in milk supplies from outside, but Riz says: “We operate as a closed herd because we want to have control of the milk and what the goats are fed.

“We could get more milk if we wanted – we have a friend in Gloucester with 600 goats, – but we’ve decided to stick to our principles.”

And Psi points out, with twice-daily batches of fresh milk simply being passed through a window hatch from milking parlour to cheese room, no-one can complain about high food miles. www.facebook.com/FeldFereProduce

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cave-aged cheeses Ford Farm matures some of its traditional cheddars in the caves of Wookey Hole in Somerset, pictured here, but has also created new manmade ‘caves’ at its Dorset base

Going

underground

When is a cave not a cave? When it’s a man-made cellar, as BOB FARRAND discovers when he heads below ground to explore the atmospheric world of ‘cave-aged’ cheeses.

I

n October 1997 my wife and I enjoyed dinner at L’Hotel de la Gare in the Normandy town of Domfront. It was our wedding anniversary and, as you might expect, the final course was three perfect cheeses: a Livarot, a Camembert de Normandie

and a Pont L’Eveque. I asked the Patronne where she bought such great cheese and in a voice heavy with a million Gauloises she invited me into her cellar. At the foot of a flight of stone steps, it was crammed with wooden shelves, groaning with two hundred or ➔

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B ES

S

British Cheese Awards (Best Cheddar, Best Goats Cheese, Best Export Cheese & Best Traditional Cheese) World Cheese Awards, Great Taste Awards, Nantwich, Royal Bath & West EES ISH CH E AWARD Great Yorkshire, Devon County Show, Taste of the West and Frome RIT 12

T OF CATEGORY

Roquefort Societe Caves

cave-aged cheeses

more cheeses of various types and at different stages of maturity.

Madame was an affineur as well as an hotelier – she bought young cheeses from local producers and matured them to the peak of perfection. That evening, I learnt that, in France, a cave is not really a cave as we know it – it’s a cellar.

If you want a rocky place under

“In the days before refrigeration, caves and cellars were the only places where constant temperature and humidity could be found” the ground with stalactites and stalagmites, you need to find a caverne.

Which begs a question. There is an abundance of ‘cave-aged’ cheeses on offer in specialist cheese shops and supermarkets these days but if the literal translation of the French word ‘cave’ is cellar, are we being led up the garden path – or even down the cellar steps?

Wookey Hole in Somerset is a proper cave. I first visited it as a nine-year-old, way back in the Middle Ages, and it’s loaded with proper rocks and millions of years-worth of dripping limestone.

Mike Pullin of Ford Farm has

ingredient, Penicillium roqueforti, the natural mould that develops the blue veining. But now we have the ability to artificially create the ideal conditions using refrigeration, isn’t the cave redundant?

Back in 1956, US cheese-maker Tom Vella wanted to add a blue to his successful range of cottage cheese at Rogue Creamery, Oregon, so he took himself off to Roquefort to learn how to do it. He visited the cheese-making dairies and spent time in the limestone caves of Combalou and by the time he returned to Oregon, had decided to build a cave capable of creating the same environment

and atmosphere. Two half-circle buildings, similar to WW2 air-raid shelters but made of concrete, were poured one over the other with space between for insulation.

A cave was born and so was a range of blue cheese, including the 12-month unpasteurised cows’ milk Rogue River Blue that was judged best-in-class at the 2003 World Cheese Awards.

Way up in North Carolina, an exartistic glass blower named Victor Chiarizia burrowed into the side of the Blue Ridge Mountains to create a natural rock-lined cheese cave in which to mature what he describes as his “artisan caveaged cheeses”. He too has won ➔

The French classic Roquefort (above) has been matured in the caves of Combalou mountain for centuries, while Kaltbach Le Gruyère (below) only went underground in the 1950s Emmi Group

been maturing his Wookey Hole farmhouse cheddar there for several years. A mile or so down the road, the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Company’s John Spencer is doing the same in Gough’s Cave.

The three times World Champion 16-month-old Reserve Le Gruyère AOC was generally matured in cellars, not caves, even though it was often called cave-aged.

The caveaged Kaltbach Le Gruyère. on the other hand, which can be bought from most good cheese counters, has been matured in the sandstone caves beneath Mount Santenberg in the Canton of Lucerne since 1953.

Roquefort has enjoyed a haven of cool humidity in the caves beneath Combalou mountain in the Aveyron region of Southern France for more than 1,000 years.

Gorgonzola was first mentioned in AD 879 as a cheese slowly ageing in caves beneath the Northern Italian town of the same name. So ageing cheese in caves is as old as the hills. But does it add anything to cheese that a cellar can’t?

In the days before refrigeration, caves and cellars were the only places where constant temperature and humidity, essential for maturing good cheese, could be found. For blue cheese, it added an extra

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35

cave-aged cheeses

Ford Farm’s Mike Pullin: cave-ageing gives cheese ‘a totally different dimension

a hatful of awards. Americans do things on a grand scale.

In 2011, Ford Farm’s Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar took Supreme at the Nantwich cheese show and sales rocketed. So much so, producer Mike Pullin decided he needed more cave space to satisfy demand. Finding spare caves is not easy so, like Tom Vella back in the 1950s, he decided to build one himself at his production base in Dorset. This I had to see.

Ford Farm sits on the Ashley Chase Estate, set in glorious isolation a few miles south of Dorchester. The region also boasts Denhay Cheddar close by, and a short drive to the west, over the border in Devon, Quickes makes up the triumvirate of cheddar makers adjacent to the Jurassic Coast. All three enjoy rolling green hills and well-drained soil that grows lush pastures for rich milk and complex, creamy cheddars.

Ford Farm’s flavours are markedly different to the cheddars from Denhay or Quickes. This is partly due to the starter culture or acid-forming bacteria added to milk at the beginning of the cheese-making process to sour 36

goodcheese 2012-13

it. Ford Farm uses a combination of traditional MT starters used in most traditionally flavoured cheddars, plus a tiny amount of a Helvetica starter, a Swiss culture that adds a touch of sweetness.

The other difference, of course, is the atmosphere in which the cheeses are matured.

“Did you see the entrance to our new cave?” Mike asks as I arrive at Ford Farm. I didn’t, so he quickly escorts me across the car park to a walkway flanked by natural honey-coloured stone walls leading to an enormous pair of oak doors. Mike ushers me inside.

Construction, he tells me, took three months from start to finish.

It took two weeks for a digger to scoop out a wide, deep channel into the steep Dorset hillside facing the dairy. Large concrete slabs were then bolted together to form windowless Portacabin-size units that were set in place with several feet of concrete poured on top. Soil was replaced all around, grass seed sown and trees planted and hey presto – a cave.

Of course, it’s not a real cave – it’s sort of a large underground cellar. But Mike is insistent he’s

achieving exactly what he needs to mature more cheese. “Apart from the electric lighting, everything is natural,” he assures me. “The temperature is a constant 11-12ºC and humidity is 90-95%. Exactly the same as Wookey Hole.”

It certainly feels like a cave: damp, chilled and quiet. Water drips gently through drain holes in the walls, and cheddars of many sizes sit on shelves in their coats of vivid green mould. To a cheese freak, it’s a gorgeous aroma and a sight to behold. I ask him what ageing in caves adds to cheese.

“If you sit a piece of cheddar next to an onion in a fridge,” he tells me, “the cheese absorbs flavour from the onion. The caves give our cheese a totally different dimension.”

He continues, “It’s a job to say exactly what the environment adds – it’s a combination of everything.

The speed of mould development is much faster – the humidity causes that and it mellows flavours.”

He took out his cheese iron and bored a cheddar he’d been maturing for 17 months. On tasting, it had good body and

texture with complex, balanced flavours and was surprisingly clean on the finish considering the environment. “That’s the secret,” he says, “you must start with clean tasting cheeses, without too many volatiles early on. Anything that starts life with strong ‘farmy’ flavours would not develop well in here.”

He’s a happy man. He has more than doubled output of cave-aged cheddar but it will be a few months yet before he can be absolutely certain if the cheddars maturing in the new cave are different or better than those in Wookey Hole.

It’s a happy accident of nature, they say, that the caves in France’s Combalou Mountain nurture one of the world’s best blues. On Ford Farm in Dorset, at Rogue Creamery in Oregon and inside the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, man has offered nature a helping hand and in return, nature is delivering great tasting cheese.

That’s close to perfect harmony. www.fordfarm.com www.emmi-kaltbach.ch www.roquefort-societe.com www.roguecreamery.com www.caveagedcheeses.com

Available nationally through Cheese Cellar, Carron Lodge & Rowcliffe

Established in the 19th Century, as Northern Ireland’s oldest speciality cheesemaker, we have been continuing our tradition of producing award winning dairy products for over 100 years.

Fivemiletown soft cheeses are hand made in small batches by our master cheesemakers using only quality assured milk.

Contact our sales team on 028 8952 1209 or email welovecheese@fivemiletown.com for more information

Artisan delicacies from Italian traditions

The Italian farmhouse cheese expert since 2001 La Credenza Ltd - Unit 9, College Fields Business Centre - Prince George’s Road - London SW19 2PT Tel. 020 7070 5070 - Fax 020 7070 5071 - Email: info@lacredenza.co.uk

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Award winning Scottish organic cheeses that every cheese lover will enjoy Connage handcrafts a range of cheeses from milk produced on the family farm Our ComtĂŠ Prestige is multi awarded For more information, contact Jerome Reignier jreignier@entremont.com - TĂŠl. + 44 (0)208 834 1440 www.entremont.com

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US artisan cheeses

United Grates of America Forget your preconception about processed US cheese. New artisan producers are crafting hundreds of unique ‘American Originals’ – and even starting to ship them back to the Old World, as US dairy writer and ‘cheese geek’ JEANNE CARPENTER reports.

T

he same country that invented American Cheese – a gooey, dull orange, pasteurised mass, processed to oblivion – is being redefined thanks to a new generation of skilled cheesemakers who have travelled the globe studying Old World methods.

Working in farmstead cheese

rooms and small-town cheese plants, these artisan makers are today crafting a new class of unique homegrown varieties that have become known as ‘American Originals’.

In fact, the term American Cheese has come to mean something entirely different to a growing number of customers ➔

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US artisan cheeses

New World cheese-makers have the luxury of using modern production aids alongside traditional methods

visiting an ever-expanding number of speciality food shops in the US. Many are walking past the imported cheese cabinet and selecting cut-to-order artisan varieties made in Wisconsin, Vermont or California.

A trend that began on small dairy farms in the 1990s, when pioneering artisan makers first introduced Americans to domestic small-batch, hand-crafted cheeses, has exploded across the country. Today, American cheesemakers don’t necessarily have to look across the ocean for advice, as many have become experts in their own right.

For these cheese-makers, chefs were often their first customers.

As chefs became popular here through TV cooking shows in the 1990s, viewers began paying attention to the ingredients being used. Soon, artisan cheese plates popped up on the menus of fine dining restaurants everywhere.

Speciality cheese shops and cut-to-order cheese departments followed, all to meet the demand of an expanding cheese palate.

The result: US per capita consumption of unprocessed cheese is at an all-time high of 33lbs per year. More American cheese companies are transitioning from commodity, mass-produced cheeses to artisan, small-batch cheeses, with new cheese-makers popping up every year.

To meet a growing demand for more flavourful, original styles from eager consumers, producers like 32-year-old Andy Hatch of

Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin are expanding their line-up of ‘farmstead’ cheeses. Hatch, maker of Pleasant Ridge Reserve – thrice awarded Best in Show by the American Cheese Society – last year introduced Rush Creek Reserve, a washed-rind, satiny cheese inspired by the French Vacherin Mont d’Or. It is bound in

spruce bark, which gives shape to the soft round and imparts a sweet, woodsy flavour to the cheese.

“As new world cheese-makers, we have the luxury of choosing which of the old world traditions to adopt and which to modify or abandon,” Hatch says. “This gives us so much flexibility when finding Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese in Wisconsin produces the multi award-winning Pleasant Ridge Reserve

new ways to satisfy an American cheese market that is always looking for something distinctive.”

For example, when making his alpine-style Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Hatch follows the thousand-year-old tradition of using only fresh, unpasteurised, summer milk from grass-fed cows. But whereas most alpine cheeses in Europe can only be made with the milk from certain cattle, Uplands Cheese crossed nine different breeds into its herd to develop milk that gives the cheese more complexity. “This has allowed us develop a unique cheese that builds on a long tradition,” Hatch says.

National statistics back up Hatch’s hunch that Americans are turning away from processed cheese in favour of bolder, artisanal flavours.

The International Dairy Foods Association in Washington, DC, reports production of processed cheese in the United States fell in 2010 to the lowest level for more than two decades. At the same time, continuing a trend that began in the 1990s, US production of natural cheese increased by 3.6% in 2010 to 10.4 billion lbs.

American retailers report the largest percentage increase in their volume sales is in speciality cheese.

One company helping American producers find a growing audience for American Original cheeses is The Artisan Cheese Exchange, based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Owned by Christopher Gentine, it acts as an international bridge ➔

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Blue Vinny A unique, unpasteurised blue cheese, made on our farm in Dorset. Available in a beautiful blue ceramic pot, or as a ‘Mini Vinny’ perfect for Christmas.

Also a range of handmade chutneys, available in attractive kilner jars, or as a gift pack.

Visit our website for more details of our products – www.dorsetblue.co.uk, or e-mail us – info@dorsetblue.co.uk 42

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US artisan cheeses between America’s finest cheesemakers and the rest of the world, exporting hundreds of awardwinning American Originals to dozens of countries. The Artisan Cheese Exchange partners with the most respected artisan and speciality cheese-makers in the United States, and works with international customers to develop long-term supply chain programmes and marketing resources.

Gentine is the third generation in his family to work with cheese in the past 60 years. He is licensed as a cheese grader by the State of Wisconsin, certified in identifying flavour, body, texture, colour and appearance defects. Wisconsin makes more speciality cheeses than any other state in the nation.

“I started in the scraping room when I was 15, working for my grandfather, and later for my father,” he says. “I learned a lot from both of them. When I was thinking about starting this company, I called an old friend, Ig Vella – the man who helped start the original American artisanal cheese movement – and he told me if anyone could do it, I could.”

He adds: “Today, I’m privileged to work with the best of the best cheese-makers in the United States, showcasing their artisan cheeses to the rest of the world.”

The Artisan Cheese Exchange works with a wide array of makers including Cypress Grove Chevre, Vella Cheese Company, Marin French Cheese and Fiscalini Cheese in California, Cellars at Jasper Hill and Cabot Cheese in Vermont, Uplands Cheese and Carr Valley Cheese in Wisconsin, and Rogue Creamery in Oregon, among others. Many of the cheeses it exports are national and international best-in-show or gold medal winners from master cheese-makers. Most are made with only BST-free milk and without additional hormones and antibiotics. Several are also certified USDA Organic, made with milk from cows that graze only on fields not treated with pesticides.

The company’s newest adventure, rolling out in the coming year, is a monthly preorder programme bringing American cheeses to the United Kingdom. Gentine has partnered top farmhouse cheese wholesaler Neal’s Yard Dairy to help The Artisan Cheese Exchange make artisanal American cheeses available to chefs and cheese shop owners through the UK and continental Europe.

Gentine says he is “honoured to be part of the journey” that has seen American cheese redefined as something artistic, romantic and delicious, offering unique ingredients and flavour profiles and “an amazing taste experience”.

Four American Originals to try Vella Dry Jack Vella Cheese Co The semi-soft cows’ milk Monterey Jack, developed in California more than 200 years ago, is available throughout the US, where it’s usually sold at just a few weeks old. Vella Cheese Co, based an hour or so north of San Francisco, makes its own ‘original highmoisture’ version, which softens to the texture of brie at room temperature. But its Vella Dry Jack is further aged for another seven to 10 months to create an exclusive cheese for serious cheese buffs.

Firm, pale yellow with a sweet nutty flavour it can be grated, shredded or sliced, and added to everything from omelettes to enchiladas.

Flagship Reserve Beecher’s Handmade Cheese A traditional cloth-bound, openair aged cheese, this is a special version of the signature Flagship variety from Beecher’s Handmade, which has cheese-making kitchens

in Seattle and New York where consumers can watch cheese being crafted. Flagship Reserve truckles are made “only on days when the milk composition is just right”, says Beecher’s, using the last curds on the table from these makes. This gives a slightly lower moisture and higher salt content and thus a richer taste and texture while maintaining a clean, creamy finish.

Barely Buzzed Beehive Cheese Co This new American Original – a full-bodied cows’ milk cheese with a nutty flavour and smooth texture – is hand-rubbed with a Turkish grind of Beehive Blend espresso from Colorado Legacy Coffee Co, run by the cheese-maker’s brother. The coffee blend is a

mix of South American, Central American, and Indonesian beans roasted to different styles. French Superior lavender buds are ground into it, and the mixture is diluted with oil to make a rub. According to Beehive Cheese Co, this adds notes of butterscotch and caramel, which are strongest near the rind but also find their way to the heart of the cheese.

Rogue River Blue Rogue Creamery Rogue River Blue is hand-wrapped in Carpenter Hill Vineyard’s Syrah grape leaves macerated in pear brandy – a firm nod to traditional Basque and Provençal cheeses wrapped in brandy-soaked chestnut leaves. The result is a leafy imprint on the rind and notes of brandy, fruit and burnt cream in the “crunchy-smooth” paste.

Aged for nine to 12 months, the cheese is made only in autumn and early winter using milk from Brown Swiss and Holstein cows grazing the high pastures bordering Oregon’s Rogue River.

A mix of grasses, herbs and wild fruits, along with farm fodder, is said to give hints of sweet pine, wild berries, hazelnuts, morels and pears.

www.cheese-exchange.com

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As the seasons change... and the fruit and my mind! I add to the list or leave off the list, chutneys... no two are exactly the same. That is the joy of making small batches and the workings of an Artisan (so someone told me!) If you want it... I will make it... just ask.

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Mouth-watering flavours include; Sweet Chilli, Parmesan and Garlic, Sea Salt and Black Pepper all of which accompany the ubiquitous cheeseboard or hors d'oeuvres.

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A cheese making kit is a great gift idea, being very rewarding, practical and exciting!

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selecting the best

Chairman of the board Unimpressed by a blind-tasting of supermarket festive cheeseboards, Guild of Fine Food chairman BOB FARRAND made his own award-winning selection for The Cadogan Hotel’s pop-up Great Taste restaurant

The Cadogan’s head chef Oliver Lesnik (left) explores the latest selection with Bob Farrand

T

o an anorak, it’s a labour of love and deeply, deeply enjoyable.

I’m talking about planning a cheeseboard, whether for a wedding, a festive occasion or simply for a dinner party with friends. If devotees find it a doddle, it’s clearly a step too far for a supermarket buyer.

Imagine my excitement when Karen Barnes, editor of delicious magazine invited me last October to join her in taste-testing 14 supermarket cheeseboard selections. You know the type of thing, four or five cheeses in a box, ready to serve and, as it was the run-up to Christmas, several came complete with fancy wooden boards, bottles of wine and even some pickle.

These were festive offerings, so I presumed the cheeses would be the cream of the crop. Dream on!

Surveying the 14 selections, they all looked remarkably similar. All branding had been removed but weirdly, the choice on each board was almost identical.

Most offered a Red Leicester, which at its best is flakey-hard,

breaking in shards from a firm body that offers deep, complex flavours and a touch of fresh lemon on the finish. Out of 12 Leicesters tasted, two hinted they might have

leaking whey and clearly suffering from the tightness of its packaging.

Many argue that the heat used to shrink-wrap cheese affects its texture and flavour. Virtually every Stilton on offer was a sad example of Britain’s worldfamous blue.

Each selection featured a soft cheese, mostly a Cornish brie that looked more like a camembert to me. Over half were pungent with ammonia, and many gave an unpleasant, unclean ammoniac burn on the finish, suggesting they were past their best.

The use-by dates were checked, they were all okay and none had been out of refrigeration until an hour or so before the tasting. Not good.

Most offered a Wensleydale with

When Oliver Lesnik asked me to create a world-class cheese selection to grace his restaurant, he didn’t have to wait too long for my answer been made on a farm but the rest were from factories. They were disappointingly young, moist and pasty, and tasted of nothing at all.

With Christmas imminent most included a Stilton, but each wedge was a pre-packed piece of sweaty fat,

cranberries (if you like it, you’re probably not reading this magazine) and finally there was cheddar, which I’ve deliberately left until last because it turned out to be the most disappointing. Many of us know cheddar intimately. It’s what we Brits do best, especially where I live in the West Country, and we’ve taught the rest of the world how to make it. Most of us eat it all year - in sandwiches, salads, cooked dishes and in ploughman’s lunches – so at Christmas, we expect something a bit special. Did we get it? Fat chance!

Rarely has anyone been asked to taste 14 cheddars of such uncompromising sadness. Several described themselves as vintage or extra mature and there were even two proper West Country Farmhouse varieties. Not a single grassy farmhouse note was detected and whilst one or two boasted a halfdecent body and texture, all failed on flavour. Except perhaps two, both of which were unbearably sweet.

All of this leads me to the cheese trolley at Great Taste at the Cadogan, the gorgeous pop-up restaurant

➔

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selecting the best in London’s Sloane Street where head chef Oliver Lesnik features a constantly changing menu starring Great Taste and World Cheese Award-winning food and drink as ingredients. So when Oliver asked me to create a world-class cheese selection to grace his restaurant, he didn’t have to wait too long for my answer.

I wanted a good smattering of Supreme Champions from previous World Cheese Awards, so the triplewinning Le Gruyère AOC Reserve from Switzerland and double world champion 12 month matured sheep’s milk Ossau Iraty AOC from south west France were a must.

So too was Cornish Blue, the first British winner in a decade, made by professional-rugby-player-turneddairy-farmer Philip Stansfield. This is the one made using animal rennet, not the version sold in supermarkets made with vegetarian rennet. It softens during longer maturation into a rich, creamy, unctuous blue.

To counter balance its more gentle notes, I included a Stilton – Cropwell Bishop or Colston Bassett, preferably.

If there’s room, I sometimes have both on a board. Alternatively, I go for a Stilton alongside Joe Schneider’s unpasteurised Stichelton. But whatever I choose, it’s never prepack, always cut fresh from the counter.

My third blue is the obscenely rich, creamy Gorgonzola Dolce. It might be a million calories per spoonful but you know you’re worth it!

For my original selection, we got special permission to bring in Caveman Blue from the Rogue

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4 7

5 6

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A typical selection of champions: (1)Killeen Goat, (2) Landoed Mature Gouda, (3) Le Gruyère AOC, (4) Brie de Meaux, (5) Quickes 24-month vintage cheddar, (6) Barber’s 1833 cheddar, (7) Cornish Blue, (8) Ossau Iraty AOC, (9) Brillat-Savarin, (10) Gorgonzola Dolce, (11) Paski Sir and (12) Manchego curado

Creamery in Oregon, USA, along with Marin French’s Rouge et Noire camembert. Both got into last year’s Top 50 cheeses at World Cheese, as did the 18-month matured Paski Sir from Croatia, which wowed those who tasted it. Sadly, a combination of best-before dates and import costs meant my second selection left these out. Nevertheless, great cheeses for those who took the opportunity to taste.

When it comes to soft cheese, Rouzaire Brie de Meaux rarely fails to deliver with its earthy, creamy

flavours and long pleasing finish.

Again, only ever buy it freshly cut from the counter as any form of prepack ruins it.

My latest selection includes Golden Cross, an artisan made goats’ milk log-shaped cheese made in Sussex. I’ve enjoyed it for years, mainly because of the wonderful harmony created by the white mould on the rind, the soft paste that forms just inside the rind and the slightly firmer paste in the centre. It teaches us that milder cheese can deliver flavours just as complex as those

you get from their more assertive cousins.

Another new addition is from Alex James, the bass player from Blur who turned to cheese-making and earned himself a cartload of criticism for inventing some fairly weird cooking cheeses for supermarket group Asda. In spite of this, Alex is a nice man and I’ve enjoyed some glorious lunches in his company, consisting largely of a dozen or so cheeses and not much else. His No 1 Little Wallop is washed in Temperley Somerset Cider Brandy and wrapped in vine leaves for an astoundingly complex mix of wild flavours, finishing with lingering nutty, lemony notes. Try it soon.

And finally, there is cheddar and let’s get it right this time. I chose Barber’s two-year-old 1833 and Quickes Vintage Farmhouse, also at two years. Oliver Lesnik tells me he is selling them in equal amounts from his trolley at the Cadogan but I might well switch later on to a Denhay Extra Mature with its characteristic creamy, almost dried grass notes or an 18-month-old Montgomery, if the Americans haven’t bought it all. Failing that, try Keens Mature, offering deeply satisfying earthy notes.

Selecting great cheese isn’t difficult and if you can’t find the time to visit Great Taste at the Cadogan for its World Champion Cheeseboard, I suggest you pick and choose from the cheese counters in good delis and farm shops.

Just don’t leave the choice to the supermarket buyer. www.cadogan.com

Bob Farrand went for ‘a good smattering of Supreme Champions’ from the World Cheese Awards in his selection for The Cadogan

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Winterdale Cheesemakers award winning...

Kentish Handmade Cheese A traditional unpasteurised, cloth bound cellar matured hard cheese from the county of Kent.

One of the most local farm produced cheeses to London and soon achieving carbon neutral production.

www.winterdale.co.uk +44 (0)1732 820021 Winterdale, Platt House Lane, Wrotham, Sevenoaks, Kent TN15 7LX

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Family based business manufacturing range of cheddar cheeese with/without adddittives such as Oak Smoked, Garlic & Herbs, Chilli, Cranberries, Blueberries, Walnuts, Irish Porter, Irish Whiskey, Red Wine, Chocolate, Seaweed, Chives and many more. Old Irish Creamery range have won 60 national/international awards to date since began manufacture in 2008, from Gold, Silver and Bronze awards at World Cheeese awards and Nantwich International Cheese Awards from which won 16 awards this year. Winner of Gold, Silver and Bronze in 2011 World Cheese Awards. All products made from 100% Irish Cheddar and 100% natural ingredients.

where to buy good cheese NORTH OF ENGLAND

of delicious foods from artisan producers. Any food or drink served in its cosy deli-café can be bought to enjoy at home.

Berry’s Farm Shop & Café Swinithwaite, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 4UH 01969 663377

Ludlow Food Centre Bromfield, Ludlow SY8 2JR 01584 856 000 www.ludlowfoodcentre.co.uk Unique venue that epitomises all that is great about British food, with 80% of its products coming from its locale and 50% made in-store.

www.berrysfarmshop.com

Based in the heart of Wensleydale, Berry’s offers a great selection of Yorkshire & British cheeses, a rare breeds butchery and quality produce from in and around the Yorkshire Dales.

Cryer & Stott Cheesemonger & Fine Food Wholesaler 20-24 Station Road, Allerton Bywater WF10 2BP 01977 510638 www.cryerandstott.co.uk Supplies cheese and fine food products to leading restaurants, hotels and retailers. Recently supplied a variety of products to the 2012 Olympics, including its own bespoke Legacy blended cheese.

Granary Restaurant and Shop Caring For Life, Crag House Farm, Otley Old Road, Cookridge, Leeds LS16 7NH 0113 2303 600 info@caringforlife.co.uk This café and farm shop – part of the Leeds-based charity Caring For Life – has a specialist deli, which stocks fine and artisan cheeses from Yorkshire, the UK and beyond.

Jefferson’s of Richmond 57 Market Place, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL10 4JQ 01748 821258 www.jeffersonsofrichmond.co.uk Extensive range of local cheeses including Cotherstone, King Richard III Wensleydale, Swaledale, Coverdale, and Yorkshire Blue.

Exclusive stockist of Richmond Yorkshire brie. Also stocks a range of chutneys and pickles from its own kitchen plus a full range of crackers and bread from the Veterans Artisan bakery in Catterick Garrison.

Jones Deli Egerton Arms , Knutsford Road, Chelford SK11 9BB 01625 860 900 www.jonesdeli.co.uk This new deli in the heart of Cheshire is going local with Appleby Cheshire, Shropshire Blue, and Cheshire Cheese Co.’s Taste of the Raj curried cheddar. It also stocks French cheeses, a range of homemade chutneys, dips and a large selection of crackers.

Keelham Farm Shop Brighouse and Denholme Road, Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD13 3SS 01274 833472 www.keelhamfarmshop.co.uk Named Best Retailer of Local Products in the Deliciouslyorkshire Awards 2012, Keelham Farm Shop’s Yorkshire deli has a wide selection of local and regional cheeses alongside

some great international favourites.

Liverpool Cheese Company Woolton Village, Liverpool and Southport Market Hall 29a Woolton Street, Woolton Village, Liverpool L25 5NH 0151 4283942 Unit 6, Southport Market Hall, King Street, Southport PR8 1JX 01704 530051 www.liverpoolcheesecompany. co.uk This award-winning cheesemonger sells a large range of cheese and accompaniments from its original shop in an old Grade II listed dairy in Woolton as well as its unit in the newly refurbished Southport Market Hall and online.

The Cheese Hamlet 706 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, M20 2DW 0161 4344781 www.cheesehamlet.co.uk More than 2,500 different products of which over 200 are English and Continental cheeses. Largest display of Swiss cheese in the North.

The Cheeseboard 1 Commercial Street, Harrogate HG1 1UB 01423 508837 www.thecheeseboard.net One of the most respected purveyors of cheese in the region, stocking over 200 cheeses including a wide range of local varieties.

MIDLANDS Anderson & Hill 7 Great Western Arcade, Colmore Row, Birmingham B2 5HU 0121 236 28 29 www.andersonandhill.co.uk Anderson & Hill is a city centre deli with a village store ethos. It sources its products from local and authentic Italian suppliers, including over 40 types of cheese and a wide range of artisan food and drink.

It also supplies cheese to several

restaurants and cafés within the Birmingham area.

Capers 10 High St, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 1BG. 01386 556342 www.capersfinefoods.co.uk Stocks a wide range of local and speciality cheeses and supplies cheese celebration cakes.

Cheese on the Green 27 The Green, Bilton, Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7LZ 01788 522813 www.cheeseonthegreen.com This independent shop in the heart of England stocks over 100 varieties of cheese from the UK and Europe, as well as its own-brand chutneys and preserves, and giftware.

Deli on the Square Castle Square, Ludlow SY8 1AP 01584 877353 www.delionthesquare.co.uk Over 150 cheeses including locally produced artisan gems and a wide range of goats’ milk, sheep’s milk and Continental varieties.

Gonalston Farm Shop Southwell Road, Gonalston, Nottingham NG14 7DR 0115 9665666 www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk Winner of the Le Gruyère Cheese Counter competition 2011, this farm shop’s counter bursts with hand-crafted cheeses including Stiltons, farmhouse cheddars, goats’ and sheep’s cheeses as well as several rare artisan and Continental varieties.

Hallam’s Deli 17 The George Centre, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 6LH 01476 591911 Hallam’s Deli offers a range of over 60 British and Continental cheeses and accompaniments, locally brewed beer, wines, homemade treats, gift hampers and a host

Pickles of Harborne 2-4 Londsale Road, Harborne, Birmingham B17 9RA 0121 6818828 www.picklesofharborne.co.uk An independent delicatessen & caterer stocking over 50 British & Continental artisan cheeses.

Pickles is passionate about sourcing products locally and its large range of accompaniments includes chutneys, jams, patés, honey and freshly baked breads.

The Cheese Society 1 St Martin’s Lane, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN2 1HY 01522 511003 www.thecheesesociety.co.uk A specialist cheese mail order company supplying farmhouse unpasteurised cheese to food lovers throughout the country. It counts Michelin-starred restaurants, film sets and top quality caterers among its customers. Its also runs a small cheese café and shop in Lincoln’s Cultural Quarter.

The Melton Cheeseboard 8, Windsor Street, Melton Mowbray, Leics. LE13 1BU 01664 562257 www.meltoncheeseboard.co.uk Two local Leicesters and fine Stiltons, specially matured and selected from Long Clawson Dairy and Cropwell Bishop Creamery, are amongst the 130 cheeses in stock.

Truffles Delicatessen 46 High Street, Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire HR9 5HG 01989 762336 www.trufflesdeli.co.uk Truffles has been selling quality cheese in Ross-on-Wye since 2003.

It specialises in local and British varieties and stocks some of the “best cheeses in the country”.

SOUTH WEST Badger & Bumble 93 Poole Road, Westbourne, Bournemouth, BH4 9BB 01202 540025 www.badgerandbumble.com A fine food delicatessen and online supplier of hampers, and wide selection of gifts for all occasions.

Products are sourced locally in Dorset wherever possible. Its range of artisan cheeses is also available from the shop’s sister website justcheese.co.uk.

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where to buy good cheese Town Mill Cheesemonger Mill Lane, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3PU 01297 442626 www.townmillcheese.co.uk Highly acclaimed specialist cheese shop, with fine and artisan cheeses from the West Country and beyond.

Bloomfields Fine Food 8 High Street, Highworth, Nr Swindon, Wiltshire SN6 7AG 52 High Street, Shrivenham, Oxfordshire SN6 8AA 01793 766399 www.bloomfieldsfinefood.co.uk Voted South West Deli of the Year 2012 for its Swindon outlet, Bloomfields carries British and Continental artisan cheeses, plus olives, coffee and teas as well as many local products including cured meats, oils, breads, preserves, honey, cider and vegetables. Also offers a bespoke hamper making service.

Melanie’s Kitchen Downend’s Delicatessen, 2 Downend Rd, Downend, Bristol BS16 5UJ 0117 9572662 www.melanieskitchen.co.uk Specialises in West Country cheeses from small producers plus a selection of the best of the rest from Great Britain and Ireland.

The Cotswold Cheese Company 5 High Street, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 0AH 01608 652862 www.cotswoldcheese.com Retailer of local, British and European artisan cheeses, based in the picturesque North Cotswolds.

It also sells fresh locally made artisan bread, fine wine, local beer, cider, chutney, biscuits, fresh olives, antipasti along with handmade local pies & pastries and other deli essentials.

The Larder House Restaurant, 4 Southbourne Grove, Southbourne, Dorset BH6 3QZ 01202 424687 www.thelarderhouse.co.uk Restaurant and bar with a woodburning oven, serves home-baked breads, cheese, charcuterie, European wines, craft beer and cocktails.

The Purbeck Deli 26 Institute Road, Swanage, Dorset, BH19 1BX 01929 422344 www.purbeckdeli.co.uk This deli has a wide selection of carefully chosen local, West Country and international cheeses from both unusual artisan cheese-makers and better-known producers. Bespoke cheeseboards are also available.

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Turnbulls Delicatessen & Café 9 High Street, Shaftesbury, SP7 8HZ 01747 858575 www.turnbulls.co.uk With local greats, such as Jamie Montgomery’s cheddar and Stansfield’s Cornish Blue alongside Europe’s best, including Von Mühlenen Gruyère and Agour’s Ossau Iraty, Charlie Turnbull’s cheese counter is mouthwatering.

LONDON & SOUTH EAST Bailey’s Delicatessen 3A Beeches Avenue, Carshalton Beeches, Surrey SM5 4PB 020 8669 9650 www.baileysdeli.com Bailey’s Deli stocks a wide selection of cheeses including an exclusive range from Blur bassist Alex James as well as numerous awardwinners. Customers can also order from over 500 different cheeses to have delivered to the deli.

Cheese Please 46 High Street Lewes BN7 2DD 01273 481048 www.cheesepleaseonline.co.uk Situated in the heart of East Sussex county town Lewes, multi award-winning Cheese Please offers a wealth of cheeses, wines and accompaniments in a relaxed atmosphere, served by friendly and knowledgeable staff.

La Cremerie, 1 Roman Farm, Nettleden, Hertfordshire HP1 3DA 01442 870508 www.lacremerie.co.uk La Cremerie – Runner Up in the 2011 Best New Cheese Retailer competition – stocks artisan cheeses from across the British Isles that have been lovingly matured to taste their very best.

Its range includes many awardwinning cheeses including Stichelton, Tunworth, Ragstone and Ardrahan. Online orders are delivered by overnight courier.

MacFarlane’s Fromagerie 48 Abbeville Road, Clapham South, London SW4 9NF 020 8673 5373 www.macfarlanesdeli.co.uk Stocks British and Continental cheeses, own label chutney and a selection of wines. MacFarlane’s imports direct from France so along with well-know varieties it has new cheeses for customers to discover and seasonal delights like Vacherin, some Norfolk landmarks like Mrs Temple’s Alpin and a new

cheese from Switzerland called Cirone.

No2 Pound Street Wendover, Bucks HP22 6EJ 01296 585 022 www.2poundstreet.com Voted Best New Retailer at the British Cheese Awards 2011, No2 Pound Street specialises in awardwinning British cheeses and accompaniments such as fresh artisan bread, locally produced chutneys and biscuits as well as wines (including English and Welsh vineyards). Bespoke wedding cakes of cheese also available.

The Butchers Hall & Country Grocer Forest Green, Dorking, Surrey RH5 5RZ 01306 621188 www.thebutchershall.co.uk This “proper” farm shop sells its own meat in all its guises, with everything prepared on-site. Its dedicated cheese room offers a fantastic selection of English artisan cheese. Alongside this it also stocks a host of treats from the local area.

The Quince Tree Stonor, Oxfordshire RG9 6HE 01491 639039 www.thequincetree.com At the Quince Tree you will find an in-house patisserie and a fresh delicatessen with a cheese counter. It stocks a wide range of local cheeses, which are also available in its pub and restaurant.

Umami Delicatessen 13 Newbury Street, Wantage, Oxfordshire OX12 8BU 01235 766 245 www.umami-deli.co.uk Stocks a large range of traditional and regional British and Continental cheeses. Whole cheeses, gift packs and cheeseboards are available at any time year-round.

NORTHERN IRELAND Arcadia Delicatessen 378 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GL 028 90 381779 www.arcadiadeli.co.uk Northern Ireland’s 2012 Deli of the Year, this family business was established in 1933 and carries a selection of over 150 cheeses.

Hamper, cheeseboard and cheese wedding cake specialists.

Picnic Delicatessen 47 High Street, Killyleagh, Co.Down BT30 9QF 028 4482 8525 picnicdelicatessen@hotmail.co.uk Delicatessen offering a small but select range of cheese from Europe, UK and Ireland. Tastings are encouraged and customers can bring their own bottle of wine to enjoy with their favourite cheeses in-store.

EAST ANGLIA H. Gunton 81-83 Crouch St, Colchester, Essex CO3 3EZ 01206 572200 www.guntons.co.uk H. Gunton says it stocks the largest range of cut cheese in the Colchester area with over 100 varieties. Gift packs and baskets are available during the festive season and you can buy online too.

SCOTLAND McNees of Crieff, 3 High Street, Crieff, Perthshire, PH7 3HU 01764 654582 www.mcneesofcrieff.co.uk Well stocked range of artisan Scottish and Continental cheese.

McNees aims to please those looking for something different.

Pharlanne Bridge Street, Kelso, Roxburghshire, TD5 7HT 01573 229 745 www.pharlanne.co.uk Offers a wide variety of local, British and Continental cheeses from cows’, goats’ and ewes’ milk.

If it is not on their counter, they are happy to source any cheese you fancy.

Provender Brown 23 George Street, Perth PH1 5JY 01738 587300 www.provenderbrown.co.uk Provender Brown is an awardwinning deli with a huge array of speciality foods that one might not expect to see outside a major city. Its cheese counter is a matter of pride as are its friendly and informed staff.

The Guid Cheese Shop Burghers Close, 141 South Street, St. Andrews Fife KY16 9UN 01334 477 355 www.guidcheeseshop.co.uk This small cheesemonger, based in the coastal town of St Andrews, stocks farmhouse and artisan cheeses from all over the cheese-making world.

WALES Ultracomida 31 Pier Street, Abersytwyth, Wales SY23 2LN 01970 630 686 7 High Street, Narberth, Wales SA67 7AR 01834 861 491 www.ultracomdia.co.uk Both Ultracomida outlets specialise in Welsh and Spanish products. Its range of cheeses includes both famous and lesserknown varieties produced in Spain such as the goats’ milk Nevat from Catalunya or the creamy blue Azul Hojas from the north of the country.

Serving the food and drink industry since 1980

Well known for supplying labels to the food and drink industry, pride ourselves in producing high quality labels, coupled with our very personal approach and excellent customer care – all at affordable prices.

Visit our website at www.inkreadible.com or ring us on Freephone 0800 096 2720 Email if you prefer: sales@inkreadible.com

AW AR DW IN N IN G C HEESE w w w. a ls o pa nd w a lk e r.c o .uk

CRYER AND STOTT CHEESEMONGERS LTD: • CHEESE AND FINE FOOD WHOLESALER • PROUD SUPPLIER TO THE LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC GAMES • WINNER OF BESTWHOLESALER/DISTRIBUTOR 2012-13 AT THE DELICIOUSLYORKSHIRE AWARDS • GOLD STAR WINNER AT THE GUILD OF FINE FOODS GREAT TASTE AWARDS

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Cryer and Stott, 20-24 Station Road, Allerton Bywater, WF10 2BP Tel: 01977 510638 or 01977 511022. Email: info@cryerandstott.co.uk Website: www.cryerandstott.co.uk

Training from the Guild of Fine Food What will you learn?

1. The five golden rules for increasing deli sales 2. How to select the best cheese and charcuterie 3. How to create the best counter display 4. How to avoid bad quality cheese and charcuterie 5. How to sell proactively rather than reactively 6. The difference between artisan and mass-produced cheeses and meats through comparative tastings For more information:

E-mail: linda.farrand@finefoodworld.co.uk Tel: 01963 824464 www.finefoodworld.co.uk

Course costs

Members of The Guild of Fine Food just £70, plus VAT (@ 20%). Non-members £95, plus VAT (@ 20%). *NB. Unfortunately there is a £10 plus VAT (@ 20%) surcharge for London training dates due to higher venue costs.

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