The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

fare: bread and cheese, and kisses.’

      JONATHAN SWIFT

      Dorset Blue Vinney Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      BLUE MOULD, HARD, SKIMMED COW’S MILK CHEESE, MADE IN CYLINDERS OF 1.35-2.3KG AND 6KG. COLOUR: CREAM OR YELLOW, WITH FINE BLUE-GREEN VEINS. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: STRONG, SHARP BLUE FLAVOUR; HARD TEXTURE.

      HISTORY:

      The word vinney derives from an archaic word vinew, which meant mould. It was in general use until the sixteenth century but was subsequently confined to South West dialect. Here, it was associated with a blue-mould cheese made in Dorset. This was certainly known in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a cheese made by the wives of dairymen, using milk left after the cream had been removed for sale or conversion into butter. Thus it was always a very low-fat, rather hard cheese (Rance, 1982). Numerous recipes survive. The growth of blue mould in the cheese was regarded as the defining characteristic, and was encouraged by various methods, including placing the cheeses in barns or harness rooms to mature.

      In the twentieth century, several factors adversely affected production: the secure market for whole, fresh milk provided by the Milk Marketing Board; the invention of efficient mechanical devices for separating milk and cream, which left no residual fat, producing a very hard cheese; and limits on cheese-makers imposed by the Ministry of Food during 1939-45. Until the 1970s, output remained low and the cheese was hard to find. A true Blue Vinney is once again available commercially.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The milk from morning milking is skimmed by hand. Skimmed-milk powder is added to adjust the fat content, to make a cheese suitable for modern taste. Starter culture, rennet from vegetable sources and penicillin mould are added. The curd is cut into 2cm cubes and left overnight. Next day, the curd is drained, cut into blocks, milled, salted and packed into moulds. These remain in a warm dairy for 5 days. The cheeses are unmoulded, spread with a paste of flour and blue mould, and ripened for 10 weeks to 5 months, with spiking after 1 month to encourage the spread of mould through the cheese. Dorset Blue has been awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DORSET.

      Double Gloucester Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      HARD, PRESSED, UNPASTEURIZED AND PASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE. DOUBLE GLOUCESTER IS MADE IN A FLAT WHEEL ABOUT 30CM DIAMETER, 12CM HIGH, WEIGHING ABOUT 11KG. COLOUR: PALE ORANGE TO DEEP RED-ORANGE. SOME CHEESES HAVE ANNATTO ADDED TO THE CURD. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: MELLOW, ROUND FLAVOUR AND CLOSE CREAMY TEXTURE.

      HISTORY:

      Two cheeses are associated with Gloucestershire: Double Gloucester, and the less common, lower fat Single (see below). Despite a common heritage, they are separate. The differences of method are subtle and the origin of the terms double and single obscure. They evolved in the late eighteenth century, when the traditional method for making ‘best’ cheese developed into one calling for the whole milk of 2 milkings, or the cream from an evening milking plus the whole milk from a morning milking (Rance, 1982). Double may refer to this use of 2 lots of milk. Alternatively, the terms may have meant nothing more than double being twice as thick as single (Black, 1989).

      Gloucestershire, which includes both the Cotswolds and the low-lying land in the valley of the River Severn, has certainly produced cheese for a long time. Rance (1982) states that a regional cheese was exported in the eighth century AD. It is impossible to know what this was like. Fourteenth-century records show a Cotswold manor making cow’s and sheep’s milk cheeses and sending them to the nuns who owned the farm, in Caen in Normandy. If Gloucester cheese did incorporate sheep’s milk, no trace of this habit has been found beyond this isolated record.

      Evidence for cheese-making throughout the county during the early modern period can be seen in the tall farmhouses which contain a cheese-room on the third storey; domestic inventories also mention much cheese-making equipment. One area, the Vale of Berkeley, in the south, became very important. Possibly the local Gloucester breed of cattle, whose milk is particularly good for cheese-making, contributed to the excellence of their cheese.

      At first, Gloucester was a coloured cheese made from the full-cream milk of a single milking. These were known as ‘best’ until Double Gloucester was recognized as a separate type at the end of the eighteenth century. The cheeses continued to have a high reputation, although disease reduced the population of Gloucester cattle and they were replaced by ‘improved’ breeds from the Midlands. Cheese production became factory-centred in the twentieth century. A little farmhouse cheese survived and renewed interest in old breeds led to the revival of Gloucester cattle and the use of their milk in cheese from the 1970s onwards.

      Several folk customs are associated with cheeses in this region. One is the ‘cheese rolling’ on Whit Monday at Cooper’s Hill, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. Four cheeses are rolled down the hill and chased by an assembled crowd. A similar merriment was recorded at Randwick.

      TECHNIQUE:

      Current practice is to make Double Gloucester from the whole milk of 2 milkings. It is heated to 28°C and starter is added. Annatto is mixed through the milk and then rennet is added and the milk left 45-60 minutes. The curd is cut into cubes of about 3mm and stirred for 20-40 minutes whilst the heat is raised to about 37°C. Stirring continues until the correct acidity is reached. The curd is allowed to settle and the whey drained off slowly. It is cut into fairly large blocks, piled and turned every 15 minutes as the acidity develops. Milling is through a fine curd mill; then salt is added (about 750g for each 45kg), stirred in thoroughly and allowed to dissolve. The curd is placed in moulds lined with cheese-cloth. Pressing continues for 2 days; the cheese is removed and turned once during this time, and increasing pressure is used on the second day. The cheese is ripened at 8°C and turned daily; then matured for 3-8 months.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      WEST ENGLAND, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

      Single Gloucester Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      PRESSED, COW’S MILK CHEESE, ORIGINALLY MADE IN A WHEEL 6.5CM THICK, ABOUT 40CM DIAMETER, WEIGHING ABOUT 7KG. Now MADE IN VARYING WEIGHTS, 900G-3.5KG. COLOUR: PALE LEMON. FLAVOUR: MILD, SWEET-SHARP, WITH CREAMY FINISH.

      HISTORY:

      Single Gloucester became distinct from the closely related Double Gloucester (see the entry above) at the end of the eighteenth century. Patrick Rance (1982) said that they were praised by William Marshall in 1796, who considered them equal to ‘whole-milk cheeses from counties with poorer soil and less admirable cattle,’ even though they were made partially from skimmed milk. Single Gloucester evolved as a lower-fat cheese, smaller in size. Unlike Double, it was not coloured. The making of Double Gloucester flourished in the Vale of Berkeley, whilst the Single was made on farms in the north and east of the county. They were more seasonal, some only made during the spring, and they were only matured for 2 months. They have never been as widely marketed as Double Gloucester and for much of the twentieth century only small amounts were made. Interest was renewed in the 1970s and it is now on sale again. Awarded Protected Designation of Origin.

      TECHNIQUE:

      This cheese uses a mixture of whole and skimmed milk. It is heated to 19°C and starter added, followed by a vegetarian rennet. The curd is left to set for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The curd is cut, stirred to break it up further, and the heat is raised to 34°C. The curd is drained, cut into relatively small squares and turned. It is recut and turned at least twice more to make very small pieces. It