Good Cheese 2013-14

goodcheese £3.50

2013-14

Making it, selling it, enjoying it

Magnificent Mozzarella We find the finest examples from delis, food halls and high street stores

GET COOKING Brilliant cheesy recipes from Michel Roux Jnr, Gordon Ramsay, Florence Knight, Gino D’Acampo, Koj, Darina Allen & more

ALSO INSIDE: VINTAGE CHEDDARS BATTLE OF THE BRIES NEAL’S YARD CREAMERY SPANISH CHEESES STORAGE TIPS

THE ART OF AFFINAGE Bringing fine cheeses to peak condition

AOP, the sign of special products...

A traditional cheese

Appellation d'origine protégée

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 AOP 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 AOP 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 AOP.

From this time on, the name ‘Gruyère AOP’ and the code of the production facility appears on the heel of each wheel of Gruyère AOP 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 AOP 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

what’s inside

welcome

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Counter culture 5 News from cheese shops and cheese-makers

The art of affinage 12 How expert cheese maturers turn the everyday into the extraordinary

Artisan cheese-making 15 Charlie Westhead’s celebrated raw milk cheeses from the heart of Herefordshire

Mozzarella 18 Pizza made cheap mozzarella the world’s biggest selling cheese, but where can you get the real taste of Italy’s finest, freshest cheese?

Biscuits for cheese 21 Put more crunch into your lunch

Spanish specialities 23 There’s so much more to Spain than Manchego, says food writer Clarissa Hyman

Pickles & chutneys 27 Find the perfect accompaniment

French & British bries 28 Find out who does it best, as our tasting panel put 14 bries to the test

Storage and serving advice 31 Retail experts Tracey Colley and Henry Mackley share their tips for storing and serving cheese in top condition

Vintage cheddar 39

n reading this issue of Good Cheese, I’m struck by two things. Firstly, the mind-boggling commitment shown by those involved in making artisan cheese and secondly, the diversity of quality sold in supermarkets and specialist stores.

The cheese world frequently cultivates genuine characters, people whose dedication to their craft is rarely matched by their financial reward.

In 2013, we lost three British farmhouse cheddar makers, a fact made incomprehensible by an 11% increase in cheddar imports during the first eight months of the year.

Nevertheless on page 6, we learn how Pembrokeshire cheese-maker Rachel Holden discovered a “slower, cooler” recipe for cheddar from a book first published in 1917.

She believes her family’s cheese now delivers “deep, mellow and rich flavours” – admirable commitment in view of the downward pressure on cheddar prices exerted by supermarkets.

On the same page we meet an apprentice cheese-maker at Lynher Dairies who scorned a place at university because of a “rare passion for food science”. He’ll spend countless hours perfecting an art form unlikely ever to yield the financial rewards he might have earned as a banker or senior executive at the BBC. Michael Lane delves into the life of limelight-shunning, self-confessed former ‘general layabout’ turned cheese-maker Charlie Westhead. We learn on page 15 how 24 years of dedication recently earned him the cheese-makers’ ultimate accolade.

Patrick McGuigan’s exposé of the solitary art of the affineur on page 12 reveals the lengths its practitioners go to perfecting a type of dairy magic that “fundamentally changes the character” of young, bland cheeses.

Our two tastings reveal what happens when affineurs are not around to ensure cheese is perfect. A labour of love made me visit five London food halls, six supermarkets and eight specialist cheese shops in a single day in search of the best bries (page 28) and best Mozzarellas (page 18). Even from some of our top retailers it was a hit and miss affair.

Clarissa Hyman believes (page 23) that Spain is the new France for exotic cheeses while Charles Campion (page 39) does his best to uncover what really makes good vintage cheddar and how some retailers might just be...cheating?

Michel Roux Jnr’s recipe for the perfect Croque Monsieur, Gino D’Acampo’s authentic Spaghetti Alla Carbonara along with six other stunning dishes using cheese are matched with everything that’s new and interesting in cheese, biscuits and chutneys. So make sure you enjoy the very best of good 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

Can a mass-market cheese deliver true ‘vintage’ character?

BBC MasterChef judge Charles Campion has his doubts.

Recipe inspirations 42 Four pages of mouthwatering recipes from Michel Roux Jnr, Florence Knight, Gordon Ramsay and more

Where to buy good cheese 49 Over 50 stockists listed

EDITORIAL Editor: Mick Whitworth Assistant editor: Michael Lane Art director: Mark Windsor Contributors: Charles Campion, Clarissa Hyman, Patrick McGuigan, Isabelle Plasschaert ADVERTISING Sales manager: Sally Coley Advertisement sales: Becky Stacey, Ruth Debnam 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, Vicky Missen 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 2013

t: 01747 825200 Fax: 01747 824065 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 in cheese shops this season

NEW STILTON ON ITS WAY

Britain’s smallest – and newest – Stilton maker will release its first batch of the famous blue early in 2014, less than three years after start-up.

Hartington Creamery was opened by a group of entrepreneurial dairy experts and business people in 2012, to keep cheese-making alive in the eponymous Derbyshire village following the closure of Long Clawson’s Hartington Dairy in 2009.

The new creamery has already won awards for its first cheeses, Peakland Blue and Peakland White, with the latter acheving a silver in the Best New Cheese category at the British Cheese Awards.

Production of Stilton – a Protected Designation of Origin cheese that can only be made in the counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire – will begin January 2014, with Hartington Creamery becoming the only maker in its county.

Initial annual production is expected to be around 40 tonnes – less than onehundredth of the scale of the biggest Stilton makers.

Early trials suggest Hartington’s style of Stilton will be “very creamy and not too strong”, a spokesperson tells Good Cheese, adding: “We want to be a top tier product and are aiming high.” www.hartingtoncreamery.co.uk

SPREADING THE LOVE Fans of Cashel Blue, the award-winning cows’ milk cheese made by the Grubb family on their Tipperary farm, can now buy a convenient all-natural spread made from a mix of matured Cashel Blue, cream cheese and fresh cream. Sarah Furno, daughter of Cashel Blue’s creators Jane and Louis Grubb, suggests heating the spread in its 200g tub to make an instant blue cheese dip or sauce. www.cashelblue.com

NORTONS DAIRY PICKS UP SPEED After success in the British Cheese Awards in 2012 with its St Swithin’s Soft and St Swithin’s Soft with Lavender, emerging Norfolk cheesemaker Nortons Dairy has this year improved its packaging and secured distribution through specialist regional cheese distributor Hamish Johnston.

Owner Emily Norton says three varieties of her creamy, fresh, soft cows’ milk cheese are now available: plain; lavender, rosemary & chervil; and apricot.

Each comes in a 150g portion in an attractive poplar wood box. www.nortonsdairy.co.uk

CREAMY, CRUNCHY AND VERSATILE

TRIBUTE TO A GODDESS: A cheese-maker in the north-east of England is to help commemorate a literally ground-breaking artwork.

Northumberlandia is a 1,300 ft long sculpture of a reclining naked goddess, carved into the hills of the Blagdon Estate, which is also home to the Northumberland Cheese Co. The sculpture forms the centrepiece of a 46-acre community park being developed as part of the restoration of the Shotton surface coal mine, adjacent to the Blagdon Estate.

Northumberland Cheese Co has been asked to create a special variety to celebrate the sculpture, using milk from Blagdon cows. Expected to be a “strong and robust” cheese, Northumberlandia is scheduled for launch towards the end of 2014. www.northumberlandcheese.co.uk

Agents for Lithuanian cheese-maker Zemaitijos Pienas have been talking to specialist UK distributors about reaching delis and farm shops with Dziugas, a creamy, hard cheese that was officially launched in the British Isles as Good Cheese went to press.

Dziugas has won a number of awards on the Continent and offers an alternative to Parmesan or Grana Padano as both a table cheese and a cooking ingredient.

It is available in age profiles from 12-month (‘mild’), through 18-month (‘delicate’) and 24-month (‘piquant’) to a 36-month gourmet version.

While the 12-month cheese is sliceable, the most mature cheese suits breaking into chunks for nibbling.

Described as having a ‘flowery fruitiness’, Dziugas is less salty and lower in fat than some other Continental hard cheeses, and combines creaminess with that crunch of crystalised lactic acid that you would find in aged cheddar or Parmesan.

The cheese is made with milk from an indigenous breed of Lithuanian cow, reared on the rich pastures of the Samogitia region.

Export manager Audrius Staponkus tells Good Cheese it would be wrong to make direct comparisons between Dziugas and other well-known hard cheeses.

“Restaurant chefs find it unique,” she says, “with its suitability for grating, melting into dishes or adding to the cheeseboard at the end of a meal.” a.staponkus@zpienas.lt

SHARP ASCENT Devon producer Sharpham, best known for rich, soft, cows’ milk cheeses like the triple cream Jersey milk Elmhirst, says it has had an “overwhelming” response to its new French-style mixed milk Cremet.

Head cheese-maker Debbie Mumford began experimenting with mixed cows’ and goats’ milk recipes in 2012, but the first batches of Cremet only went out to wholesalers in 2013.

However, it has already won gold in regional and national cheese awards, including Best In Show and Best Soft Cheese at the Devon County Show. www.sharpham.com

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counter culture

BLUE MOVES: Baron Robert Pouget is relocating production of his Oxford Blue, Oxford Isis and College White cheeses to a new unit near Burford, 20 miles west of Oxford.

Pouget (pictured below left) consulted Stinking Bishop creator Charles Martell (centre) during the set-up of the dairy, which will be part of a centre for food excellence set up by landowner Chris Mills (right).

The 2,000 sq ft unit will feature a facility for collecting the whey from the cheese-making process, which will be sent to a local anaerobic digestion plant to generate electricity.

Production is scheduled to start at the new site in spring 2014. www.oxfordfinefood.com

GENTLY DOES IT A well-established Welsh cheddar maker has changed its recipe after taking inspiration from a long-forgotten cheese-making handbook.

Hafod organic cheddar is handmade by the Holden family at Bwlchwernen Fawr, their farm near the Ceredigion coast.

The farm has been owned for many years by former Soil Association director Patrick Holden, whose son and daughter-inlaw, Sam and Rachel, run the cheese-making operation.

Now a new “slower, cooler” recipe for Hafod has been developed after the discovery of a 1917 dairy manual, Practical Cheddar Cheese-Making, by Dora Saker.

Drawing on Saker’s ideas, the Holdens have cut the amount of added starter culture to about a quarter of the conventional amount, allowing the milk to acidify very slowly.

According to Rachel, slowing the process gives the curd more

‘YOU’RE HIRED’ A Cornish student has joined Lynher Dairies, maker of the nettle coated Cornish Yarg and its sister cheese Garlic Yarg, as its first apprentice cheesemaker.

Nineteen-year-old Phil Farndon (pictured) was initially taken on as a part-time nettle and wild garlic leaf picker during a gap year while he decided which university course to apply for.

But Lynher’s dairy manager Dane Hopkins suggested Phil apply for the 12-month government-funded apprenticeship scheme after recognising someone with a “rare passion for food science”.

“We had wanted to find an apprentice for a while, keen to see a continuation of cheese-making skills here at Lynher and to ensure that it doesn’t become a lost skill,” says Dane.

“Phil has an eye for detail, for quality, and most importantly, a definite palate for cheese-making.” www.lynherdairies.co.uk

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time to expel moisture through the ‘cheddaring’ process and means curds can be cooked at a lower temperature.

This, in turn, gives more time for the aromas and texture to develop before the curds are milled.

Rachel says the ‘new’ Hafod, made using this technique, has a softer, springy texture, unlike the usually harder, dryer farmhouse cheddars of today.

The earthy, long flavour is “deep, mellow and rich with butter”, she says, with just a hint of sharpness.

The Holdens changed all their production over to ‘slow’ Hafod in April 2012.

After a 12-month maturation, the first finished cheeses went on sale through wholesaler and retailer Neal’s Yard Dairy earlier in 2013. Hafod has already collected a two-star award in Great Taste 2013 and gold at the Soil Association Awards. www.hafodcheese.co.uk

TOP STOCKIST FOR BARONET Paxton & Whitfield, the fine cheese retailer and distributor best known for its iconic shop in London’s Jermyn Street, is listing a new cheese created on the grand Neston Park Estate in Wiltshire.

Baronet, a pasteurised, washed-rind cows’ milk cheese “loosely based” on Reblochon, is made by up-and-coming cheese-maker Julianna Sedli of The Old Cheese Room, based in a converted outbuilding at Neston Park, which also boasts a popular farm shop and restaurant.

Julianna, who is Hungarian, set up her business in 2011 after working in the cheese industry for a number of years.

The milk used to make Baronet comes from the Jersey cows on the Neston Park Farm, and the rich, full-bodied cheese is washed in brine to create a distinctive sticky orange rind. www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

IT’S ALL GREEK Greek food specialist Odysea has already collected a Great Taste gold star for its newly launched 100% sheep’s milk feta, produced by the Roussas family in the mountainous Thessaly region.

Feta is an EU Protected Designation of Origin product that can also be made with goats’ milk. But Odysea – which also imports oils, sauces, olives, vine leaves and other specialities – says the use of ewe’s milk alone gives a “milder, creamier and smoother tasting feta”. www.odysea.com

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We go further to please…

Our customer’s comments;

“MLFC are always spot on when it comes to quality. They are always seeking new suppliers and looking for ways to keep our cheese counter exciting and are excellent at communicating with new products” “We always receive a professional, reliable and friendly service. They offer a wide range of products and nothing we ask is too much hassle. Michael Lee is one of the best suppliers we work with and we would definitely recommend” “MLFC have supplied us with cheese and much more since we opened and we have been extremely happy with the service we’ve received. Very friendly staff that are always willing to seek out new products and are on hand to give advice or suggestions for their wonderful artisan goods” “Michael and his fantastic team have always provided a brilliant service; giving us lots of advice when we first opened and suggesting perfect products to complement our range, nothing is too much trouble. From the sales team who are on hand for any queries to seeing the delivery drivers with the produce, it is a pleasure to work with everyone” “We couldn’t have got to where we are without the help of MLFC! They have always delivered superb cheese as well as advice and great service. Thank you and here’s to many more years!”

Tel: 01977 703061 Fax: 01977 599359 Email: info@finecheesesltd.co.uk Web: www.finecheesesltd.co.uk

Depots in London, Worcester, Manchester and the South West.

Supplying and supporting independent retailers, restaurants, caterers, national hotel groups, events, stadia and travel.

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Shortlisted for Best Wholesaler / Distributor Award at Deliciouslyorkshire Awards 2013/2014

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counter culture

SPANISH SPECIALITIES Importer and retailer Brindisa has added two sheep’s milk cheeses to the list of Spanish specialities it supplies to delis around the UK One is an “exemplary” Manchego under the 1605 brand, produced in the Sierra Finca de la Solana in central Spain’s La Mancha region.

Full flavoured, sweet and nutty, the classic hard cheese is available in 200g wedges in two age profiles: five months and 11 months.

The other newcomer is a Torta del Casar from artisan producer Rafael Pajuelo, a soft pudding cheese shaped like a small Spanish torta, or cake. The top can be carefully sliced off the fully ripened cheese to scoop out the creamy paste with bread or chorizo. www.brindisa.com

BRING ON THE BRIE Premium gift food brand Godminster, best known for its burgundy-waxed organic cheddar truckles, launched three flavours of hand-made organic brie in time for 2013’s British Cheese Week.

Described as “full of character with real depth of flavour”, the cheese is made with organic milk from Godminster’s own dairy herd in Somerset.

As well as a traditional brie, there is a version hand-rolled in crushed peppercorns and another infused with garlic and chives.

NEW MONDAY Blue Monday, the Gorgonzola-style cheese developed by musician and food columnist Alex James, has been “reinvented” after he shifted production from Scottish artisan maker Highland Fine Cheeses to the larger, Yorkshire-based Shepherds Purse.

James and business partner Elaine Foran worked with Katie Matten and Caroline Bell – daughters of Shepherds Purse founder Judy Bell – to create a creamier, more buttery version of Blue Monday.

Shepherds Purse makes a range of award-winning cheeses for both supermarkets and specialist independents, including its own Mrs Bell’s Blue. www.facebook.com/AlexJamesPresents

www.godminster.com

HEADING SOUTH As Britain’s most northerly cheese-maker it’s no surprise Shetland Cheese focused on local sales when its first handmade cheeses appeared three years ago.

But while it still makes in small batches, its cows’ milk, vegetarian-rennet cheeses are now being made available to delis and the hospitality trade across the UK, either directly from the creamery or via distributor The Cress Co. The range includes the soft, pasteurised, but strongly flavoured St Ninians, made in 100g rounds, and the Soothe Mooth crumbly cheese, which received a Great Taste star in 2013.

There are also flavoured varieties such as cumin, caraway and chive, but in traditional fashion these extra ingredients are added directly to the fresh curds, rather than blended and re-pressed like most mass-market flavoured cheeses. www.shetlandcheese.co.uk

FRIEND OF THE EARTH? Cheddar cheese is usually yellow, but family-owned Somerset producer Wyke Farms aims to turn its cheese ‘green’, according to managing director Richard Clothier.

As part of a programme to minimize its environmental impact, the company has installed an anaerobic digester which will convert 75,000 tonnes of cow and pig waste annually into usable biogas and a clean, natural fertilizer.

The Clothiers first looked at green energy eight years ago when they installed the first solar panels on the roofs of farm buildings. “We weren’t comfortable building a solar farm,” Richard says, “as we didn’t want to take away land from food production. It’s pointless using food to generate power – we’d rather use waste.”

The panels help cool the milk before cheese-making, while a further system redistributes heat from the generator to the pasteuriser. The new digester project included a mile and a half of pipeline pumping bio-methane gas to the cheese-making facility at Wyke Champflower. The business now sources all its electricity and gas from solar and biogas.

“Green energy stacks up for consumers,” says Richard Clothier, “and this gives us something really tangible for our Wyke brand. Even our local delivery vehicles have switched to 100% electric, saving around 86kg of CO2 emissions every week.” www.wykefarms.com

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counter culture

MORE IN STORE FOR WIGMORE Multi-award-winning artisan producer Village Maid Cheese has just undergone a major extension at its Berkshire base, funded by owners Anne and Andy Wigmore with grant aid from the Rural Development Programme for England.

The changes have provided a new, larger maturing room, a holding coldroom and a wrapping and packaging room.

This upgrade will enable the owners to meet growing demand for their three cheeses: the semi-soft ewes’ milk Wigmore, the hard-pressed, Pecorinostyle ewes’ milk Spenwood and the mild, buttery semi-soft Waterloo, made with Guernsey cows’ milk.

Anne Wigmore, formerly a cheesemaker at a dairy research institute, set up Village Maid cheese 27 years ago on the Thatcher government’s Enterprise Allowance Scheme. www.villagemaidcheese.co.uk

WINTER TREATS FROM CHEESE CELLAR Seven cheeses and two butters from Italian luxury cheese-maker Beppino Occelli are among more than 20 speciality lines newly listed by distributor Cheese Cellar in its winter 2013-14 range.

The Italian varieties include Occelli al Barolo, an intense hard cheese made from a blend of cows’ and goats’ milk. “The cheese is matured for five months in Valcasotto cellars and then for a further two months in Langa vineyards, where it is enriched with Barolo wine,” says Cheese Cellar.

Four French cheeses are included in the winter line-up, including a Beaufort, a Brebis Sanglé and a “rich, soft and luscious” Brillat Savarin with truffles (below).

Among the Brits now listed by Cheese Cellar are Dutch Mistress goats’ cheese from Sarah Hampton’s Brock Hall Farm, a Top 50 product in Great Taste 2013, and the cows’ milk, Vacherin-style Winslade from Hampshire Cheeses.

Winslade (below, top) was named Best New Cheese in the 2013 British Cheese Awards, while the same maker’s well-established camembert-style Tunworth was named Supreme Champion for the second time. www.cheesecellar.co.uk www.hampshirecheeses.co.uk

GIVE ’EM HELL: With Leeds set to host the first leg of 2014’s Tour De France – a 118 mile ride to Harrogate – Yorkshire cheesemonger and wholesaler Cryer & Stott has developed a suitably Gallic-style cheese to mark the occasion.

Yorkshire Hellfire is a washedrind cheese blended with wholegrain mustard and washed in Hellfire Ale from Leeds Brewery.

It was inspired by Vieux Lille, a washed-rind variety made in Leeds’ twin town of Lille, near the Belgian border, and popularly known as Old Stinker.

The first 200kg batch of Yorkshire Hellfire was released in October and was immediately picked up by Northern outlets including Black Hall Farm, The Cheeseboard in Harrogate and all Leeds Brewery gastropubs. www.cryerandstott.co.uk

GOATS’ CHEESE GOES UNDERGROUND Traditional cheddar-maker Ford Farm, the Dorset-based maker of Wookey Hole cave-aged cheddar, has created a goats’ milk version of the hard-pressed cheese.

“The technique for making this unique goats’ cheddar is very similar to the process for our cows’ milk cheddar,” says director Mike Pullin.

“The curds are turned by hand at the dairy, pressed in 27kg moulds, larded and bandaged, then transported to the Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset for a three month maturation period.”

The new goats’ cheese is described as “wonderfully smooth, with distinctive earthy and nutty top notes from the underground caves”.

“While they’re maturing, the truckles in the cave develop a bright white fluffy mould that looks almost like snow,” adds Pullin. “It’s beautiful to see.” www.fordfarm.com

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the art of affinage

Charm school for cheese PATRICK McGUIGAN explores the dark arts of the affineur, whose skills can turn a gawky youngster into a mature beauty

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hopping for cheese in a supermarket is a bit like going to a karaoke bar to hear great music.

Yes, there are classic hits like Brie and Stilton, but all too often they struggle to reach the high notes, resulting in a dull drone of lacklustre textures and monotone flavours.

By comparison, specialist cheesemongers are more like the Albert Hall, shining a spotlight on pitch-perfect cheeses that sing with complex flavour harmonies.

The cheese-maker and the retailer obviously have a big role in bringing these stars of the dairy world to the public’s attention, but there is also another important player in the cheese fame game whose efforts often go unrecognised.

Known as ‘affineurs’ in France or simply ‘cheese maturers’ in Britain, these people buy cheeses directly 12

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from the producer, then ripen them to perfection. Like talent scouts, they take raw youngsters with promise and put them through an intensive finishing school until they reach their full potential.

It’s a tradition that is well-established on the Continent where the best affineurs have become legends in their own right. Mons in France is one of the best suppliers in the country, yet the company does not actually make cheese itself. Founded by Hubert Mons in 1964 and today run by his sons Laurent and Hervé, the business has a series of temperature- and humiditycontrolled maturing rooms, which create the perfect environments for ageing different kinds of cheese.

“Affinage enables us to develop textures, aromas, flavours and rinds.

Without the maturing process, the uniqueness and characteristics of each

At Neal’s Yard Dairy, Owen Baily (pictured) says affinage is about ‘moisture management’ through temperature, humidity and skilled handling

cheese cannot be revealed,” says Hervé Mons. “When we are maturing a cheese, we are rearing it, we are leading it towards its second life.”

The company’s marketing executive Fanny Thivoyon adds that the process of ‘affinage’ results in cheeses that are far removed from those found in the supermarkets.

“We listen to our customers and what they want and then age the cheese so that it answers their wishes,” she says. “That might mean one person wants a Camembert that is runny in the middle with milky flavours and a soft white rind, while another wants a Camembert that has a creamy paste, saltier flavours and more of a brown rind. In a supermarket you have a completely standardised product.”

Specialist cheese maturers are far less common in the UK, where cheesemakers traditionally age their own products, but the situation is changing.

Wholesalers such as the Cheese Cellar and Fromage to Age have recently revealed plans to set up their own maturing rooms.

“It’s an added service to our topend restaurant customers to have

cheeses washed or matured to specific points,” explains Fromage to Age founder Simeon Hudson-Evans. “It will give them a degree of exclusivity and something really special.”

Cheese Cellar category manager Owen Davies says that affinage can dramatically change the taste, texture and even look of a cheese.

“Supermarkets want flavours that are quite upfront and aggressive, but we want length and depth and complexity.”

Exclusive cheeses and complex flavours all sound wonderful, but what exactly do affineurs do all day in their caves beyond waiting for their cheeses to mature?

One man who can explain affinage better than most is Owen Baily, who has been maturing cheeses for Neal’s Yard Dairy in London for years.

“It’s essentially moisture management,” he says. “Cheese loses moisture over time and we manage that process using temperature and humidity. It’s about moving cheeses to different positions, turning them so moisture doesn’t collect, brushing them to remove cheese mites and washing them in alcohol and salt solutions to develop certain bacteria and moulds.”

How long a cheese is matured for and at what temperature and humidity is determined by the cheese itself. Neal’s Yard buys Tunworth, a British Camembert-style cheese, from producer Stacey Hedges at two to four weeks old and could ripen it for anywhere between four to eight weeks.

Factors such as changes in the fat and protein levels in the milk or what the weather was like when the cheese was made all affect how slowly or quickly a cheese will ripen.

“Cheese varies from batch to batch and we need to be able to respond accordingly,” says Owen Baily. “It’s about making each individual cheese as good as it can be.”

What is also essential is to start with the right cheese in the first place.

“We’re always looking for a cheese that will develop over time. Not all are suitable. To do this we use all our senses – what the cheese looks like, the smell and the taste. At an early stage you are looking for faults, which eliminate certain cheeses. As the cheese ages those pleasant characteristics develop and you can start to select what could be aged to, say, 12 months or 18 months in the case of a hard cheese like cheddar.”

At wholesaler and retailer Premier Cheese, co-owner Amnon Paldi regularly travels to France to pick out wheels of Comté for maturing. These are aged for the company by a specialist affineur in France for anywhere between 12 and 36 months.

“I go into the caves with the head of maturing and we tap the cheese with a hammer to listen for any air pockets,” he says. “Then we taste.”

He adds: “We’re looking to see if the cheese is beginning to have complexity, which over time will develop further. We look for a good fat

level, which will help keep the flavour in the mouth and we look at the colour.

Does it have a nice mellow colour?

Then we make our decision.”

Premier also matures its own cheeses at its HQ in Beaconsfield, producing products such as Stilton soaked in port, and Cornerstone, a cows’ milk cheese washed in a brine solution for at least eight weeks.

Washing cheese is true affinage, according to Andy Swinscoe, owner of North Yorkshire cheese shop The Courtyard Dairy, who previously worked for seven months with Mons in France.

“For me affinage is when you fundamentally change the character

“Cheese varies from batch to batch and we need to be able to respond accordingly,” says Owen Baily of the cheese,” he says, citing James McCall of James’s Cheese in Dorset, producer of the pungent, washed rind Francis, as an example of a “true affineur”. “He takes a young Stoney Cross cheese from Lyburn and washes it for several weeks until it has a completely different character.”

Whether a cheese is washed, soaked or just aged to perfection, there’s no doubt that the UK is getting a taste for cheese that has been lovingly tended by an affineur.

Mons’ Fanny Thivoyon says young Brits are even overtaking their French counterparts when it comes to understanding and appreciating the importance of affinage.

“There is a huge difference between the British and French,” she says. “We have to age more of our cheeses for the UK because the British are more curious. They are looking for more exciting textures and flavours, while the French are quite closed-minded in comparison.” www.cheesecellar.co.uk www.fromagetoage.co.uk www.jamesscheese.co.uk www.mons-fromages.com www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk

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13

KEEN’S CHEDDAR Traditional, unpasteurised, award-winning Cheddars from Wincanton Somerset For details call 01963 32286 email: info@keenscheddar.co.uk www.keenscheddar.co.uk

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goodcheese 2013-14

artisan cheese-making

F

Raw but refined Charlie Westhead has been making award-winning soft cheese at Neal’s Yard Creamery for nearly 25 years. But, he tells MICHAEL LANE, he’ll never rest on his laurels.

or a self-confessed “shy soul”, Charlie Westhead has found the ultimate location to live and work. His smallholding on Dorstone Hill, which overlooks miles of Herefordshire’s Golden Valley and the River Wye, isn’t exactly remote but Good Cheese might still be looking for it now if it wasn’t for sat nav.

“No one ever comes round,” he says. “Well – not journalists. I usually keep my head down, quite frankly.”

Although he shuns the limelight, Charlie is no wallflower when it comes to cheese-making, and his business, Neal’s Yard Creamery, is recognised as one of Britain’s finest artisan producers.

It’s an enterprise Charlie began running in 1990, making Greekstyle yoghurt at a rented cottage in Kent, as part of the famous Neal’s Yard Dairy. Within a few years he had relocated to Herefordshire and developed an esteemed range of soft, raw milk cheeses along the way.

Over the last 24 years, he has racked up many plaudits for his three goats’ milk cheeses, but perhaps his greatest triumph came last year.

Mention that the dense, lemony, mould-ripened Ragstone won the 2012 James Aldridge Memorial Trophy for Britain’s best raw milk cheese and Charlie beams with pride.

Unless you’re a cheese-maker, you probably haven’t heard of the trophy but it’s the ultimate professional seal of approval. Named after one of the leading figures in Britain’s cheese revival during the ‘80s, it’s voted for by members of the Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association.

“I knew James [Aldridge] and it’s voted for by people in the know,” Charlie says. “For me, that’s the pinnacle. It’s something I can take to the grave.”

As well as Ragstone, he also makes the zesty, mousse-like Dorstone, which is rolled in ash before ripening, and the fresh Perroche, which manages to be moist and fluffy at the same time. It’s worth noting that none of these have that “billy goat tang” that Charlie says gives goats’ cheese a bad reputation.

As if his hands weren’t full enough, he also makes a rich, creamy cows’ milk cheese, Finn, as well as Greek-style yoghurt and crème fraiche.

None of this would have seemed plausible to Charlie Westhead during the mid ‘80s when he was a jobless “general layabout” in London with an inkling that working in cheese would be a good thing to do.

He got a job at Jeroboams in South Kensington and quickly moved on to Harrods’ cheese counter before discovering Neal’s Yard Dairy, which he pestered on a weekly basis until he became the company’s “first full-time employee” in 1987.

Suddenly, Charlie was part of owner Randolph Hodgson’s quest to revive British artisan cheese-making from near extinction. >

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15

artisan cheese-making

Marsha Arnold

CHARLIE’S ANGELS: (clockwise from top left) Ragstone, Perroche, the cows’ milk Finn and Dorstone

He spent several years travelling the country in a non-refrigerated van collecting cheese and watching the artisans at Kirkham’s Lancashire, Appleby’s Cheshire and Montgomery’s Cheddar at work.

So when the job of running the faltering Creamery came up in March 1990, Charlie grabbed the chance and, after three days’ training from Hodgson, was let loose making yoghurt, crème fraiche and an early version of the fresh Perroche he still makes today.

“I thought I had quite a lot of experience because I’d seen cheese being made around the farms but then I realised it was something I knew absolutely nothing about.”

Although it was a “steep learning curve”, he did have three years of tasting cheese to fall back on. At least he knew what tasted good and if it didn’t, he says, it went straight in the bin.

He also had a fairly strong grasp of the attitude required to make good cheese from touring the farms of potential Neal’s Yard suppliers with Hodgson.

“We’d taste one cheese and the farmer would say, ‘It’s good, isn’t it?’

But it wasn’t,” he says. “And then you’d visit somebody else who’d say, ‘It’s not right is it?’ You’d go with the person that knew it wasn’t great.”

Despite all the recognition for his work and more than two decades of production, this philosophy still drives him today. These days, it’s more about fine-tuning, assisted by his “right hand man” and head cheese-maker 16

goodcheese 2013-14

Hadyn Roberts, but technical details are always front-of-mind.

Even before we meet, he emails to warn that the behaviour of the bacteria in the milk will affect where I conduct my interview. As it happens, we spend a good deal of time chatting as he ladles soft, delicate goats’ curd into moulds. Even at this early stage it looks good enough to eat.

You can buy Charlie’s curds in 2kg tubs from Neal’s Yard Dairy.

All his cheeses begin life in roughly the same way.

First, there’s the main ingredient.

The goats’ milk comes from farmer Richard Barter an hour down the road in Gloucestershire and the cows’ milk makes the shorter journey from Andrew and Rachel Giles’ farm in Glasbury-on-Wye. It has to be raw, unpasteurised milk, says Charlie, otherwise the taste will suffer. “Milk’s incredibly complex. If you knock out all the bacteria that are in there, you wipe your palette clean before you start.”

The milk arrives in the morning and is gently warmed to around 25°C with varying amounts of starter culture mixed in. It is then poured into buckets and animal rennet (kids’ for the goats’ milk, calves’ for cows’) is added. Charlie used to deploy vegetarian rennet but found it lent

bitter notes to the finished product.

The mixture is then left overnight in these plastic buckets, which may sound like a mundane detail but they are key to achieving perfect texture in the curds. Charlie substituted them for the large vat used before he took over at the Creamery.

“Buckets are a lot more stable,” he explains. “You used to get more movement in the vat and it would tear the curd as it was setting.”

Charlie and his staff still have to keep a keen eye on the curds as they drain and go into the moulds. “It’s counter-intuitive but the more moisture you can get out of a cheese the softer it will be,” he says, explaining that the moister the curd the more whey and, hence, starter culture it contains. The longer the starter works, the drier and harder the cheese will be.

Once they’re set, the cheeses come out of the moulds and are given a final salting or brining before being put on racks and sent to the maturing room. The whole process takes roughly three days.

While Perroche is ready to go after three days, Dorstone, Ragstone and Finn are all kept for longer so they develop their mould rinds before hitting the shelves.

It’s a very hands-on process – the

“It’s a lifetime’s work and the cheese is always getting better.

There’s no need to get bigger and detract from quality.”

only automation in the creamery is the dishwasher – and requires three full-time and three part-time staff to help Charlie turn out 1,500 Ragstones, 350 Perroches, 600 Dorstones, and 300 Finns a week, plus yoghurt (300 large pots), goats’ curd and crème fraiche.

But just because it’s labour intensive, he doesn’t believe making cheese should be energy hungry. On-site solar panels and a wind turbine generate about 50% of the electricity required while the other 50% is bought from Good Energy. All heating requirements are taken care of by a wood burner that is fed locally sourced logs.

As well as the environment, Charlie is also taking care of himself and having recently turned 50, allows himself to clock off at 4pm rather than 6pm. He’s still getting up at an ungodly hour, though, and it’s his cheese that gets him out of bed.

“I think it’s a lifetime’s work and the cheese is always getting better,” he says, “which is why I feel, creatively, there’s no need to get bigger and detract from quality.”

It looks like the supermarket buyers, despite their best efforts to court Charlie, will remain out of luck. “We don’t need them,” he says.

So if you want to try Charlie’s wares visit Neal’s Yard Dairy or check his website for a list of independent stockists.

You may have to look a little harder for his cheese but, when you do find it, you know it will always taste as good as it can. www.nealsyardcreamery.co.uk

All sales enquiries to OXFORD BLUE CHEESE COMPANY LTD 01844 338055 Available direct from OXFORD BLUE CHEESE COMPANY LTD 01844 338055 www.oxfordfinefood.com

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Or From: Cheesecellar 020 7819 6001, Anthony Rowcliffe 01892 838999, Carron Lodge 01995 640352, Turners Fine Foods 01580 212818, Hamish Johnston 01728 621544, Paxton & Whitfield 01451 823460, Fromage to Age 01386 849345, Cheltenham Cheese 01242 529921, J & R Food Services 01392 366963, Leopard Dairy 01747 811188, New Wave Seafoods 01285 715160, Barry Gibbon 01235 818993, Abbey Cheese 01525 853040, Norbiton Cheese 020 8605 2412, Wellocks 01282 868800, West Horsley Dairy 01483 725000

mozzarella

Escape from pizzaland

The bland, rubbery topping on your pizza margherita is a world away from the nearmystical delights of fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, says BOB FARRAND

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goodcheese 2013-14

W

hen Kirsty Young finally invites me onto Desert Island Disks and asks what luxury I’ll take into exile with me, there’s no doubt it will be cheese. Which cheese is more difficult.

Should it be Quickes’ cheddar, sublime at two years’ old in springtime, or would I long for the moment Beenleigh Blue breaks into song in high summer? Or perhaps an Ossau Iraty at 10 months or more, divinely satisfying.

But then, few would argue the joy of a fresh young Parmigiano Reggiano when autumn’s pears are ripe for picking.

The joy of seasonality adds spice to any cheese but, in the end, only one is good enough to be graced with eternal favour. It would be mozzarella I’d eat in solitude, listening to my eight records.

Not that rubbery, tasteless stuff that daily adorns a billion pizzas, making

it the most consumed cheese on the planet. I’m talking about those porcelainwhite balls made south of Napoli, each one a miracle of Italian cuisine: real, fresh Mozzarella di Bufala Campania PDO. London is more than 1,000 miles from Campania, so finding truly fresh buffalo mozzarella is a challenge.

But first, we need to establish the ground rules – what makes the perfect Mozzarella di Bufala?

Steven Jenkins, described by the New Yorker magazine as “the eminence grise of American cheesemongers”, writes poetically what those of us besotted with Mozzarella di Bufala have struggled to describe since our first tasting. “The outer skin of the cheese lives (along with mercury and lava and photons and quicksand) on the mystical border between liquid and solid. When cut, it will weep its own whey with a sweet,

beckoning, lactic aroma.”

Is Mozzarella di Bufala a nectar lurking in the shadow of the gods, where truth and myth are impossible to separate? If Jenkins is right, this cheese exists to a single exacting standard, but celebrated London cheesemonger Patricia Michelson, in her book Cheese, suggests two layers of pleasure. “A very fresh Mozzarella, one that is 24-48 hours old, has a tighter, more chewy texture,” says the owner of La Fromagerie, whereas after a little longer, “it becomes softer and creamier and even after five or six days is still delicious.”

If you believe Patricia, Mozzarella di Bufala enjoyed in southern Italy will present a different eating experience to that offered by the slightly older cheeses bought in shops at home.

Jody Scheckter, the former Formula One world champion turned biodynamic

farmer, would no doubt agree, as he’s spent five years (and probably the same in £millions) perfecting the art of Mozzarella-making at Laverstoke Park in Hampshire using milk from his grass-fed buffaloes.

“Mine is much more like the freshest examples you find in southern Italy,” he once told me. ”It’s very fresh, and firmer in texture than older, softer cheeses imported from Italy.”

Making Mozzarella di Bufala is, on paper, straightforward. Fresh milk is soured using a starter culture of whey from the previous day’s cheese-making, then mixed with calves’ rennet to coagulate the milk into soft curds. These are broken into pieces and rested in warm whey for five hours before being placed in vats of boiling water. The pieces of curd are then stretched, either by hand or by using a stick, or in modern dairies by rotating stainless steel arms,

London is more than 1,000 miles from Campania, so finding truly fresh buffalo mozzarella is a challenge until the familiar elasticity is achieved. It is this process that creates the ‘pasta filata’ or ‘stretched’ curd that retains elasticity when cooked.

At the right moment – and only the cheese-maker knows when that arrives – the stretched curd is cut into pieces and formed into large balls, smaller balls (bocconcini) or even plaited like a young girl’s hair. Finally the almost-finished porcelain-white piece of dairy magic is immersed in brine to relax and soften.

And so to the tasting (see panel). I recruited deli-owner and cheese freak Charlie Turnbull along with farm shop owner Stefano Cuomo – half Italian, half English and creator of arguably the best Italian cheese counter in the UK – to join me after I’d spent an exhausting day trawling London in search of the best.

Several cheeses were sourced via the internet and through supermarkets.

The results prove two things beyond doubt. Firstly, the time Mozzarella di Bufala spends in transit from Italy means we Brits have been indoctrinated into believing the balls should be soft throughout. The two-day-old example from Laverstoke was spotted immediately by Stefano as the freshest of the lot and, having spent 10 glorious days in Sorrento just a couple of weeks prior to the tasting, it was the closest in texture to what I had tasted on holiday.

The second revelation was the wide variation in flavours, some clean, some hinting of yeast, others sweet with glorious acidity. In common with all the world’s great cheeses, none can ever be great every time. Cheese-making is an art dictated by nature – and nature is always unpredictable. But that’s half the fun.

TASTING NOTES: THE WHITE STUFF

Importer Stefano Cuomo (left) and cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull

Anglo-Italian retailer and importer Stefano Cuomo and top Dorset cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull joined Bob Farrand to blind-taste 15 premium mozzarellas from supermarkets, delis and top food halls. Here’s their verdict.

Waitrose: Caseficio Co-op La Contadina

Fortnum & Mason, London

goodcheese

CHOICE

“The outer crust is not as discernible as it should be. The cheese is one dimensional in texture. Flavour is fresh and pleasing, so it’s a shame the texture lets it down a little. We all got a ‘banana yogurt’ vanilla flavour.”

Waitrose: Garufalo Partridges, London: house brand “Almost meaty, Partridges’ house brand of mozzarella is full of balanced acidity, sitting in your mouth gloriously and giving a slightly salty, lactic finish. Texture still a little soft, but good.”

Selfridges, London: Delizie Alburnine ‘Alburna’ “There’s an interesting meatiness to this, but we think our example had broken down a little too much because of age. We were split on flavour: two thought it a touch too sour but the half-Italian among us thought it spot on.”

La Fromagerie, London: Caseificio Fratelli Di Lascio “With a soft, consistent mouthfeel, it’s difficult to get the difference in the outer crust and the soft inside textures. But it’s pretty and the flavour has good strength.”

Valvona & Crolla, Edinburgh: Colle Bianco “Quite wet, with almost no crust.

The inside texture varies, and there’s a sweet/sour taste with some length on the finish which is creamy-sweet.”

Morrisons “We were getting hints of caramel or toffee – almost cooked milk flavours.

The mouthfeel is good, the skin a touch thick, with good acidity.

Not unpleasant, but one of us felt it a little sour.”

“A very soft ball – the crust has broken down. There is a vanilla-cream flavour to this that is unexpected. There’s a touch of sharpness which we enjoyed but it lacks any meaty, yeasty, real buffalo notes.”

This gives rather than bounces when cut. Weeping slightly with a soft yeastiness on the nose. Some fruity notes with a hint of sweetness but the mouthfeel is too soft. It fails to excite. Not typical of buffalo mozzarella.

Harvey Nichols, London “This one was clearly breaking down badly: the outside was very soft and the mouthfeel all wrong – overly pappy. Flavour lost out as well.”

Turnbulls, Shaftesbury: Colle Bianco “Very soft texure – almost disintegrating. Spongy, with a flavour that is heavy, not pleasant. Some acidity and a little flavour but, overall, not a great eating experience.”

Laverstoke Park Farm, Hampshire “The texture is spot on and it delivers a long, lingering finish. Good mouthfeel but the flavour wasn’t quite clean. You have to chew this one which releases a challenging flavour without fruity sharpness.

Clearly very fresh and Stefano recognised this as Laverstoke’s British-made mozzarella because it was two or three days old at most.”

Harrods, London “Oozing well, but the ball had broken down in some areas and not in others. The mouthfeel not as satisfactory as it should be and the flavour is acidic, fruity, almost apple-y.

Almost certainly the age is the issue.”

Macknade Farm Shop, Kent: Dal Italia “A good texture that cut well with a firm crust. Good mouthfeel, although a touch dry on the finish – not oozing. Delivers a sweet/fruit flavour we didn’t wholly enjoy.”

M&S: Mandara “The outer crust has clearly broken down, affecting the mouthfeel which is so important for overall experience.

The flavour is good but reaches no real high.”

Tesco Finest “This is ‘your classic, soft English texture’. It’s not a disaster, though.

There’s a lot of vanilla on the nose and palate. A middle-of-the-road cheese, lacking real character.”

Macknade Farm Shop, Kent: Francia “A little bounce, good texture, it has more guts to it than some.

The flavour is quite different, unexpected and we were asking ourselves, ‘Is it buffalo?’”

goodcheese 2013-14

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goodcheese 2013-14

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biscuits for cheese

The crack squad Biscuits, crackers and bread all have their place on a good cheeseboard. Here’s a selection to sample.

If you fancy something a little softer with your cheeseboard then Karaway Bakery has just the thing. It range of rye breads is “full of flavour and character” and its Great Taste one-star dark rye with raisins & nuts is particularly well-suited to a ripe, creamy brie.

The bread, which looks like Italian biscotti when thinly sliced, is studded with raisins, hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, almonds, pistachios and brazil nuts. Loaves come as wholes (600g) or halves and are priced around £8 and £4 respectively. www.karawaybakery.com

McKenzie’s turns out a variety of biscuits at its Aberdeenshire bakery. These include traditional oatcakes in quarters, rounds and tubes as well as Scottish Savoury biscuits in original, thyme, rosemary, sesame, basil and celery flavours, which are available separately or in selection boxes. McKenzie’s also makes the unusually named Oval Alberts, which are baked to a unique recipe in a number of flavours and are ideal with a piece of cheese.

Rude Health’s new range of baked wholegrain Oatys can be eaten on their own or plunged into dips but they also excel when topped with cheese and chutney. In addition to the original Oaty, made with oats from Scottish farms, there are also varieties with with added rye and spelt. All three of these biscuits, which come in 200g boxes (priced around £1.95), picked up a one-star award in Great Taste 2013.

www.mckenzie-biscuits.com

www.rudehealth.com

Shropshire Purveyors is a new brand launched by Shropshire Fine Herbs in September 2013. The company says this range draws on all the experience it has gained making biscuits under the brands of a number of prestigious retailers, including La Fromagerie and Paxton & Whitfield. The 12-strong line-up comprises five classic savoury biscuits, three Mediterranean olive oil crackers, three varieties of hand-rolled knobbly breadsticks and the hand-thrown Shropshire Blue Uglies (sablés). All the products are expected to retail between £3.50 and £3.99 per pack. www.sfhbakery.com

Snap to it with Peter’s Yard Whether it’s the small ones for canapés or the larger gifting lines, Peter’s Yard’s authentic Swedish sourdough crispbreads come in several sizes and have a variety of uses. But the UK artisan bakery has added a new format specifically with the cheese course in mind. The producer says the traditional Scandinavian shape with a characteristic central hole should prove a talking point at the table and, more importantly, each one is the perfect serving size for a person sampling the delights of a cheeseboard.

Available at independent stores across the UK, the Peter’s Yard range is made to a traditional Swedish recipe using just five allnatural ingredients including wholewheat flours, fresh milk, honey and a naturally fermenting sourdough.

PATRICIA’S PICK: Peter’s Yard has teamed up with number of its stockists to put together cheeseboards that will work well with its popular crispbread. Cheese expert Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie in London, came up with this selection: the semihard, cows’ and goats’ milk Truffe Noire from Piedmont; the tangy, unpasteurised cows’ milk Devon Blue; the infamous Stinking Bishop from Charles Martell; bloomy rinded Coulommiers; and Almnäs Tegel, a washed-rind cheese from Sweden.

www.petersyard.com

goodcheese 2013-14

21

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 now achieving carbon neutral production.

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

PECORINO HEALTHY + TASTY BY ARGIOLAS FORMAGGI

A class of its own.

The award winning Gruyère Premier Cru and Emmental Premier Cru

Perfect cheese for those people who have cholesterol issues.

CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) helps stabilise cholesterol levels and in some cases lower it.

It also acts as an antioxidant by counteracting the action of free radicals.

A healthy and natural feeding of the sheep results in a milk production rich in CLA and Omega 3.

There’s no need to settle for second best when you can stock the eight times World Champion cave aged Premier Cru Gruyère and Emmental from von Mühlenen VON MÜHLENEN UK • c/o Paul Clarke • Badgers Barn St Mary’s Barns • Weeford • Staffordshire WS14 OPW T +44 (0)1543 480 484 • M +44 (0)7771 931 246 pclarke@vonmuhlenen.ch 22

goodcheese 2013-14

Tel: 0845 3697121 · Fax: 020 80433651 Email: info@villanovafood.com · www villanovafood.com

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spanish specialities

More than Manchego

A

against encroaching industrialisation, a pioneering survey by cheese saviours Mariano Sanz and Enric Canut catalogued the peninsula’s artisan cheeses, with researchers travelling at times by foot and horseback to reach isolated farmhouses.

The immense country has, in fact, an incredible wealth of top-class cheeses, almost as many as castles and as diverse as the country itself, each fashioned from a unique mix of geography, climate and culture.

The damp, green north-west, with its lush pastures, for example, is

“Our customers now expect to find various ages of the cheese, they know what Cabrales is, and so on” Shumana Palit, Ultracomida

cow and dairy country. In central and southern Spain, cheese tended to be made by shepherds from their herds of sheep and goats, but was historically second to the lucrative business of wool and meat production. The islands of both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic also produce amazing cheese: the Canaries hit the cheese-world headlines a few years ago when the World Cheese Awards crowned Queso Arico Curado Pimentón, made by the Sociedad Canaria de Formento, the 2008 world champion.

Spanish cheese has emerged

goodcheese 2013-14

Elenaburn/Dreamstime.com

sk your average English señor or señora the names of top Spanish cheeses and it’s as likely as an ace from Nadal the only one they will come up with is Manchego.

Well, perhaps not the only one – quite a lot of cheese lovers have at least heard of, even if they have not tasted, Idiazabal, Mahón and Cabrales. But, I’m willing to bet my sombrero that Manchego would be first on the list.

Up to a few decades ago, most Spanish cheeses were virtually unknown beyond their immediate location. However, as a defence

A lack of TV exposure and a shortage of large-scale producers have kept Spanish cheeses off many people’s radar. But as CLARISSA HYMAN writes, there’s a wealth of artisan varieties on the Iberian peninsula just waiting to be discovered.

23

spanish specialities

> from the shadows as a result of the promotion of regional culture, an embrace of Europe, the tourist boom and a once-growing economy, as well as the phenomenon of the neo-rurales – young, back-to-the-land cheese-makers –and, last but not least, the trail-blazing Spanish chefs who reinvented the art of restaurant cookery.

Problems remain – to increase domestic consumption, modernise without sacrificing integrity, improve marketing, distribution and export skills – but Spain has the potential to challenge France for the crown of artisan cheese-making.

So, why has it not happened?

According to Shumana Palit of Ultracomida, an importer and retailer with Spanish deli-restaurants in Aberystwyth and Narberth, it’s a combination of factors. “There is a long history in this country of eating French and Italian cheese. Spanish cheese doesn’t have the same base to build upon. Unlike the French, the Spanish don’t eat a great amount of cheese themselves and it features less in the cooking, but we’ve seen a huge change in customer knowledge and understanding.

“When people sample in an informed, specialist outlet, they are knocked out by the unique flavours and forget the cost”

Things have improved considerably, but the growth is in a niche market.

“It’s very hard to sell a cheese with special qualities and an interesting story in a supermarket environment, especially at a competitive price. Careful targeting is crucial. We find that when people sample in an informed, specialist outlet, they are knocked out by the unique flavours and forget the cost.”

The boom in tapas-style eating in Britain has certainly promoted the idea of fine Spanish cheese. As Monika points out, cheeseboards are taking centre stage in an increasing number of eating-out experiences, and Spanish cheese platters are a good introduction to those unfamiliar with anything other than an industrially-made Manchego.

The Spanish have a term for the last piece of food left on a plate, the one everyone politely refuses for fear of looking too greedy. They call it “la verguenza”, the shameful one. Given the quality of Spanish cheese today, the shameful thing would be to leave even a sliver of the top quality artisan cheeses that are increasingly putting Spain on the cheese connoisseur’s map.

Monica Linton, Brindisa

www.brindisa.com www.ultracomida.co.uk

want at the price they are prepared to pay, especially since sheep and goats’ milk is relatively expensive to process.

What they want doesn’t exist in Spain.”

She also notes that until fairly recently it was very difficult to get a guaranteed chill chain, and logistics were erratic. “Twenty years ago, when I first started importing, you couldn’t get things transported across Spain, never mind to England.”

“When we opened our deli in Wales in 2001, most people simply assumed we were Italian. At first, we had a mix of French, Spanish and Welsh cheese.

Now we have no French, a small amount of Welsh and the rest is all Spanish. Our customers now expect to find various ages of the cheese, they know what Cabrales is, and so on. Yes, it’s slow, it takes time, but things are improving.”

Shumana also points to the lack of a major celebrity champion. “There’s no Carluccio figure for Spain to really promote the produce. People have done bits, Rick Stein for example, but then he moved elsewhere.”

She also notes that although there are some really big producers in Spain, many cheeses have a tiny production base, just made by one person on one farm. That is either a USP or a drawback, depending on your point of view. The supermarkets certainly see it as the latter.

Monika Linton of Brindisa, the London-based specialist retailer and wholesaler, speaks from experience: “They always say they want to stock other Spanish cheeses, but they’re never going to get the quality they

RONCAL

MAHÓN

The first cheese in Spain to be awarded PDO status, this intensely flavoured ewes’ milk cheese comes from the Roncal Valley near the French border in Navarre using milk from the Lacha and Rasa breeds. The cheese has an ivory paste, smooth brown rind and a buttery, tangy, full flavour.

TORTA DEL CASAR

goodcheese 2013-14

CABRALES & PICON (PICOS DE EUROPA) These acclaimed, complex blue cheeses come from the heart of the Picos de Europa in Asturias and Cantabria.

Although often made purely from cows’ milk, the best is made from a mix of raw cows’ and sheep’s milk, and sometimes also with goats’ milk. The cheeses are ripened in humid limestone caves, similar to Roquefort. Traditionally they were wrapped in maple leaves; today it’s silver foil printed with pictures of leaves.

The result is still well-veined and tangy, with a pungent smell and spicy flavour that goes well with the intoxicating cider of the region.

PATACABRA SEMI-CURADO A semi-hard goats’ cheese (it means goat’s leg in Spanish) from Aragon, it is full-flavoured and perfect with membrillo and red wine. Sold by Ultracomida, it can be either soft and squidgy or dry and salty, but it melts beautifully – serve on toasted bread drizzled with honey.

TORTA DI TRUJILLO Sheep’s milk torta-style cheese made from raw milk and matured for 2 months. Soft, silky ivory paste and yeasty, woolly tones. Brindisa sources the cheese from Finca Pascualete, which also make Monte de Trujillo, hand-pressed and aged for 3 months with “lactic, farmyardy aromas and woody, walnut flavours”.

Brindisa

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The Sociedad Canaria de Formento, the award-winning co-operative of 50 partners, uses the thick, aromatic and high fat milk from Canary Island goats. The cheeses are dusted with paprika and gofio, a sort of ground cornmeal, while they mature.

Brindisa

Made in Extremadura, this was once only known to cheese connoisseurs in Spain, but has the potential to become one of the superstars of European cheeses. A quick-ripening, spring ewes’ milk cheese, it is tangy, runny and round. The rind acts as a container for the paste, which is soft enough to be scooped with a spoon.

QUESO ARICO CURADO PIMENTON Ultracomida

Another historic PDO cheese, Idiazabal, a ewes’ milk cheese from the Basque country, at one time would be heavily smoked as it hung to dry in farmhouse chimneys, but the taste is now for a lighter smoke or none at all. The small, ivory white cheeses are rich, buttery and delicious, with a hint of nuts and a smooth, compact paste and orangebrown rind.

Artisan varieties are much sought after, and prizewinning specimens can sell for serious money at local fairs.

Brindisa

Brindisa

IDIAZABAL

A hard, versatile raw cows’ milk cheese from Menorca. Best aged 6-8 months when it tastes tangy and works well either cooked or simply served with freshly ground black pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

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Miller Park, Station Road, Wigton, Cumbria CA7 9BA Tel/Fax: 016973 45974 Email: claire@claireshandmade.co.uk Web: www.claireshandmade.co.uk

Handmade sweet and savoury preserves and condiments Multi-award winning recipes made with all-natural ingredients A colourful array of products from traditional favourites to innovative specialities Powerful branding and packaging with comprehensive retailer support

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pickles & chutneys

A perfect pickle Whether it’s pickle for your ploughman’s or relish for your supper, our selection of accompaniments will add zest to your favourite cheese

Created by Hillside Speciality Foods’ chef Jay Allan to partner fullflavoured strong cheeses and blues, this celery pickle is said to be the only one of its kind. It comes in 200g jars (£3.45-£3.75) and was named Best of Savoury Preserves in the 2012 Taste of the West awards. This pickle also has preserves expert Pam Corbin’s seal of approval. “The distinctive and aromatic qualities of celery are captured, simply yet quite perfectly, by delicate sweetsour tones,” she says. “It’s just the right thing to serve with no end of our great British cheeses.” www.hillsidespecialityfoods.com

Renowned for its traditional, smallbatch preserves and chutneys, Cottage Delight is now developing combinations that have been specifically tailored to complement certain styles of cheese. The Leekbased producer, which is a partner of the Staffordshire Cheese Co, has two very different propositions for your cheeseboard that it says will provide a wealth of texture as well as tastes in perfect balance. Its Chutney for Strong Cheese (315g) combines ripened figs with sweet balsamic and lemon, while Chutney for Baked Brie (295g) fuses delicate pears and crunchy walnuts.

Both have an RRP of £3.10.

Those looking to add some spice to their cheeseboard might consider this date & tamarind chutney from Gujarati Rasoi, which has stalls at London’s Borough and Broadway Markets as well as a restaurant in Dalston. This product, which is based on an old family recipe passed through the generations, is described as an “evocative combination of tangy, sweet and spicy flavours found all over India”. A good match for cheddar, this Great Taste-winning accompaniment comes in 180g jars (£3.75 each).

London-based Love Jam Kitchen created its London Condiment for Cheese & Ham this summer, having won Golds at the last two instalments of The World’s Original Marmalade Festival held at the Dalemain Estate. The citrus-based condiment was inspired by Italian mostardo and is described as “a modern confit for a delicate palate”.

With ingredients including oranges, pears, fennel, raisins, cranberries and ginger, the product is well-suited to both hard and soft cheeses.

It comes in 125g (£3.45) and 227g £4.95) sizes.

www.gujaratirasoi.com

www.lovejamkitchen.com

Cartwright & Butler’s Yorkshire Chutney, made with freshly prepared pickles in a thick, secret recipe sauce, is ideal for chunky cheese sandwiches or with a ploughman’s. And if that sounds like it’s to your taste, you might as well get some biscuits and a board at the same time. The firm is offering a gift set (£31) featuring a 180g jar of the chutney, Wafers for Cheese with sea salt & cracked black pepper (75g), honey & mustard Cheese Wafers (75g) and a branded bamboo cheeseboard all packed into a hand-crafted wooden caddy. You can find more hampers and gift sets on Cartwright & Butler’s website.

www.cottagedelight.co.uk

www.cartwrightandbutlerhampers.com

If you’re seeking some esteemed and well-travelled company at your table then Henshelwoods has the credentials. Over the last eight years, it has racked up no fewer than 24 Great Taste awards. It was also an official supplier of condiments to the 2012 Olympics while Chutney for Cheese was served at golf’s Ryder Cup dinner and the Queen’s birthday party at the British Embassy in Tokyo. The producer says its new Scottish chutney is an ideal match for hard cheeses. All of its lines are all-natural, gluten-free and suitable for vegetarians. www.henshelwoodsfinefoods.co.uk

Cumbria’s Hawkshead Relish teamed up with fellow locals Hawkshead Brewery to come up with this “fragrant jelly”, which claimed three stars in Great Taste 2013. The citrusy high notes provided by the American hops in Windermere Pale Ale work well with a number of cheeses, including mature cheddar, Lancashire and Wensleydale. Jars are available online for £2.95 or you can find your nearest stockist through the website.

Name a style of cheese and Devon’s Otter Vale Products has the chutney to match it. The family-run producer says its Great Taste 2013 one-star apple chutney with Westcountry cider is great on a ploughman’s lunch.

Its best-selling Devon chutney, a combination of onion and pineapple, is ideal for cheddar while the pear & ginger chutney is just the thing with a blue. The Budleigh Salterton-based company also recommends brightening up a brie with its cranberry & red onion relish. All its products are gluten-free and made by hand. www.ottervaleproducts.co.uk

www.hawksheadrelish.com

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french & british bries

Can the Brits do brie?

Artisan-made and carefully matured, classic Brie de Meaux is unbeatable, but as BOB FARRAND discovers, the best of the Brits put some cheap French factory-made bries to shame

I

n 1935, Osbert Burdett described a brie in his Little Book of Cheese as “an invention in which beauty clearly has been preferred to vulgar convenience – a Royal circle, as if the cheese had instinctively adopted the form of perfection”.

Burdett argued a good camembert was only surpassed by brie’s ‘pluperfectness’, although in his day the cheese world was in a very different place. He noted: “Brie is made only in the north of France, a little east of Paris in the Department of Seine et Marne.”

Nowadays, brie is, quite literally, made all over the world, including most corners of the British Isles. Purists argue this is a bad thing while others enjoy the added diversity of flavours. But has familiarity bred an element of contempt as we find cheeses called ‘brie’ that bear little or no resemblance to the original?

To their credit, British bries rarely set out to mimic the French, preferring to avoid the intensely earthy, vegetalcreamy notes from across the Channel

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in favour of a rich buttercup-yellow paste that stubbornly remains chalky for much of its useful life. If and when the cheese finally matures, it offers unctuous, clotted cream-like textures and a flavour that’s a Channel’s width of difference from its French ancestry.

When I first moved into my village in Dorset back in 1995, the locals quickly learnt of my love of cheese and recruited me to give a tutored tasting in the village hall. I was pre-warned many locals preferred to avoid foreign cheeses (particularly anything French) so I devised a tasting programme comparing similar cheeses from both home and abroad. I didn’t tell them which was which, but asked which they preferred.

The results showed no particular preferences apart from the two bries, one English, the other French. The entire village spotted the French, dubiously referring to its “dirty farmyard” smells and flavours.

Other than the shape, homebred bries are a very different breed

To their credit, British bries rarely set out to mimic the French, preferring to avoid the intensely earthy, vegetal-creamy notes from across the Channel

of cheese and should be treated as such. Perhaps the mistake made by all cheese-makers outside France was calling theirs a brie in the first place.

Factory-made cheeses mostly yield single dimensional flavours, lacking depth and short on finish.

Bries made in large factories in France, which form the majority found in British supermarkets are as guilty of shortchanging us on flavour as are the worst examples found in Britain.

Artisan cheeses, no matter the origin, should deliver layers of complex flavours that linger on the palate right up to the moment you reach for a second piece, particularly when they’re made with skill and dedication.

Sniff the rind on a young brie and you get raw mushroom but the best examples develop vegetal notes of boiled cabbage – a sure sign the paste inside the crusty exterior is ready.

So off I set in search of the best and the worst of French and British bries and was prepared to be surprised. I’d heard rumours our brie makers have,

Will Coley (left), great-nephew of Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand, brings a younger palate to our brie tasting, alongside Good Cheese editor Mick Whitworth and cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull

Le Rustique Counter-cut from supermarkets and delis “A good looking cheese but not ripe – solid in the centre. We were getting some meaty, bacon aromas and flavour. This dies quickly, though.

Disappointing.”

Tasting Notes: best (and worst) of the bries Our brie panel blind-tasted 14 British and French bries. Here are the results, in order of preference, with French makers showing they can truly cover all the bases!

Fromagerie Rouzaire A counter-cut Brie de Meaux goodcheese “Pleasing on the CHOICE nose with a good consistency – almost gooey. Balanced and most interesting of the bunch, there is a clean, strong flavour that left us all wanting more.”

Renard Gillard Brie de Meaux

over the past decade, learnt their craft well and these days the results sit comfortably alongside the best the French have to offer.

For the tasting I needed to span the generations, so I recruited cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull, Good Cheese editor Mick Whitworth and a 14-year-old foodie, Will Coley, who works weekends in a local farm shop and was allowed a day off school recently to attend the Guild of Fine Food’s Retail Cheese Training course. He also happens to be my great-nephew! I was the token ‘oldie.’

Our tasting was conducted blind and was by no means exhaustive as we concentrated on varieties that include the word ‘brie’ in the title. There were two clear winners, with a possible third, and a couple of points became evident early in the tasting. Firstly, it is close to impossible to buy a perfectly ripe brie from a supermarket and secondly, all pre-packed bries suffer from being tightly wrapped. The best are cut fresh from the whole cheese.

Supplied whole, direct from the importer.

“We ripened this cheese for two days and when eaten it was creamy rich with interesting flavours – a touch of salt but not unpleasant. This has great character and is truly delicious.”

Co-operative Brie Pays (pre-pack) “Good, but not perhaps as powerful as we wanted. We expected a thicker rind. A pleasing cheese giving a balance of salt and sweetness but it needs more length on the finish.”

Waitrose Rouzaire Brie de Meaux (pre-pack) “Good nose, initially, with full-on cabbage aroma.

Interesting at first, with a gentle flavour that is eventually overtaken by an unpleasantness in the aroma. We think this is almost good but is somehow not revealing any greatness.”

St Endellion Available counter-cut from supermarkets and delis “Real fresh flavours, and creamy buttery notes.

Quite interesting, with a balanced finished. Might even get better with a little more maturation.”

Lanquetot

Dongé Brie de Meaux Available counter-cut from supermarkets and delis “Very mature – dripping, in fact – with a strong ammonia hit that burns.

We tasted a second piece that had not been out for as long, which was better but still had a touch of ammonia. A third sample was collected which was spot on: creamy, long on flavour and clearly the genuine article.”

Mild & Creamy by Lactalis Pre-packed from the Co-op and other supermarkets “Smells antiseptic.

Chewy with a slightly artificial, dusty rind. Very uniform in texture and the flavour is bland. ‘This is a stillborn brie,’ said our cheesemonger.”

Godminster Brie Pre-packed from delis and independents “Very thin – we don’t understand the shape, which is more like a flat camembert – but well ripened.

First hit is salt, and that’s really all we get out of it. Lacking other flavours.”

Waitrose Duchy Originals Trevarrian Cornish brie (counter-cut) “A ripe but firm centre which breaks up when cut. We got butter straight away, along with some lactic sourness. There is very little flavour – saturated fats for the sake of it.”

Llawnroc Brie

Counter-cut from Waitrose and other supermarkets “A touch of ammonia on the nose. Very ripe but it still has a slight chalkiness in the centre. There is some tanginess on the flavour but no real length.”

Counter-cut from supermarkets and delis “Good even maturation, but with a buttery rather than cheesey flavour – even the mouthfeel is like melting butter. The comment was, ‘You could spread this on bread and then add cheese for flavour.’”

Somerset Brie

President Brie

Sold prepacked in supermarkets and delis “Very typical of an English brie – cheesemonger Charlie Turnbull thought it had factory-made written all over it. Very buttery with little flavour, it doesn’t taste like a brie should.”

Pre-packs from various supermarkets and farm shops “There’s nothing unpleasant here – aside from the white mould growing on the cut edges, which looks weird – but it tastes of nothing and is completely pointless. A factory produced cheese that is as bad as it gets.”

goodcheese 2013-14

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storing & serving

Unsure how to store and present your cheese in peak condition? MICHAEL LANE asked cheese trade experts Tracey Colley and Henry Mackley to share their inside knowledge with GC readers.

Handle with care W

hether you’re serving cheese to customers in a fine food shop, to friends at a dinner party or just for supper with a plate of crackers, you’ll want to make sure your favourite varieties hit the plate at their best.

Sadly, we can’t all employ our own personal affineur (see pages 12-13) Cheese Cellar’s Tracey Colley and Ludlow Food Centre’s Henry Mackley

to deliver cheeses à point, but a bit of expert knowledge goes a long way.

In search of some professional advice, I met up with Tracey Colley, a former deli owner and now retail account manager at specialist distributor Cheese Cellar, at one of her top outlets: Ludlow Food Centre, on the Earl of Plymouth’s Oakley Park

Estate in Shropshire. Here, along with Ludlow’s resident cheesemonger Henry Mackley – responsible for an 80-strong range, including seven varieties made in the award-winning in-house dairy – we came up with some tips to enhance your enjoyment of fine cheeses.

Avoid a bad wrap Wax paper is the best material in which to store your cheese. “At home,” says Henry, “I either wrap cheese in greaseproof paper or loosely in tin foil – especially for blue cheese because foil lets a certain amount of air in. Treat blue cheese almost as a living thing.

Don’t suffocate it. Blue cheese that has been wrapped in cling film for too long has a very dead flavour.”

According to Henry, cling film is “the worst thing to wrap cheese in” but both he and Tracey feel it’s ok as a short-term measure if you are unwrapping cheese, cutting from it and re-wrapping it (in a fresh piece of film) regularly.

Keeping cool The perfect place to store your cheese

is in a traditional larder, says Henry – although, like most of us these days, he doesn’t have one at home.

“They’re the ideal places because they’re always built into a north-facing wall and are cool and damp by their nature,” he says. “I’d love to have a larder.”

Of course, the fridge will suffice – if you use it cleverly.

“Ditch the salad and all that kind of rubbish from the bottom drawer,” he says, “and store your cheese in there.

“It’s slightly warmer than the rest of the fridge, but only by a degree or two, and the humidity is more condensed.”

This is vital, adds Tracey, because cheese can easily dry out in fridges, whether it’s at home or in a deli.

Separation anxiety You might think of mould as the enemy of cheese, but far as both Henry and Tracey are concerned, you don’t have to segregate your blues from your cheddars.

If you leave blue cheese unwrapped alongside others for long enough, yes, you may get crosscontamination. But Tracey says: “I

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storing & serving

would just have all mine wrapped and on the same shelf.”

The risk that natural moulds could spread is “not a complete myth”, adds Henry. “On the deli here we have two separate cheese cutting boards – one for blue and one for others – because there can be a small amount of cross contamination, but I don’t think there’s a huge risk.”

Perhaps it’s more important to avoid taint from other strong flavours and aromas, especially a notoriously smelly cheese like the washed-rind Stinking Bishop, which has its lovers and haters.

“I wouldn’t store cheese next to a cut onion or anything garlicky,” says Henry. “Cheese sucks up other flavours like a sponge.”

Ripe and ready There will be times that you bring cheese home and find it’s under-ripe but Tracey urges you to be patient to optimise its taste and texture.

“Ripen it up slowly. Don’t put it by the oven or the radiator,” she says.

“Put it up a few degrees and do it gradually, using different positions in the fridge.”

Henry agrees that people should

be wary of the ‘just leave it on the radiator’ approach, especially with soft or raw milk cheeses.

“A lot of people think, ‘It’s a preserved product, so it’s completely safe’.

“You’d be doing well to get poisoned by a mature cheddar, wherever you’d been storing it, but certainly some of the rind-washed

a whole one at home? If you’re the sort of person that has a whole Parmesan at your house, then get them.”

The conclusion is that one traditional cheese knife is a pretty good all-rounder if you’re not looking to tool-up too heavily. “I do like a proper cheese knife with the jabby bits at the end,” Henry concedes. “I like to be able to slice and jab.”

In good company Biscuits? Chutney? Fruit? Do any of them have a place on the cheeseboard?

“For me it depends on the time of day,” says Henry. “At lunchtime, I can take my cheese with chutney. After There’s a vast range of implements to choose from but there’s nothing dinner? Absolutely not. It has to be wrong with the traditional cheese knife (centre) pure, naked cheese.”

There are some combinations that cheeses should definitely be stored work, though. Especially when sweet is the temperature up, but marble and in the fridge. I would always keep pitched against salty. Henry highlights slate keep it cold, which is not what you anything soft or unpasteurised in the cheddar & pickle sandwiches and the want.” fridge, too.”

Spanish predilection for membrillo A wooden board doesn‘t have to be Unsurprisingly, however, both (quince paste) with Manchego. fancy, says Henry. Olive wood is nice but experts are adamant cheese should be When it comes to biscuits, both any small wooden board will do. served at room temperature.

Tracey and Henry prefer plainer varieties “If I’ve got people coming round,” like oatcakes and digestives.

Sensitive slicing says Tracey, “I’ll put the cheeses out for “Sometimes I won’t even have the Everyone has their own etiquette a couple of hours while they come up biscuits – just slices of pear and apples when it comes to tucking into the to temperature, with a damp tea towel and use that as the biscuit,” says Tracey. cheeseboard. Tracey says the decent over the top.”

“I’d rather have my calories from the thing to do is to use a different knife cheese.” for each She adds: cheese. “Cut “There are so your piece of Wax paper many flavours cheese, put it is the best of in some on your plate, all wrapping cheese that then use your materials it’s sacrilege to own knife to put anything put it on the on it. But biscuits.” that’s only It’s bad for a personal the cheese opinion. Lots if you don’t of people like use separate lots of bangknives, adds Your fridge’s salad drawer offers the best Henry. “I temperature and moisture levels for cheese on flavours.” don’t want bits of Stilton landing on other cheese. I go bonkers Life extension when I find butter in the jam jar. This There’s a pretty simple solution if you is no different.” want to prolong the life of the cheese that’s left over after a dinner party.

“Always re-wrap in clean cling film or Chairman of the boards Choose your weapons wax paper,” says Tracey.

Slate might be the material of the There’s a medieval armoury of utensils What about freezing? “I never moment, but it’s not popular with either out there for splitting, slicing and recommend freezing cheese,” says of our experts. spearing cheese, but are they just Henry. “People come to me in Henry labels it too “1990s gastrogimmicks?

November and say ‘Will this be alright pub” and both cringe at the thought of “They’re not for show,” says Tracey. for Christmas if I freeze it?’ Well, not knives on the stone.

“They’re tools to do a job.” really. No.” Tracey adds: “Wooden boards are That doesn’t mean you need a One reason is that the structure of good for serving because they help bring full cheesemonger’s knife drawer at the cheese can be altered by freezing home, says Henry. “I use specialist so it may crumble once defrosted. If Parmesan knives here when I have a you can live with that, freezing is a huge Parmesan to cut up, good way to save cheese for cooking. but do people really have Our experts are unanimous about one thing. If you’ve bought good cheese, you probably won’t find the need to preserve it. You’ll just eat it there and then. www.ludlowfoodcentre.co.uk www.cheesecellar.co.uk

When it comes to looks and functionality, a wooden cheeseboard is our experts’ choice 32

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Hartington Cheese & Wine Co. is based at The Old Cheese Shop in Hartington and supplies trade customers throughout Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire and South Yorkshire. Over 350 cheeses available and many local to the area. All cheeses from the Hartington Creamery now in stock for wholesale, retail and online customers.

The Old Cheese Shop | Market Place | Hartington | Nr. Buxton | Derbyshire | SK17 0AL 01298 84935 | info@hartingtoncheeseshop.co.uk

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A promotional feature on behalf of Wyke Farms

Ageing beautifully T

here is a large wedge of truth in the old saying ‘age doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese’, and whilst many of the world’s great cheeses mature for 18 months and longer, only a few cheese-makers can claim to have been doing it for more than 150 years.

Not that Richard Clothier, MD of Wyke Farms, has personally been making cheese that long but that is the legacy left to him by his ancestors and his grandmother Ivy Clothier, who refined the family’s cheddar recipe to what it is today.

In the 1860s, when the Clothier family were first recorded making cheddar there were over 3,500 cheddar makers around the Mendip Hills in Somerset. Today you’ll struggle to find more than 10 and you’ll struggle even harder to find more than one still using the original recipe for cheddar making.

Richard says: “The technique for turning fresh, local milk into awardwinning cheddar has changed very little over the years, although modern technology relieves much of the real heavy work involved. But we still use Ivy’s same recipe.”

The milk is collected daily from

assured local farms where cows graze the lush Somerset pastures within a 15mile radius of the family farm at Wyke Champflower, near Bruton, where the cheese is made. All Wyke Farms’ cheeses are made in individual batches using modern production techniques that mean each one achieves a much greater consistency than was possible even 20 years ago, let alone in Ivy’s days.

It is this consistent quality that has earned the company several cabinets packed with trophies won at cheese competitions the length and breadth of the country and helped the business develop into the largest family-owned cheese-maker in Britain. But there’s no danger of Richard forgetting Ivy’s legacy.

The very best cheddar the company makes is meticulously graded throughout a slow maturation period of between 18 months and two years before it earns the right to be called Ivy’s Vintage Reserve. This is a premium cheese of the top order, still made using Ivy’s original recipe but the slow aging develops a wonderfully firm body, a smooth creamy texture that is pitted with the crunch of gorgeous calcium

lactate crystals and a flavour that is rounded and cleverly balanced between sweet and savoury for a long, lingering finish.

Richard refers to the cheese as a ‘special-occasion cheddar’ but then he would because until recently it was a specially made and long matured cheese reserved for family and friends.

It has more recently become something of a standard bearer abroad for everything that is great about British cheddar. Ivy’s Vintage is currently enjoyed in a total of 150 countries around the world, a little ironic considering Ivy herself never ventured abroad during her lifetime.

Pretty impressive for a family business where two grandsons, Richard and brother Tom, run the cheese-making along with father John while her two other grandsons, David and Roger, are in charge of the dairy farming.

All five have more recently demonstrated a deep commitment

to sustainable farming and currently lead the way in 100% self-sufficient green energy.

Electricity is generated from solar panels and their own anaerobic digester, using dairy waste, generates biogas. Even their local delivery vehicles run on electricity.

To savour top-drawer cheddar with a clean conscience (okay, so there are a few calories involved!) Ivy’s Vintage Reserve is the one of choice. Buy it cut fresh from good cheese counters or as a pre-pack. Visit www.wykefarms.com for more information on stockists.

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White Lake Cheese make a range of artisan cheese by hand on the farm. Our range includes Super Gold winning Rachel, Katherine, Driftwood (pictured), Tor and many others.

The LymeContact Bay Winery, Axminster, Devon EX13 7PW us: Shute, info@whitelake.co.uk Tel 01297 551 355 路 sales@lymebaywinery.co.uk

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vintage cheddars ‘Vintage’ is the word of the moment on supermarket cheddars, but does their taste match a well-matured farmhouse cheese?

CHARLES CAMPION has his doubts.

Growing old gracefully?

Y

ou can spot the savvy shoppers, those sensible people who block the aisle while they stop to read everything on the product labels.

Our thirst for information is now so great that there are even schemes about labelling schemes. Spotting the Red Tractor means that someone else has checked the product and its supply chain, tracing it back to a British farm; the Traffic Light scheme tries to boil down all that nutritional small print into something you do not need a university degree to comprehend.

Increasingly, the words and names attached to a product can have a disproportionate influence on sales.

The tussle over words and phrases

has always been particularly fierce when it comes to cheese. Unlike Britons, the French fight tooth and claw to hang onto their brand values – remember the legal dispute in the 1970s about whether British-made Babycham could call itself “the genuine champagne perry”? – and they guard their cheese names with equal ferocity.

In this vein, one of our biggest battles was lost many years ago.

Cheddar may have originated in the Mendips but with the rest of the world insisting ‘cheddaring’ is a process rather than referring to a geographical location, the floodgates opened.

Now cheddar cheese is made legitimately in Canada, Australia, New

It’s difficult to generalise simply on the basis of age as different cheeses mature at different rates

Multi-award-winning farmhouse producer Quickes regards its 24-month vintage cheddar as the jewel in its crown

Zealand, Argentina, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden.

In the spring of 2013 an analysis of the UK cheese market by Dairy Co (using Kantar Worldpanel figures) showed a whopping 99% of households bought cheese during the previous year, that we spent £2.7 billion on the stuff and that the average price of a kilo of cheese has been creeping up. It is currently £6.48.

Total cheddar consumption, at 226,459 tonnes, was much the same as the previous year. What has changed is the kind of cheddar we are buying: by volume, mild cheddar was down 13% but extra mature cheddar was >

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profile “best quality extra-mature cheddars”.

The texture is crumbly, and not in a good way. When tasted alongside the Quickes or Barbers 24-months it really is a case of chalk and cheese.

In an attempt to pin down what makes a cheese vintage or extramature I got in touch with Tesco. My questions were: “How does Tesco define a vintage cheese?” and “How old did a cheese have to be to qualify?” and I duly lodged them with the press relations team who promised to pass them on to the cheese buyer. Their answer? They never got back to me.

So just what does the term ‘vintage’ mean? It is obviously a useful marketing ploy – all those allusions to vintage wines and something old and special. Seriously Strong Vintage is at least matured for 18 months – even if you’d never know from the taste. But disturbing rumours abound that some block cheese-makers are being steered into producing cheddar that is specially formulated and can be sold as vintage without all that troublesome and expensive time and effort expended on

up 9.5%. Could it be that we are all preferring our cheese a little stronger?

Or is it more likely that the kind of cheese we call “extra mature” has changed?

The immediate problem for any lover of good cheese, particularly cheddar, is one of nomenclature: ‘mild’, ‘medium’, ‘mature’ and ‘extramature’ sounds like a sensible scale, but these terms are all subjective. There is no fixed tariff either for age or for flavour profile, and it is difficult to generalise simply on the basis of age as different cheeses mature at different rates.

Traditionally, a professional grader tastes the cheese (hopefully this worthy has a good palate and plenty of current experience) then describes a particular cheese as ‘mature’, but all these terms are very personal. Bemoaning the current trends in the cheddar market, Nick Hodgetts, something of a Worcestershire cheese guru, said wryly, “Medium is the new mature”, and it is true that many cheddar producers are sliding towards sweeter cheeses.

The exceptions to this trend are those market cheese stalls where even the ‘medium’ takes a pride in being so acidic it burns the roof of your mouth.

Here, in the murky world of dodgy cheddar bought and sold at a discount, the scale may be ‘mild’, ‘tasty’, ‘extra 40

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tasty’ and ‘dynamite’. The underlying principle is to describe the cheese in whichever way is best for sales and if that means implying a cheese is

unreasonably strong, or particularly old when it isn’t, then so be it.

Currently one of the buzzwords in the business is ‘vintage’ and at the same time it is one of the most abused.

For a traditional cheddar maker, a vintage cheese should have a deep complexity and flavours that are well balanced. Less emphasis on high notes, less acidity, some umami flavours and perhaps a hint of caramel sweetness.

A good example is Quickes Vintage, which sales manager Tom Chatfield describes as the “crown jewels” of this traditional producer’s portfolio.

This cheese is typically 24 months old and the cloth-bound truckles are first set aside for further maturing at 12 months. The cheese is made using traditional starters, and any calcium lactate crystals in the finished product are nature’s work rather than coming from the judicious manipulation of Helveticus starter cultures.

Barbers 1833 Vintage Reserve deserves a mention too. From one of the biggest PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) West Country Farmhouse Cheddar makers, it’s a complex cheese with a long, savoury finish, that shows you don’t have to be pint-size to produce something worthy of that ‘vintage’ tag.

Fast forward to a Tesco aisle and to a pack of Seriously Strong Vintage Cheddar, made by McLelland.

According to the brand’s website, Seriously Strong Vintage is “matured for a minimum of 18 months”. The on-pack blurb tells us: “Cheese may have a white coating and contain small white crystals of Calcium Lactate. These are produced naturally as part of the maturation process and are typically found in the best quality extra-mature cheddars”.

Eighteen-months-old it may be, but for me, this cheese disappoints – there isn’t the depth of flavour you would expect if you were tasting those

When you buy a particularly old farmhouse cheddar, matured with care for 18-24 months, you can be sure that you’re getting a cheese with real character” traditional lengthy maturation.

It is said that if you make your cheese using Helveticus-style starters (to deliver sweetness and plenty of crunchy crystals) and then mature them briefly under special conditions (a good deal warmer than in a traditional cheese store) you can make a so-called vintage cheddar in a matter of months rather than years. What is more, as the term vintage has no fixed definition it is very hard for the local trading standards office to intervene.

It is a fair bet that when the average cheese lover buys vintage cheddar he or she is making the assumption that they are buying an older cheese and that by buying “older” cheese they will get a better cheese and a better flavour.

These people have good grounds to feel that they have not been told the whole truth about the products they are buying.

When you buy a particularly old farmhouse cheddar, matured with care for 18-24 months, you can be sure that you’re getting a cheese with real character. What’s more, with classical cheddars most shops will give you a taster, and then you can trust your own palate. Whether you declare a vintage is up to you! www.dairyco.org.uk www.charlescampion.com

ucer Small Artisan Prod

of the Year

CORLEGGY CHEESES are award winning Irish Artisan Farmhouse cheeses, handmade from wholly natural ingredients, in the traditional time-honoured way.

CORLEGGY Goats Cheese – the aroma and taste strike a perfect balance between rich and mild. The rind is natural & edible and very flavoursome. Most recently awarded Great Taste 3 star.

CREENY Sheep Cheese – at 2 months this is a mild cheese but as it matures up to 12 months it becomes a very sharp cheese indeed. This year awarded a gold medal at the Irish Cheese Awards.

DRUMLIN Cow’s Cheese – the Drumlin range includes; Traditional, Garlic, Cumin, Green Peppercorn and Beechwood Smoked. Gold Medal winner at the Irish Cheese Awards 2013.

PORT JELLY – for the cheeseboard we have developed an accompaniment that is: “Delicious and crystal clear with a good depth of flavour” according to judges who also praised the balance of sweetness and alcohol. A Great Taste 2013 Top 50 winner. www.facebook.com/corleggy | Twitter: @corleggycheeses

www.corleggycheeses.com

Love Wensleydale Cheese… make sure it’s from Yorkshire!

Not all cheeses bearing the Wensleydale name are actually produced in Yorkshire! By stocking Yorkshire Wensleydale your customers can be assured that they are buying an authentic product, traditionally handcrafted with integrity in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.

Application Pending (Nov 2013)

www.wensleydale.co.uk goodcheese 2013-14

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recipe ideas

Swish dishes Try these inspirational light snacks and satisfying main meals from eight great chefs and food writers Michel Roux Jnr

“Properly made with béchamel sauce, this classic French toasted ham & cheese sandwich is a delight,” says the Michelinstarred chef and MasterChef presenter, “but it is all too easy to find disappointing versions. Try preparing your own to enjoy the croque in its full glory.”

SERVES 4 Ingredients 8 slices of good sourdough bread 2 tbsp unsalted butter 1 tbsp plain flour 400ml milk Freshly grated nutmeg Dijon mustard 280g grated cheese (a mixture of Emmental, Gruyère and cheddar is good) 160g good-quality, sliced ham Salt Black pepper

Red Onion Tart Tatin, Goats’ Cheese & Dandelion Sauce Mat Follas

“This is a delicious dish balancing the wonderful savoury and sweet flavours of a roasted red onion tart with salty and bitter flavours from a goats’ cheese and dandelion sauce,” says Mat.

Cristian Barnett

Croque Monsieur

Method Lightly toast the bread on both sides, then butter one side of each slice. To make the béchamel sauce, melt the remaining butter in a small pan, stir in the flour to make a roux, then whisk in the milk. Keep whisking it well to avoid lumps and bring to the boil. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and cook for 3-4 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/Gas 6. Spread a little mustard on the buttered side of a piece of toast.

Add a generous amount of béchamel, followed by grated cheese and a slice of ham. Spread more béchamel on the dry side of another piece of toast and place on top of the ham, pressing a little to stick it down. Spread a little more béchamel on top of the sandwich and sprinkle with grated cheese.

Place sandwiches on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 6–8 minutes until crisp and golden.

• Recipe from The French Kitchen, published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in hardback, £25

SERVES 6 Ingredients 2 large red onions 50g butter 50g brown sugar 100ml balsamic vinegar Salt 1 roll butter puff pastry 1 egg

100g Brock Hall Farm Pablo Cabrito goats’ cheese 100ml double cream 2 dandelion leaves Method Carefully peel the red onions and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces.

Place in a saucepan with the butter and a pinch of salt and cook on low until the onion is translucent. Add the brown sugar and

balsamic vinegar and continue cooking on low until the liquid is reduced to a thick syrup. Allow to cool.

Divide the the onion mixture into six and put each portion in a non-stick muffin tray. Cut a round of puff pastry and cover each one, pressing the pastry around the onion mixture to seal.

Quickly whisk an egg and brush over the pastry.

Bake at 200°C for approx 10 minutes until the pastry has risen and is golden.

While the tarts are roasting, gently warm the goats’ cheese and cream together, add finely chopped dandelion leaves to taste and whisk gently to form a smooth, creamy sauce.

To serve turn out the tarts (I use a dessert spoon to get them out of the trays) then drizzle over the cheese sauce and dress the plate with some salad leaves.

The dish also holds well for several days if you bake till the pastry is just cooked then reheat in the oven for about 5 minutes.

• After winning the 2009 MasterChef title, Mat Follas went on to achieve two AA Rosettes at his own The Wild Garlic restaurant in Dorset. He is a regular judge at Great Taste and the World Cheese Awards.

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Burrata, Pickled Beetroot & Rhubarb Florence Knight

“Mozzarella can be tasteless and rubbery,” says the chef variously described as ‘cooking’s new golden girl’ (The Observer) and ‘the new kitchen goddess’ (Daily Mail).

“Not even buffalo mozzarella compares to burrata, which is softer, moister and creamier and so can carry big flavours like pickles.

Burrata is an exquisite ingredient to work with and I never take it off the menu. It pairs well with so many ingredients, from pink stripey Chioggia beetroot and celeriac in the winter to broad beans and peas in the summer and even rhubarb and beetroot in autumn. I love it.”

MAKES 8 SMALL PLATES Ingredients For the pickled beetroot & rhubarb: 1 large Chioggia or ordinary beetroot 2 sticks of champagne rhubarb 300ml white wine vinegar 125ml water 150g caster sugar 1 clove 1 bay leaf 2 x 250g burrata Fruity extra virgin olive oil

• Recipe from ONE: A Cook and her Cupboard

by Florence Knight, published by Saltyard Books.

Jason Lowe.

Method Peel the beetroot bulb, slice the whole beetroot very thinly with a mandolin and set aside in a bowl.

Trim the rhubarb, discarding the white leafy top and dry end, and cut into 5cm sticks. Place the sticks in a separate container.

Put the vinegar, water, 100g of sugar, clove and bay leaf into a small pan over a low heat and stir to help dissolve the sugar.

Once the sugar has dissolved, remove half of the liquor and cool it in a separate container. If you pour the liquor over the beetroot when it’s hot, the coloured ring of the Chioggia leaches into the white flesh so you lose the stripy effect.

Now add the extra 50g of sugar to the remaining half of the liquor and simmer again until it has dissolved.

Bring to the boil then pour it over the rhubarb sticks. Cover tightly with foil or cling film and set aside in a warm place for 30 minutes to an hour until the rhubarb sticks are tender but not falling apart.

Once the other half of the liquor has lowered to room temperature, pour it over the sliced beetroot and leave for 20-30 minutes. Tear each burrata into quarters and divide between the plates, making sure everyone gets an even amount of gooey centre. Spoon over the rhubarb and beetroot with a little of the pink pickling liquor and a dribble of a fine fruity olive oil.

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Traditional cheese handcrafted on the family farm

From our family farm in West Limerick, we produce a range of handcrafted, artisan, award winning cheeses, including: Cahill’s Original Irish Porter Cheddar, Cahill’s Irish Whiskey Cheddar with Kilbeggan, Cahill’s Ardagh Red Wine Cheddar.

The cornerstone of our business is that each cheese is individually made and handcrafted thus retaining the subtlety of flavour that is invariably absent from the mass produced product.

T: +353 6962365 E: info@cahillscheese.ie

www.cahillscheese.ie

Dorset

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 44

goodcheese 2013-14

Con Poulos

recipe ideas

Black Fig, Ricotta, Jamon Iberico & Cobnuts with Port & Fig Jam, Honey Lemon Dressing Koj

American-Style Cheese Biscuits Gordon Ramsay Described by Gordon Ramsay as “incredibly more-ish”, these biscuits look more like scones as they start to rise in the oven. However, rich with cream, they flatten slightly during cooking and end up with “a delicious chewy, crumbly texture and an intense cheesy taste”.

MAKES 12 Ingredients 375g plain flour 1½ tbsp baking powder 2 tsp sea salt flakes Freshly ground black pepper 100g extra mature cheddar cheese, grated 600ml double cream 30g butter, melted Method Preheat the oven to 160ºC/Gas 3. Line one or more baking sheets with baking parchment.

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, add the salt and a good grinding of pepper, then stir in the cheese. Make a well in the middle, pour in the cream and stir gently with a wooden spoon, mixing until a dough forms.

Turn the dough on to a lightly floured work surface and knead gently for a few seconds. Don’t overwork it or the dough will not rise.

With a lightly floured rolling pin and work surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 2cm. Using a 6cm cutter, stamp out 12 circles, dipping the cutter in flour between each cut so that the dough is easier to remove.

Place the circles on the prepared baking sheet(s), spacing them at least 2cm apart as they will spread during cooking. Set aside to rest on the tray for 10 minutes before baking.

Brush the top of the biscuits with melted butter and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown and well risen. Transfer to a wire rack and serve warm or cold.

Mushroom, Camembert & Membrillo Wellingtons Emma Macdonald

“The intensely fruity, ruby-red membrillo, or Spanish quince paste or ‘cheese’, is perfect combined with melting camembert in these individual baked filo pastry parcels,”says Emma Macdonald, co-founder of award-winning fine food producer The Bay Tree. “Use a camembert that is just ripe so that it melts but doesn’t run away during baking.”

SERVES 4 Ingredients Olive oil, for greasing and brushing 4 large portobello or field mushrooms, about 250g total weight 2 x 150g camembert cheeses 4 tbsp membrillo 6 sheets of filo pastry, each about 48cm x 25cm 40g butter, melted Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper New potatoes and green salad, to serve Method Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5 and lightly oil a large baking tray.

Brush both sides of each mushroom

Ingredients 8 black figs 50g ricotta 50g Jamon Iberico 30g lambs’ lettuce 20g cobnuts 250ml ruby port 100g caster sugar ½ vanilla pod 1 anise ½ cinnamon stick 50ml extra virgin olive oil 20 ml juice, freshly squeezed 20 ml clear honey A pinch of sea salt A pinch of black pepper Method Place the port, sugar, vanilla, anise and cinnamon in a pot. Bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar, then reduce by half until syrupy. Remove the spices, then roughly chop 3-4 figs into the syrup.

Blend to a purée with a hand blender, then pass the purée through a sieve. Discard the seeds and funnel the fig and port jam into a squeezy bottle Combine the lemon juice with the olive oil and honey to make a dressing.

Cut the remaining figs (one per person) into four, five or six pieces (depending on size), place in a roasting tin with a drizzle of honey, pinch of with olive oil and put them cap-side down on a plate. Season with salt and pepper. Using a sharp knife, slice the rind off the top and the bottom of the camembert; you can leave the rind around the sides. Cut each camembert in half crossways to give 4 pieces.

Put a piece of camembert on top of each mushroom and top with a tablespoonful of the membrillo. Leave to one side.

Cut each sheet of filo in half vertically. Place three halves of filo on top of one another, brushing each layer with a little melted butter. Keep the remaining filo covered with a damp kitchen towel to prevent it drying out.

Sit the stuffed mushroom in the centre and draw up the corners of the filo to meet in the middle and make a parcel.

Twist the top of the filo to seal and brush the parcel with more butter.

Repeat with the remaining stuffed mushrooms and filo.

Place the mushroom Wellingtons on

salt and pepper, and lightly roast for five minutes at 150°C. Arrange the figs around the plate, then tear pieces of jamon on top.

Use the tip of a teaspoon to scatter ricotta around the plate. Place pieces of lambs’ lettuce in the gaps, and squeeze dots of fig and port jam in any remaining gaps.

Add black pepper to the ricotta, then shave the cobnuts on top. Drizzle the lemon dressing on the leaves and around the plate.

• A popular finalist in MasterChef 2012, whose style reflects his BritishJapanese heritage, Andrew Kojima is a freelance chef, food writer, cookery teacher and Great Taste judge. the prepared baking tray. Bake for 25–35 minutes until the filo is golden and crisp. Leave to cool slightly to allow the camembert to firm up before serving with potatoes and salad.

• From The Bay Tree Home Deli Recipes by Emma Macdonald, published by Duncan Baird.

Toby Scott

• Recipe from Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking, published by Hodder & Stoughton.

“This recipe has its roots in one I devised for MasterChef,” says Andrew ‘Koj’ Kojima, “but I’ve made it prettier and improved the balance of sweetness of the figs, the saltiness of the ham and the fresh, citrus, creaminess of the ricotta. I have sometimes used Pablo Cabrito and Fresco Angelico – both from Sarah Hampton at Brock Hall Farm – in place of ricotta.”

“It’s a decadent, distinctly autumn dish, perfect as a light starter before something heavier – possibly game. I like it because it can be pretty but, apart from making a fresh fig and port jam, it’s very light on prep.”

He adds: “You can also use Serrano ham, rather than the Iberico I prefer, if you want something a little cheaper!”

SERVES 4

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recipe ideas

Darina Allen

Ireland’s best known chef and cookery teacher is spoiled for choice when it comes to Irish goats’ cheeses. “We use Ardsallagh goats’ cheese,” she writes in her latest book, celebrating three decades

at her family’s Ballymaloe Cookery School. “St Tola from Inagh in Co Clare is also heaven, as is Gortnamona from Cooleeney farm in Co Tipperary and Corleggy from Co Cavan.

“We bake this soufflé until golden and puffy in a shallow oval dish instead of the traditional soufflé bowl. It makes a perfect lunch or supper dish. Little individual bowls are also perfect as a starter. Reduce the cooking time accordingly.”

Matt Russell

Ardsallagh Goats’ Cheese & Thyme Leaf Soufflé

SERVES 6 Ingredients 75g butter, plus extra for greasing 300ml double cream 300ml milk A few slices of carrot 1 small onion, quartered 4–5 black peppercorns A sprig of thyme, a few flat-leaf parsley stalks and a little scrap of bay 40g plain flour 5 organic eggs, separated 110g Ardsallagh goats’ cheese, crumbled 75g Gruyère cheese, finely grated 50g mature Coolea or Parmesan, finely grated Good pinch of salt, cayenne, freshly ground black pepper and nutmeg 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves Lots of thyme flowers, if available Green salad

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara Gino D’Acampo

There’s no cream in an authentic Italian carbonara, says the TV chef, who also suggests using fettuccine or bucatini as a substitute for the more usual spaghetti.

SERVES 4 Ingredients 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 3 tbsp unsalted butter 250g diced pancetta 4 eggs 6 tbsp freshly grated Pecorino cheese 4 tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 500g spaghetti Salt and black pepper to taste

Method Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8.

Brush the bottom and sides of a 30cm shallow oval dish (not a soufflé dish) or six individual wide, rimmed soup bowls with melted butter.

Put the cream and milk into a saucepan, add the carrot, onion, peppercorns and fresh herbs. Bring slowly to the boil, and then set aside to infuse for 10 minutes. Strain, discarding the flavourings (we rinse them off and throw them into the stockpot if there is one on the go).

Melt the butter, add the flour and

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cook for a minute or two. Whisk in the strained cream and milk, bring to the boil and whisk until the sauce thickens. Cool slightly. Add the egg yolks, goats’ cheese, Gruyère and most of the Coolea or Parmesan (reserving some for the topping). Season with salt, cayenne, freshly ground pepper and nutmeg. Taste and correct the seasoning.

Whisk the egg whites stiffly and fold them gently into the mixture to make a loose consistency. Spoon into the prepared dish, scatter the thyme leaves over the top and sprinkle with the

reserved Coolea or Parmesan.

Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes (or 9-11 minutes for individual soufflés) or until the sides and top are nicely puffed up and golden – the centre should still be creamy. Garnish with thyme flowers.

Serve immediately with a good green salad.

• Recipe from 30 Years at Ballymaloe by Darina Allen. Published by Kyle Books, priced £30

Method Heat the oil and butter in large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the pancetta for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and crispy.

Set aside.

Whisk the eggs and half the cheese in a bowl. Add the parsley and plenty of black pepper. Set aside.

Cook the spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water until al dente.

Drain well and tip it back into the same pan.

Tip the contents of the pancetta pan into the pasta, then pour in the egg mixture. Mix everything together for 30 seconds with a wooden spoon.

The heat from the pasta will be sufficient to cook the egg to a creamy coating.

Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately with the remaining cheese sprinkled on top.

• Recipe from Gino’s Italian Escape by Gino D’Acampo, published by Hodder & Stoughton.

Gubbeen Cheese Gubbeen Farmhouse Products, Ltd., Gubbeen House, Schull, Co. Cork.

Ireland. www.gubbeen.com T: 00 353 28 28231 F: 00 353 28 28609

Award Winning organic sheep milk cheeses made on the farm in Sussex, which include; Little Sussex, Duddleswell, Sussex Slipcote, and Halloumi, from Goat milk; Sister Sarah, and from cow’s milk; Saint Giles, Ashdown Foresters and our new Brighton Blue

Saint Giles

ss

Traditional Foods from Gubbeen Farm, a combination of Tradition and Taste.

Little Sussex

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Smoked Ashdown Forester

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Please contact the Dairy for further information.

High Weald Dairy, Tremains Farm, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex RH17 7EA. Tel: 01825 791636, email: info@highwealddairy.co.uk www.highwealddairy.co.uk

Traditionally made cheeses from Shetland, including our award-winning Soothe Mooth, Caraway flavoured Shetland Carvy or St Ninian’s soft cheese

For more information please contact Jay Hawkins on 01595 860 202 or info@shetlandcheese.co.uk www.shetlandcheese.co.uk goodcheese 2013-14

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Goat Hill

TASTE AN AWARD WINNING GOAT CHEESE FROM SLOVAKIA

Visit us at BBC GOOD FOOD SHOW WINTER, Hall 6, Shell E20 We are looking for distributors in the UK and abroad call +421 2 5465 4422 or email at sales@kozivrsok.sk Address: Leonteus ltd., Ventúrska 3, 811 01 Bratislava, Slovakia

www.kozivrsok.sk

Our range of artisan goats cheese is now available to buy online.

Made naturally by hand using milk from our free to roam pure-bred Saanen herd, the range includes Dutch Mistress, winner of three Great Taste stars and listed in the Top 50 Foods in Great Britain. Visit

Azeitão cheese is made with raw sheeps’ milk, salt and thistle flowers; a small semisoft cheese, washed and matured for at least 20 days to develop its yellow rind. Buttery, creamy and smooth in texture, the cheese comes in 100g or 250g sizes.

Fernando & Simões – Queijaria Artesanal, LDA., Portugal T: +351 212 881 363 | F: +351 212 881 752 | E: geral@fernandoesimoes.com 48

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more. Available from Paxton & Whitfield and Cheese Cellar.

directory of retailers

Where to buy good cheese NORTH OF ENGLAND All Things Nice 48-50 Market Street, Marple, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 7AD 0161 427 2222 www.allthingsnicedeli.co.uk This Marple deli carries a selection of both British and Continental varieties, including old favourites such as Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire, Colston Bassett Stilton, Comté and Premier Cru Gruyère. It also has a wide range of cracker and chutneys.

Berry’s Farm Shop & Café Swinithwaite, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 4UH 01969 663 377 www.berrysfarmshop.com Based in the heart of Wensleydale, Berry’s offers a selection of Yorkshire & British cheeses, rare breed meats and produce from in and around the Yorkshire Dales.

Country Harvest Ingleton, Lancashire LA6 3PE 01524 242 223 www.country-harvest.co.uk This food hall and deli-café stocks mainly British cheeses, specialising in varieties from the three counties on its doorstep: Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cumbria.

Deli at Number 4, 4 Beaumont Street, Hexham, Northumberland NE46 3LZ 01434 608 091 www.deliatnumber4.co.uk This deli carries all the local Doddington and Northumberland Cheese favourites such as Nettle and Admiral Collingwood. Its range also features a variety of British and Continental cheeses, from Wookey Hole cheddar to Norwegian Gjetost.

Delifonseca Dockside Brunswick Way, Brunswick Quay, Liverpool L3 4BN 0151 255 0808 www.delifonseca.co.uk Delifonseca Dockside’s cheese counter packs in a wide range of local classics, such as Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire and Appleby’s Cheshire, and some of the newer UK artisan cheeses.

Europe is amply represented with champions such a Von Mühlenen Gruyère, Roquefort Troupeau and a good selection from affineur Hennart including its classic Brie de Meaux.

Fine Food Theatre (Dickens of a Deli) 16 Market Place, Malton, N Yorks YO17 7LX 01653 696563 @dickensofadeli Choose from locals such as Harrogate Blue from Shepherds Purse, Lowna Dairy goats’ milk cheeses and Northumberland Coquetdale as well as those from further afield like Two Hoots’ Barkham Blue and the full range of Godminster-branded cheeses. The shop also makes its own organic sourdough bread.

Godfrey C Williams & Son Corner House, 9-11 Market Square, Sandbach CW11 1AP 01270 762 817 www.godfreycwilliams.co.uk A family-run business since 1875, this Sandbach deli has an “extensive” selection of British & Continental varieties, including speciality blended cheeses made by owner

David Williams. This multi-award-winning shop also sells bespoke hampers, gift packs, cheeseboards and accessories.

Keelham Farm Shop Brighouse and Denholme Road, Thornton, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD13 3SS 01274 833472 www.keelhamfarmshop.co.uk Named Best Independent Retailer in The Observer Food Monthly Awards 2013, Keelham Farm Shop’s Yorkshire deli has a wide selection of local and regional cheeses alongside some great international favourites.

Liverpool Cheese Co Woolton Village, Liverpool 29a Woolton Street, Woolton Village, Liverpool L25 5NH 0151 4283942 www.liverpoolcheesecompany.co.uk This award-winning cheesemonger sells a large range of cheese and accompaniments online and from its original shop in an old Grade II listed dairy in Woolton. The company also offers a cheese wedding cake service.

Manor Farm Shop Hutton Cranswick, Driffield, East Yorkshire, YO25 9PQ 01377 271038 manorfarmshop@hotmail.co.uk In keeping with its local food offer, this familyrun farm shop specialises in Yorkshire and British cheeses. It is open seven days a week.

The Cheeseboard 1 Commercial Street, Harrogate, HG1 1UB 01423 508 837 www.thecheeseboard.net One of the most respected purveyors of cheese in the region, The Cheeseboard stocks over 200 cheeses, including a wide range of local varieties.

The Cheese Deli @ Fond Ewe 9 Packhorse Court, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 5JB 01768 773 377 www.keswickcheesedeli.co.uk This deli in the heart of the Lake District stocks over 90 cheeses, including locally produced artisan beauties from Appleby Creamery and Thornby Moor. Always keen to source locally, it has a large range of local chutneys, jams, pates, honey, and gifts.

The Cheese Hamlet 706 Wilmslow Road, Didsbury, M20 2DW 0161 434 4781 www.cheesehamlet.co.uk This small specialist prides itself on its product knowledge and its filled with “delights from around the world”, including over 200 English & Continental cheeses.

Urban Pantry 227 Crookes, Sheffield S10 1TE 0114 327 0792 www.urbanpantry.co.uk The Urban Pantry says it has lots of cheese to tempt customers’ taste buds from Yorkshire, all over the UK and more. There’s also plenty of choice when it comes to accompaniments.

MIDLANDS Capers 10 High St, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 1BG

01386 556 342 www.capersfinefoods.co.uk This Pershore-based retailer stocks a wide range of local and speciality cheeses and also supplies cheese celebration cakes.

This Nottingham deli-café stocks over 150 British cheeses including local favourites, like Stilton and Lincolnshire Poacher, as well as a wide range of sheep and goat cheeses that it says you will find irresistible.

Cheese on the Green 27 The Green, Bilton, Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7LZ 01788 522 813 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 gift ware.

The Melton Cheeseboard 8 Windsor Street, Melton Mowbray, Leicester LE13 1BU 01664 562 257 www.meltoncheeseboard.co.uk Two local Leicesters and Stiltons, specially matured and selected from Long Clawson Dairy and Cropwell Bishop Creamery, are among the 130 cheeses in stock here.

Gonalston Farm Shop Southwell Road, Lowdham, Nottinghamshire, NG14 7DR Tel: 01159 665666 www.gonalstonfarmshop.co.uk A previous Le Gruyère Cheese Counter of the Year winner, Gonalston’s counter features around 100 hand-crafted cheeses, including a selection of local Stiltons, ewes’ and goats’ milk cheeses. It also sources cheeses from all over Europe as well as just round the corner.

SOUTH WEST

Greenfields Farm Shop Station Road, Donnington TF2 8JY 01952 677 345 www.greenfieldsonline.co.uk Greenfields likes to offer a range of local and Continental selections but makes sure there is always something new to try. It stocks locally made crackers and chutney and freshly baked bread to go with your cheese.

Hartington Cheese & Wine Co The Old Cheese Shop, Market Place, Hartington, Derbyshire SK17 0AL 01298 84935 www.hartingtoncheeseshop.co.uk Open seven days a week, The Old Cheese Shop in Hartington stocks over 120 English cheeses, including those made at its own creamery in the Parish of Hartington, Derbyshire. It can supply wedding cheese cakes, corporate gifts and hampers countrywide. It also offers a range of English wines, local beers, chutneys, biscuits and gifts.

Ludlow Food Centre Bromfield, Ludlow SY8 2JR 01584 856 000 www.ludlowfoodcentre.co.uk With 80% of its products coming from its locale and 50% made in-store, Ludlow Food Centre carries around 80 cheeses. Seven of those are made from its own herd including Ludlow Blue, camembert-style The Cheese with No Name, and the traditional blue Remembered Hills.

R P Davidson Cheese Factor 10 The Market Hall, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 1AR 01246 201203 www.cheese-factor.co.uk This shop in Chesterfield town centre sells more than 150 varieties of English and Continental cheese as well as Derbyshire oatcakes, sandwiches and drinks. Simon, the proprietor, is also a director of the Hartington Creamery so the business covers retail, wholesale and cheese-making.

The Cheese Shop Nottingham 4 Flying Horse Walk, St Peters Gate, Nottingham, NG1 2HN 0115 941 9114 www.cheeseshop-nottingham.co.uk

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 as well as many local products including cured meats, oils, breads, preserves, honey, cider and vegetables.

Also offers bespoke hamper making service.

Chandos Deli 121 Whiteladies Road, Clifton BS8 2PL 0117 970 6565 97 Henleaze Road, Henleaze BS9 4JP 0117 907 4391 6 Princess Victoria Street, Clifton BS8 4BP 0117 974 3275 12 George St, Bath BA1 2EH 01225 314 418 1 Roman Walk, Princesshay, Exeter 01392 437 379 www.chandosdeli.com There are multiple branches of Chandos Deli across Bristol, Bath and Exeter. All, except the Bath branch, offer a selection of perfectly ripened cheeses from the deli counter and knowledgeable staff who are happy sharing tasters of directly-sourced English cheeses and French fermier cheeses imported each week.

Heartizans Deli, 58 High Street, Christchurch 01202 484 757 www.heartizans.co.uk This deli’s range of cheeses includes West Country favourites such as Blue Vinny, Sharpham Rustic, Quickes and Godminster cheddar as well as Tunworth, Barkham Blue, Inglewhite Sheep’s and Snowdonia Black Bomber. It also carries accompaniments, such as membrillo, and staff are always happy to advise on dinner party cheeseboards.

Melanie’s Kitchen Downend’s Delicatessen, 2 Downend Rd, Downend, Bristol BS16 5UJ 0117 957 2662 www.melanieskitchen.co.uk Melanie’s Kitchen specialises in West Country cheeses from small producers but it has a selection of the best of the rest from Great Britain and Ireland. It also stocks crackers, chutneys and other cheese accoutrements.

Queen Street Deli, 14 Queen St, Wells, Somerset, BA5 2DP 01749 679 803 www.queenstreetdeli.co.uk With a range of up to 50 cheeses to choose from, the Queen Street Deli is sure it can

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tempt customers’ taste buds. As well as a large selection of West Country cheese, it has a number of favourites from around Europe.

The Cotswold Cheese Company 5 High Street, Moreton in Marsh, Gloucestershire GL56 0AH 01608 652 862 High Street, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire GL55 6AG 01386 840 392 113 High Street, Burford, Oxfordshire OX18 4RG 01993 823 882 www.cotswoldcheese.com The Cotswold Cheese Co now has three outlets, having opened new premises in Chipping Campden and Burford in 2013. All of its shops carry a range of local, British and European artisan cheeses as well as artisan bread, fine wine, local beer, cider, chutney, biscuits and other deli essentials.

The Purbeck Deli, 26 Institute Road, Swanage, Dorset BH19 1BX 01929 422 344 www.thepurbeckdeli.com This deli has taken great care in compiling its wide selection of local, West Country and international cheeses from both unusual artisan cheeses-makers and better-known quality producers. It also assembles bespoke cheeseboards to order.

Town Mill Cheesemonger Mill Lane, Lyme Regis, Dorset DT7 3PU 01297 442 626 www.townmillcheese.co.uk This highly acclaimed specialist cheese shop specialises in fine and artisan cheeses from the West Country but also has a wide selection of cheese from further afield.

Turnbulls Delicatessen, 9 High Street, Shaftesbury SP7 8HZ 01747 858 575 www.turnbulls.co.uk Turnbulls is Charlie Turnbull’s “cheese oasis” on the Dorset-Wiltshire border. It is his personal selection of his favourite British, French, Swiss, Italian and Spanish cheeses found while visiting cheese-makers and judging cheese in the UK and abroad.

LONDON & SOUTH EAST Cheese Please 46 High Street, Lewes, BN7 2DD 01273 481 048 www.cheesepleaselewes.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.

Harrison’s Vintners & Delicatessen 60 Pitshanger Lane, Ealing, London W5 1QY 0208 998 7866 www.harrisonswines.co.uk Alongside an eclectic range of wines, directly imported from all over the world, is an extensive display of over 110 cheeses. The selection of English & British cheeses includes better-known varieties like Quickes Cheddar and Barkham Blue as well as the more unusual Lord London, Mayfield and Lord of the Hundreds. You’ll also find rare French delicacies like Abbaye de Citeaux and La Vache Frotée washed in Calvados.

Holtwhites Bakery & Deli 119 Chase Side, Enfield EN2 6NN 0208 363 6503 www.holtwhitesbakery.co.uk Holtwhites’ counter is stocked with some of

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the finest examples of British and European cheeses. Classics such as Westcombe Farmhouse Cheddar, Coltson Bassett Stilton and Brie de Meaux Dongé are complemented by a changing selection that might include Cantal, Tunworth or Monte Enebro.

La Cremerie 1 Roman Farm, Nettleden, Hertfordshire HP1 3DA 01442 870 508 www.lacremerie.co.uk La Cremerie was Highly Recommended at the 2013 British Cheese Awards as one of the top shops for British artisan cheeses. This online retailer stocks a wide range of cheeses that have been expertly matured to taste their very best, including many award winners such as St Jude, Tunworth, Stichelton and Ragstone.

Orders are delivered via overnight courier.

MacFarlane’s Fromagerie 48 Abbeville Road, Clapham South, London SW4 9NF. 0208 673 5373 www.macfarlanesdeli.co.uk MacFarlane’s stocks British and Continental cheeses, chocolates and a fine selection of wines. It imports direct from France so, along with well-known varieties, it has new cheeses for customers to discover and seasonal delights like Vacherin as well as some Norfolk landmarks like Mrs Temple’s Alpine and a wonderful selection of charcuterie.

Partridges of Sloane Square 2-5 Duke of York Square, Sloane Square, London SW3 4LY 0207 730 0651 www.partridges.co.uk The London food hall has a range of Continental cheeses like the World Cheese Award Super Gold winner Ossau Iraty AOP, Camembert, Normandie Roquefort, Brie de Meaux (plain and with truffles), Comté, Reblochon and Pecorino. It also stocks a big selection of biscuits and chutneys.

Rushfields Farm Shop Henfield Road, Poynings, nr Brighton, Sussex BN45 7AY 01273 850 015 www.rushfields.com Rushfields’ counter proudly stocks over 25 cheeses from Sussex along with other regional varieties, as well as all the best-loved cheeses from the UK. The Cheese Plate 26 High Street, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, SG9 9AQ Tel: 01763 271533 www.thecheeseplate.co.uk Based in Buntingford, Hertfordshire, The Cheese Plate offers an extensive range of both British and Continental artisan cheeses. With over 280 to choose from, it’s got something for every customer, whether they are looking for one special cheese or want to create the perfect cheeseboard for a dinner party.

with a counter featuring a wide range of local cheeses, which are also available on cheeseboards in its pub and restaurant.

The Weald Smokery Mount Farm, Flimwell, East Sussex TN5 7QL. 01580 879601 www.wealdsmokery.co.uk This award-winning traditional smokery has its own delicatessen supplying a selection of British, Irish and Continental cheeses and condiments. Its helpful and knowledgeable staff are always happy to let customers have a sample to taste.

NORTHERN IRELAND Arcadia Delicatessen 378 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 6GL 028 9038 1779 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.

It specialises in hampers, cheeseboards and cheese wedding cakes.

Four Seasons Cherry Valley 38-40 Gilnahirk Road, Belfast, BT5 7DG 028 9079 2701 www.thefourseasonsni.co.uk This Belfast store has over 80 cheeses from Britain, Ireland and the Continent in stock every day. It can prepare cheeseboards and gifts while you wait and also caters for corporate customers.

Norman Hunter & Son, 53-55 Main Street, Limavady BT49 0EP 028 7776 2665 normanhunterandson@yahoo.co.uk A multi award-winning butchers and delicatessen with a cheese counter, specialising in Irish cheeses like Cashel Blue and Milleens. It also has Brie de Meaux, a large range of cheddars and a variety of classic cheeses from around Europe.

EAST ANGLIA H. Gunton 81-83 Crouch St Colchester Essex CO3 3EZ 01206 572 200 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, baskets and cheese wedding cakes are available all year and customers can buy online too.

SCOTLAND Formartine’s Tarves, Aberdeenshire, AB41 7NU 01651 851 123 www.formartines.com With over 70 cheeses in stock, this food hall is also full of great cheese accompaniments. The range includes Scottish and British varieties and some European classics.

The De Beauvoir Deli Co 98 Southgate Rd, London N1 3JD 0207 249 4321 5 Theberton St, London N1 0QY 0207 424 5998 www.thedebeauvoirdeli.co.uk French, Spanish and Italian classics sit alongside carefully selected seasonal British & Irish gems to ensure both of these cheese counters cater to all tastes with the finest produce and occasional surprise.

McNees of Crieff, 23 High Street, Crieff, Perthshire PH7 3HU 01764 654582 www.mcneesofcrieff.co.uk In addition to its range of artisan Scottish and Continental Cheese, McNees also stocks a wide selection of chutneys, pickles and relishes made in its own kitchen, which also produces a fantastic range of biscuits to complement the cheese. McNees aims to please those looking for something different.

The Quince Tree Stonor, Oxfordshire, RG9 6HE. 01491 639039 www.thequincetree.com At the Quince Tree you will find an inhouse patisserie and a fresh delicatessen

Pharlanne, Bridge Street, Kelso, Roxburghshire, TD5 7HT 01573 229 745 www.pharlanne.co.uk Pharlanne offers a wide variety of local, British

and Continental cheeses from cows’, goats’ and ewes’ milk. If something is not on the counter, the staff are happy to source any cheese you fancy.

The Good Food Boutique Delicatessen & Speciality Fine Foods, 59 Cromwell Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis HS1 2DD 01851 701 394 www.thegoodfoodboutique.co.uk A selection of Scottish, UK and Continental Cheeses including the ever popular Gigha Old Smokey, Traditional Highland Crowdie, Colston Bassett Stilton, Stinking Bishop and 14-month-old Cave-aged Gruyère to name a few.

The Mainstreet Trading Co Main Street, St Boswells, Scottish Borders, TD6 0AT 01835 824 087 www.mainstreetbooks.co.uk Mainstreet Deli prides itself on showcasing Scottish, Somerset and Spanish cheeses.

Favourites include Isle of Mull Cheddar, Montgomery’s Ogleshield and Torralba Mahon. It also carries everything you could want on your cheeseboard, from damson cheese and fig wheels to delicious Fife oatcakes. Customers can wash it all down with a glass of farmhouse cider or craft beer.

West Coast Delicatessen 5 Argyle Street, Ullapool, Ross Shire IV26 2UB 01854 613450 www.westcoastdeli.co.uk This deli has range of award-winning fine Scottish cheeses, including creamy smooth brie from Connage Dairy, full-flavoured crumbly Anster and Bishop Kennedy from Inverloch. There is also a carefully balanced selection of world class British and Continental artisan cheeses.

WALES Olives&Oils Deli, 28 Newton Road, Mumbles, SA3 4AX 01792 366 828 www.olivesandoils.co.uk The French meet the Welsh at this cheese counter and they really hit it off. As well as its selection of farmhouse Welsh cheeses and French classics, there are many more to choose from.

The Gourmet Pig 32 West St, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire SA65 9AD 01348 874 404 www.gourmetpig.co.uk Specialising in cheese from Pembrokeshire, Ceredigion and the rest of Wales, The Gourmet Pig also stocks award-winners from Britain and the very best artisan products from Europe. It sells Welsh artisan bread, local beer and cider, local chutneys and biscuits and a range of wines from small producers.

Ultracomida 31 Pier Street, Abersytwyth, Wales SY23 2LN 01970 630 686, 7 High Street, Narberth, Wales SA67 7AR 01834 861 491 www.ultracomida.co.uk Both Ultracomida delicatessens specialise in artisan Spanish and local Welsh cheeses.

Their wide range of cheeses include both the famous and lesser-known varieties from all three countries so whether you are looking for a particular cheese or something new there will be something for every customer. Spanish cheeses are also available to order via the website for those that cannot make the trip to West Wales.

SWISS FAMILY

SPIRIT 1845

WELTMEISTER KÄSE - AWARD WINNING CHEESES FROMAGES MEDAILLÉS - FORMAGGI PREMIATI

www.selectionwalo.ch

only the best cheese from switzerland are part of

seleCtioN wAlo voN mühleNeN 14 AwArds At the world Cheese AwArds 2012 speAk for themselves : • Best new cheese: red Nose Gold label, a hard cheese washed with red wine.

• 3 super Gold • 4 Gold • 4 silver • 2 Bronze

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iLOOKING NCreAse your FOR profit with A Cheese from IMPORTERS,

Selection Walo DISTRIBUTORS, von Mühlenen AGENTS

Contact : Walo von Mühlenen a brand of tvm service GmBh walo@selectionwalo.ch p 0041 79 217 54 11 f 0041 86 079 217 54 11 1763 Granges paccot switzerland

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RUBY MIST Mature Cheddar with Port & Brandy IST

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BOUNCING

BERRY

For more details call +44 (0)1745 35 70 70 or visit snowdoniacheese.co.uk

Old Irish Creamery is a family-run business making a range of cheddar cheeses, with or without additives.

The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse Ltd

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For the first two months we have an introductory smoking service offer for you:

The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse Ltd

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SPECIAL OFFER COLD SMOKING ONLY £0.70p/Kg

Options include: Oak Smoked, Garlic & Herbs, Chilli, Cranberries, Blueberries, Walnuts, Irish Porter, Irish Whiskey, Red Wine, Chocolate, Seaweed, Chives and many more.

Our range has won 60 national and international awards since we began cheese-making in 2008, including gold, silver and bronze at the 2011 World Cheese Awards and 16 awards at last year’s Nantwich International Cheese Awards.

All products are made with 100% Irish Cheddar and 100% natural ingredients.

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HOT SMOKING ONLY £0.89p/Kg

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ALL WORKS UNDERTAKEN, WHETHER IT BE HOT OR COLD SMOKING WILL DOUBLE YOUR PRODUCT RANGE OVERNIGHT. Why choose us?

• Leaders in the industry with 36 years of business experience • Award winning service

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• In depth knowledge of the food/smoking industry

• There will be a minimum quantity/ weight needed to receive the advertised discounted price.

The quantity will need to be confirmed before goods arrive at the smokehouse.

• Large variety of woods available to give you a unique final product.

• The local area regarding collection and delivery of goods will be within a 20 mile radius of the Port of Lancaster Smokehouse. This service will be dependent on a minimum quantity/weight.

• The reduced price is for the smoking of the goods only, this does not apply to packing/packaging.

• You must allow a minimum of 7 days but you will be contacted when the service is complete.

• The discounted rate is applicable to new customers only.

• Product analysis available: microbiological, shelf life testing, analytical chemistry, nutritional analysis.

• Packaging service available • Curing and flavouring of products to give distinct and unique produce.

• Local collection and delivery service available If you need any further information or would like to talk to someone regarding this service, please contact us on 01524 751493 The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse Ltd., West Quay, Glasson Dock, Lancaster LA2 0DB Email: sales@lancastersmokehouse.co.uk Website: www.lancastersmokehouse.co.uk

The Port of Lancaster Smokehouse Ltd

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Peter’s Yard the perfect host for cheese When it comes to entertaining, choosing guests who complement each other is the sign of an experienced host. The artisan bakers at Peter’s Yard are equally skilled. Balancing a crisp texture, subtle flavours and a dash of honey, these traditional sourdough crispbreads are the perfect partner for cheese.

For local stockists, on-line sales and suggestions for a well-balanced cheese board, visit www.petersyard.com 52

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