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Roberts makes raw milk the focus at Lightwood
DRUNKEN BURT In a nutshell: Burt’s Cheese hit the headlines in 2013 after being named Best Producer at the Observer Food Monthly Awards for its creamy blue cheese. Drunken Burt is the same cheese, but it isn’t pierced, so there is no blue veining. It is washed in Golden Valley cider from Gwatkin in Herefordshire. The semi-soft cheese comes in 180g mini-truckles and 750g wheels, and is matured for at least three weeks. Flavour and texture: Younger cheeses have a chalky centre, which becomes gooey as they mature. The rind is not overly powerful, but does impart fresh apple flavours when young and meaty, smoky notes as the cheese ripens. History: Claire Burt previously worked for Dairygold Food Ingredients, which allowed her to visit cheese-makers in Italy and Denmark and attend cheesemaking courses. She set up Burt’s in 2009, working from a kitchen at the Cheshire Cookery School.
St Thom is one of three new raw goats’ milk cheeses added by Haydn Roberts, along with the cows’ milk Worcester Blue (inset) By PATRICK McGUIGAN
Former Neal’s Yard Creamery head cheese-maker Haydn Roberts plans to increase the number of raw milk cheeses made at Lightwood Cheese after taking the business over earlier this year. Roberts, who made Ragstone and Dorstone at Neal’s Yard for nearly 15 years, bought the Worcester-based company from
Bodnant hopeful of PDO protection for Caerphilly By PATRICK McGUIGAN
Cheese care: The cheeses typically have a 3-4 week shelf-life and should be turned regularly. Don’t stack the mini-truckles too high – they will get squashed. Why stock it? Consultant Juliet Harbutt describes Drunken Burt as a cheese with an identity problem – it’s made with penicillium roqueforti, but isn’t blue; has a washed rind, but isn’t overly powerful. An interesting one for the board, but also bakes well. Perfect partners: A glass of medium sweet cider is the obvious choice, while a dollop of chilli jam is great when it’s hot from the oven. Where to buy: Contact Burt’s direct. www.burtscheese.co.uk FFD features a different ‘unsung hero’ from Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association members each month. To get involved, contact: patrick.mcguigan@gff.co.uk
former owner Phil Hulland after working alongside him for around six months. The company’s established cheeses are still in production, including Elgar cheddar, a hard sheep’s milk cheese called Little Urn and a triple cream called Chaser, but Roberts has also started to develop new cheeses. Three raw milk goats’ cheeses
have been added: Little Flea, a lactic cheese with a wrinkly geotrichum rind, developed with Andy Swinscoe at The Courtyard Dairy (where it is sold as Amalthea); Eleanor, a round 150g bloomy rinded cheese; and a 180g brick-shaped version called St Thom. Roberts has also launched a blue called Worcester Blue, which is currently made with pasteurised cows’ milk. “Ultimately I’d like all the cheeses we make to be made with raw milk, but finding a consistent supply of unpasteurised cows’ milk in this area is difficult,” said Roberts. “I have been in touch with a farm which can supply me with what I need, so I’m hoping to trial batches of Elgar and possibly Worcester Blue with raw milk next year.” An unpasteurised soft cheese, similar to brie or camembert, is also planned. “A lot of cheese buyers are looking for raw milk – they see it as a sign of quality because it can add a level of complexity to the final flavour,” he said. Lightwood’s cheeses are stocked by Michael Lee and Fromage to Age.
A new Caerphilly has been launched by the Bodnant Welsh Food Centre, which would be eligible for EU Protected Food Name (PFN) status if the current application for Traditional Welsh Caerphilly is successful. The pasteurised cheese, which is already selling well in Bodnant’s farm shop in the Conwy Valley and is now being wholesaled, is made to a traditional recipe that would meet the terms of the Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) application currently being considered by Defra. Developed by head cheesemaker Aled Rowland, the cheese has a natural rind and is made with pasteurised milk from a local farm in three-kilo wheels, which are aged for four to six weeks. According to dairy manager Debbie Leviseur, Bodnant is one of a group of Welsh dairies backing the PFN application, which was submitted by Carwyn Adams of Caws Cenarth last year. “By protecting the recipe we can protect the cheese,” she said.
If successful, the application would mean that Caerphilly made outside Wales, such as Gorwydd, which has relocated to Somerset from Ceredigion, would not be able to use the ‘Traditional Welsh’ tag. Bodnant has also recently signed a deal to supply to 33 Asda stores in and around Wales with three cheeses: the Cheshire-style Aberwen, the red Abergoch and smoked Abermwg. Levison said it would also consider supplying other supermarkets. www.bodnant-welshfood.co.uk
Bodnant is wholesaling its new Caerphilly as well as selling as its own Conwy Valley site
WELCOME A BOARD: A cheeseboard service is one of the attractions at Paxton & Whitfield’s new London shop, which has opened at a permanent site in Chelsea following a successful pop-up. Customers can bring their own boards to the shop on Cale Street to be dressed with cheeses and accompaniments by Paxtons’ expert staff, led by manager Ben Newell (pictured), formerly of top Scottish cheesemonger IJ Mellis. The service was trialled at Paxtons’ pop-up shop on the same street before the permanent site was opened last month at larger premises. It starts at £25 and is aimed at customers hosting dinner parties. The new Chelsea shop is Paxtons’ second in the capital, joining its flagship store on Jermyn Street. www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk
Vol.16 Issue 10 · November-December 2015
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