The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND.

      Bath Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      UNPASTEURIZED, SOFT COW’S MILK CHEESE. DIMENSIONS: 8CM SQUARE, 2CM DEEP.

      WEIGHT: 250G. COLOUR: CREAM, WITH WHITE MOULD SURFACE. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE:

      MILD, WITH SLIGHT ACID FLAVOUR, MELLOWING WITH AGE, CREAMY TEXTURE.

      HISTORY:

      Bath cheese is mentioned in several late-Victorian texts. Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c. 1895) said it was ‘a noted kind of soft creamy cheese’. Conditions imposed upon farm cheese-makers during the first half of the twentieth century were unfavourable for the soft, moist category of cheese to which this belongs. It was not made for many years until the current maker revived it in the 1980s.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Unpasteurized milk from one herd of Friesian cattle is used. Starter is added to milk at about 32°C, then animal rennet, and it is allowed to coagulate. The curd is cut to encourage whey separation to begin, and the curds and whey ladled into moulds placed on rush mats. The cheeses stand overnight. The surface is dry-salted, after which the cheese is left to dry 2 days at about 15°C. It is ripened in cooler conditions for 3-4 weeks. The cheese is made all year but is best in the autumn.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, BATH (SOMERSET).

      Baydon Hill Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      AN UNPASTEURIZED COW’S AND SHEEP’S MILK CHEESE. WEIGHT: 2 SIZES, THE LARGER WEIGHS ABOUT 2.3KG; THE SMALLER ABOUT 450G. FORM: THE LARGER IS A TRUCKLE (TALL CYLINDER); THE SMALLER IS A ROUND OR LOAF, AS SUCH CHEESES ARE KNOWN LOCALLY. COLOUR: THAT OF THE COW’S MILK CHEESE IS GOLDEN YELLOW; THE SHEEP’S MILK VERSION IS A PALER, BUTTERY COLOUR; BOTH ARE WAXED WITH NATURAL BEESWAX. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: THE COW’S MILK CHEESE IS MILD AND CREAMY; THE SHEEP’S MILK CHEESE IS DENSER, WITH A SWEET RICH FLAVOUR.

      HISTORY:

      This is a modern version of a cheese formerly known as Wiltshire. Its history over the past 200 years is fairly well documented. It is related by method to Cheddar and Gloucester cheeses; as with the latter, both a thick and a thin version were known in the past. Val Cheke (1959) estimates that in 1798 5,000 tons of North Wiltshire cheese were made. This was said to be of excellent quality and in part was attributed to the particular method of dairying in Wiltshire which allowed for consistency in temperature and method. At this time, the milk of Longhorn cattle was used; these have long since been replaced by modern dairy breeds. As with Cheddar, there is some evidence for communal cheese-making. Small cheeses, known as Wiltshire loaves, and larger ones, similar to Gloucesters, are both recorded. A sheep’s milk cheese is now made to the same recipe.

      The local cheese-making industry declined rapidly after 1914-18 and remained a memory until Jo Hale, a farmer’s wife, began her research in the late 1980s. She located a family recipe for North Wiltshire Cheese and has developed it for both sheep’s and cow’s milk under the name of Baydon Hill, where she lives.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The milk comes from a flock of British Friesland sheep, pastured in the valley of the River Avon, or from the maker’s herd of cattle, mostly Friesians with a little Guernsey, feeding on semi-permanent ley pasture. It is not pasteurized. The method is the same for both cheeses.

      Starter is added, plus annatto, followed shortly afterwards by a vegetarian rennet, and the milk left for the curd to form. It is cut into cubes of roughly 1cm. The temperature is raised slightly and the curd stirred for about 100 minutes until the correct acidity is reached; then it is allowed to settle for a few minutes and the whey is drained off. The curd is cut in blocks and turned up to 5 times; the number of turns varies according to the state of the milk, and fewer turns may be required with the sheep’s milk curd. The curd is milled, salted and put into moulds. It is pressed for about 2 days, the cheeses being turned once. The cheeses are removed from their moulds; the larger ones are larded and bandaged, the smaller ones simply larded. They are stored for 4 months, turned daily for the first 6 weeks and once a week thereafter; then they are washed, dried, waxed and distributed.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST, WILTSHIRE.

      Beenleigh Blue Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      THERE ARE 3 CHEESES IN THIS GROUP: DEVON BLUE (COW’S MILK); HARBOURNE BLUE (GOAT’S MILK), AND BEENLEIGH BLUE (SHEEP’S MILK). DIMENSIONS: BEENLEIGH BLUE: 14CM DIAMETER, 12CM DEEP; DEVON BLUE: 16CM DIAMETER, 12CM DEEP; HARBOURNE BLUE: ABOUT 16CM DIAMETER, 12CM DEEP. WEIGHT: 2.5-3KG. COLOUR: BEENLEIGH BLUE:

      VERY PALE CREAMY YELLOW, WITH GREEN-BLUE VEINING; DEVON BLUE: VERY PALE CREAM, ALMOST WHITE, WITH PALE GREEN-GREY VEINING; HARBOURNE BLUE: ALMOST WHITE, WITH VERY SLIGHT GREEN TINT, GREY-GREEN VEINING. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: BEENLEIGH BLUE, RICH VELVETY TEXTURE, WELL-BALANCED FLAVOUR NOTES OF BLUE, SALT AND SHEEP, WITH UNDERLYING SWEETNESS; DEVON BLUE, FIRM TEXTURED AND SALTY, CARAMEL-LEATHER FLAVOUR NOTE; HARBOURNE BLUE, FIRM TEXTURE, INITIAL GOAT TANG, DEVELOPING INTO A RICH BLUE FLAVOUR.

      HISTORY:

      This cheese originated in the late 1970s in Devon. It arose in part from necessity, as the producer sought new markets for sheep’s milk; one answer was to make a blue cheese. The person who developed Beenleigh Blue and its sister cheeses, Robin Congdon, was one of a handful of pioneers in the artisan manufacture of fine cheeses. This tradition, once vibrant in the British Isles, had almost died out during the 1940s under the impact of strict rationing.

      Sheep’s milk cheese may once have been made in southern England - indeed, it was the dominant type - but Beenleigh Blue was the first blue sheep’s milk cheese to be made in the area for many years. The milk comes from 2 flocks kept nearby the dairy. Devon Blue, made from milk of a designated herd not far distant, was developed in the mid-1980s; Harbourne Blue is a new addition to the range, made from goat’s milk from a single farm on the edge of Dartmoor.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Beenleigh Blue: the milk is heat-treated for 30 minutes before cheese-making commences. Starter is added, followed by vegetarian rennet and a culture of penicillium roquefortii; the curd is left for about 45 minutes, the exact time depending on the season, as this affects the quality of the milk. After cutting, the curd is stirred gently, then allowed to settle for about 15 minutes.The curd is broken by hand and packed into moulds, in which it remains for 2 days. The cheese is surface-salted, spiked after a few days, allowed to blue, and then wrapped in foil to stop the rind. The cheese is matured for up to 6 months. The methods for making Devon and Harbourne are very similar, but the first is matured for about 3 months. Season: Beenleigh Blue, made January-July, available September-February; Devon Blue, all year; Harbourne Blue, made all year, but the largest quantities are produced in the spring and early summer.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DEVON.

      Cheddar Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      PRESSED COW’S MILK CHEESE. CHEDDAR IS PRODUCED IN MANY DIFFERENT SIZES WEIGHING 500G-30KG. THE TRADITIONAL SHAPE IS A CYLINDER. SMALL ONES ARE KNOWN AS TRUCKLES. CHEDDAR CHEESES WERE BANDAGED AND SMEARED WITH LARD TO PREVENT THE RIND FROM CRACKING AND TO REDUCE EVAPORATION, A PRACTICE WHICH SOME PRODUCERS STILL FOLLOW, ALTHOUGH OTHERS NOW DIP THE CHEESES IN YELLOW WAX. RINDLESS CHEESE, MADE BY THE CHEDDAR METHOD IN BLOCKS OF ABOUT 19KG, is NOW COMMONLY AVAILABLE. COLOUR: GOOD CHEDDAR IS AN EVEN PALE YELLOW. FLAVOUR: DEPENDS ON MATURITY. IN GENERAL IT IS RICH WITH A SHARP NOTE AND A NUTTY AFTERTASTE; SHARPNESS STRENGTHENS WITH AGE. SOME MANUFACTURERS OFFER SMOKED CHEESES OR ADD HERBS.