Today seems an apt day to shine a light on the lack of support for British farmers from the UK Government. How their policies, taxation, and often ridiculous choices have detrimentally affected farming, including a huge loss of British-made products over the past sixty years, nearly decimating the cheese industry along the way.

Across many industry sectors throughout the UK, we have seen the government show no support for British-made products. Offering tenders to outside countries, often for the sake of a few pounds saved while parroting their hypocritical support of British companies. The most recent glaring example of this that I can think of is passports. Need I say more…..

Anyway, back to farming. 

Over the past sixty years, farmers have been forced to produce higher quantities to stay in business, adding faster ways to milk and higher yields on less land, but has that reduced the overall quality? 

The average herd size for a farmer in 1954 was just 16 cows, and each farm would have been mixed farming, producing beef, milk, arable crops and raising other livestock. Today, the average herd size is 216 cows, with some ‘super’ dairies holding as many as 8000 cows. At those numbers, that’s not sustainable farming; that’s just a factory production line. 

The start of this increase in production needs for farmers to stay in business began with The Milk Marketing Board, a government idea to stabilise the milk market by offering dairy farmers a set price for their milk. This meant, in theory, farmers had more financial stability and didn’t need to go to the effort of making cheese anymore to add extra profit, they could milk their cows and get paid. What it also meant, unbeknownst to everyone at the time, was the Milk Marketing Board wanted every farmer to join, so they held the market monopoly, able to make factory-made block cheese fast and sell at whatever price they wanted to. If farmers wanted to make their own cheese with excess milk beyond their contracted production amounts, they had to buy their milk back from the Milk Marketing Board who started to add extra clauses into contracts and make it as difficult as possible for this to happen. They also hounded anyone who had not joined up and claimed sole use of certain words used to describe cheeses, such as Farmhouse, which they used on all their factory-made block cheese and disallowed artisan cheesemakers to use. The milk marketing board finally closed in 1994 after nearly sixty years of tyranny over the cheese industry.

Gradual regrowth has happened since then, with some calling the last fifteen years a cheese renaissance. Yet sadly, many of the recipes and cheese-make knowledge that would have been passed down through the generations has been lost to farm closures. 

Unlike France and many countries in the EU who celebrate their products and want to ensure their survival, we seem to have a government that relishes quick decisions for cost-saving initiatives. This isn’t about which party is in power; this has been the same problem across so many industry sectors for the past century and no doubt before then, too. 

Do we need to change our culture in how we think about British products? Celebrate the hard work of local small businesses and reduce our product travel miles. I think so, but we need to change the opinions and the culture at the top for long-term sustainability and to see British products and businesses thrive. 

A mini-history of Stilton cheese - An important road, a savvy innkeeper and a female entrepreneur of the 1700s, it’s quite the story. 

The history of Stilton is a story that I love to share, it shows the direct correlation in human history between industrial development and how that impacts our food, our farming and our food production.

We know that Stilton cheese has enjoyed a rather extensive and interesting past that’s kept its popularity alive for well over 250 years. Sadly, many of the exact facts surrounding how and where Stilton was first developed have been lost over time. There are patchy mentions in historical texts, but these are difficult to piece together, along with direct mentions of a similar cheese in and near the village of Stilton, starting around the early 18th century. What we do know for sure is that The Bell Inn, situated in the centre of Stilton village played a leading role in its rise in popularity, starting around the mid 1700’s.   

Two leading figures starred in this entrepreneurial adventure that put Stilton on the map: Cooper Thornhill, an innovative landlord of The Bell Inn between 1730-1759, and Frances Pawlett, a local skilled cheesemaker, dairywoman and entrepreneur of her time. Between them, they managed to exponentially increase Stilton’s popularity throughout the UK and make their local cheese a sought-after luxury treat that meant travellers on the Great North Road would stop for a visit at The Bell Inn. After trying the cheese they’d then take their experience across the UK, spreading the word far and wide

Achieving this grand endeavour in a time before national newspapers even existed was no mean feat; advertising was purely based on word of mouth, and Cooper Thornhill made sure everyone who visited his Inn heard about the local cheese. 

To understand the full story and how impressive this early marketing was, one must understand travel in the UK at that time. During the 1700s, travel throughout the UK was slow and arduous; poor quality roads and a lack of roads outside of main towns made transport dangerous and difficult. Road reforming decrees were issued by King Charles II and the toll-road acts of the 18th century started the process of UK roads becoming more connected and increasing the ease of travel. The town of Stilton sat alongside the Great North Road, one of the oldest coaching routes throughout the UK, allowing access between London and Edinburgh. Today, we know this same road as the A1/A1M, which mainly parallels the original route of the Great North Road but now bypasses towns rather than going through them. 

As the popularity of their superior product grew, so did their production needs. Frances Pawlett of local Wymondham was originally the main cheesemaker of this endeavour, but she could no longer keep up with customer demand alone when popular London Cheesemongers were now demanding wheels upon wheels be transported to London.  She began to rally the local women, teaching them the recipe and adding more cheesemakers to their production team, this allowed for increased distribution to London, further increasing Stilton’s popularity and higher demand as more people tried it.  As popularity grew, Cooper Thornhill expanded his business too, buying stagecoaches and more coach houses along the Great North Road. At the height of its popularity, he owned a fleet of stagecoaches and expanded his business owning a second inn, The Angel. 

We don’t know for sure what sort of cheese Stilton was in the 1700s or whether the blue veining was accidental fault lines from cracks in the cheese or purposefully created. It is, however, certain that this point in history was the first commercialisation of Stilton cheese and was certainly the start of its story, leading to the Stilton that we know and love today. 

Interesting fact for you on why Stilton is often associated with Christmas. Stilton was traditionally produced during the summer months when the milk was at its richest from cattle grazing the quality summer pasture.  Stilton then needs three months to mature after being made into cheese, meaning the best quality Stilton from summer grazing is always ready just in time for Christmas. The same now as it was a few hundred years ago, this is the exact reason why Stilton is associated with being eaten at Christmas time. 

Pairing suggestions:  You’re pretty spoilt for choice with pairing suggestions for this one, most full-bodied red wine, port, sauternes, sweet sherry.

Reblochon

Pronounced – Reb-low-shon

A 13th-century version of tax avoidance created this beauty. Unique to the Haute-Savoie region this historic cheese is made in the mountains from unpasteurised cows’ milk. 

Reblochon derives from the word ‘Reblocher’, translated it means to pinch the cow’s udder again. In 13th century France the landowners would be taxed on their milk yields, so farmers decided to only three-quarters milk their cattle and leave some milk remaining in the udder until they had paid their daily tax. The milk left became substantially creamier and richer in flavour, perfect for cheese making and the staple flavours that Reblochon became known for. By the 16th Century the cheese had such a following it was often referred to as fromage de devotion (devotional cheese) offered to Carthusian monks by farmers in return for having their farms blessed. 

Reblochon offers a soft and velvety texture with rich, buttery and nutty flavours that have a background malt/toast notes. These are mild in depth of flavour but with exciting complexity; it has an attractive rind that offers a nice level of bite to the experience and an earthy aroma. It is often associated with winter as one of the central ingredients in Tartiflette.

Reblochon became a protected cheese in 1958, known in France as AOC (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) and in the UK as PDO (Protected Designation of Origin). Within its AOC stipulations, only three breeds of cattle are allowed to be milked to produce this cheese, Abondance, Tarentaise and the Montbéliarde. The cattle must spend a minimum of 150 days per year grazing the mountain pastures and only the grass and hay produced in the restricted geographical location are allowed to make up the cows’ diet. Cattle and workers will live in the mountain’s high pastures for four to five months per year moving cattle around the pastureland to ensure the freshest grass is being consumed. The cows are milked twice per day with a cheese make straight after each milking, the milk comes out of the cow at 35c and is transferred straight to the vat where production begins, as the PDO states none of the milk can be pasteurised and no part of the production will allow the milk to rise above 37c. During the make process nearly every process will be done by hand, from cutting the curd to carefully to moulding and turning these cheeses. Once produced and moulded each cheese will spend one to two hours in a brine bath (a salty solution) before being moved to a drying room for one week. Every day the cheese will be washed in brine again, this process helps to produce the rind along with the flavour. After one week in the drying room, the cheeses will be moved to maturing cellars onto spruce boards, here they’ll spend a minimum of eighteen days but more likely thirty-five to forty days maturing before they’re distributed across Europe and other parts of the world.

Sadly, for our friends across the pond, Reblochon has not been available in America since 2004 due to changes in their import laws with rather strange, yet stringent parameters that they have set around the pasteurisation of soft and semi-soft cheeses. This rules out a vast amount of French cheeses able to be imported.  

Pairing suggestions: Enjoy with unoaked red wine such as Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. For white wine lovers try Semillon or Pinot Gris. Food pairings you can enjoy with nuts, dried fruits, fresh pear or crusty bread as perfect companions that bring out the different flavours in the cheese. 

Munster 

A cheese with its own museum! This rather stinky cheese has been produced since the 7th Century, it was developed by Benedictine Monks living in the Alsace region of France in the Vosges Mountains bordering France and Germany. Originally produced as a means to store the excess milk rather than let it go to waste, many believe the strong qualities of Munster were developed by the monks as a substitute for meat, which they were forbidden to eat through their religious practice.  

Munster is traditionally produced in the morning with the fresh warm milk from the morning milking added to the previous evening's milk and then the starter cultures* added. The milk is then heated to around 32c and transferred to a large copper cauldron called a Kessel where the rennet* is then added. Once the curd has reached the right stage of coagulation it is cut and starts to separate into curds and whey. The whey is then drawn off slowly and the curds are hand-scooped into moulds where they are allowed to settle before being turned multiple times and salted, they are then transferred to the maturing room often damp cellar-like rooms where they are washed regularly with brine to develop the pink rind seen on the surface of the cheese. The small cheeses spend 5 weeks maturing and the larger cheeses spend between 2-3 months maturing. 

The brine washing process produces the perfect environment for brevibacterium linens (or B.Linens for short) this bacteria thrives in a moist environment, the enzymes work slowly from the outside in breaking down the microbial structure of the cheese and making the cheese become softer as it matures. 

It takes 10 litres of milk to produce one individual 900g of cheese, they will each weigh a bit more than 900g at this stage in their production and will loose some weight during their maturation. 

Although the rind smell can be very strong, giving off a rather pungent, earthy to farmyard aroma don’t be put off by it, as the taste doesn’t match the smell at all. Expect an interesting complexity of flavour, rich and savoury with buttery, meaty, brothy salts that gives way to a small nuttiness alongside a deep background tang. It has a soft texture that melts on the palate and leaves you feeling like you have had two experiences in one, from the strong smell to start with that gives way to the taste and texture. It sounds like a real journey and that is often how I think of Munster as it tastes nothing like it smells, it has this wild pink to orange rind and then the flavour can be anything from gently mild to intensely full, it’s a great journey and one I think everyone should try.  

I must at this point offer a small piece of advice from personal experience: do not buy Munster in London and then think it’s a good idea to transport it on a warm train for a few hours unless of course, you want to apologise and explain the smell to every person that passes you for the entirety of your journey. It is however a good tactic if you don’t want anyone to sit near you. 

Munster has been protected by AOC (Appellation D'origine Contrôlée) status since 1969, protecting the characteristics of the cheese and the area it is produced in. The AOC stipulates many factors of the cheese production such as it must be made using unpasteurised milk, the two sizes in which Munster is allowed to be made, small 7-12cm diameter and large 13-19cm diameter. It also covers regions where Munster can be produced among many other stipulations. 

The best time of year to eat Munster is during the summer to autumn months typically May – October when the cattle are grazing the ‘high stubble’ a name given to the high mountain pastures that have been mowed for summer hay. 

Munster is traditionally paired with Cumin seeds or can be served on baked potatoes or used in a punchy Tartiflette.

*Starter Culture *Rennet – Please see my article on these key cheese-making essentials 

Putting together the perfect festive cheeseboard doesn’t need to be a task that makes you want to hide in the broom cupboard. It’s all about balance and excitement. Your local cheesemonger will always be able to advise and help you with the task but if you wish to go solo there’s a few rules you can follow to help you along the way. 

Firstly, you need to decide whether the cheeseboard is your main food or whether it is to be eaten after a meal as this will dictate how much cheese per person and other nibbles are needed. 

If it isn’t the main food at your event, I would advise 100g of cheese per person. If your cheeseboard is the main food at your event, I would suggest 200g of cheese per person as a minimum plus other nibbles alongside the cheese. 

Cheese portions I would advise these to be a minimum of 200g each, this is about how it looks on the board. Much less than 200g of cheese and it starts to look very sad, like everyone won’t get to try that particular one. This can’t be helped in cheeses that are produced in a smaller size than 200g such as a Crottin de Chavignol but you can counter this by adding two. 

Now the exciting bit of choosing your cheese, there are thousands of cheeses in the world but if you go by some simple category rules you can put together a well-balanced cheese board without knowing the complete taste profile of every cheese you choose. 

For a simple board of three to four cheeses you might want to go along the lines of a cheeseboard we are all familiar with, Brie – SOFT, Cheddar – HARD, Stilton – BLUE, plus add a wild card to create interest. This could be the centre of your cheeseboard with your other three cheeses arranged around it, WASHED RIND or GOAT are good ones here and could be along the lines of:

Washed rind – Langres, Epoisses de Bourgogne, Vacherin Mont D’Or  

Goat – Valencay , Crottin de Chavignol, Kidderton Ash, Dorstone

If you’re not one for sticking to rules and want a cheeseboard with a bit of difference you can still use the same idea but change the cheeses for ones that you’d prefer under the same categories of Soft, Hard, Blue. 

A few example boards under these categories could be:

Rollright, Kit Calvert Wensleydale, Burt’s Blue

Vacherouse d’Argental, Saint Nectaire, Fourme d’Ambert 

These options are both examples of a soft, hard and blue combinations that will create a well-rounded selection but don’t stick to conventional Brie, Cheddar and Stilton.

If you want to create a cheeseboard with five or six different cheeses you can add further categories to your creation. 

Alpine style 

Washed rind

Variety in milk style – Cow, Goat, sheep, buffalo, 

Smoked 

Flavoured

Soft 

Hard 

Blue

Once your selection is up to five or six different cheeses you can always add in a second blue cheese too, this should be in a different style to your first choice such as a soft blue or a blue from the opposite end of the flavour spectrum creamy or salty (further post of different blue cheese flavours coming soon). You can also look at the different shapes and colours of the cheeses to add interest to your selection. 

Accompaniments for your cheese board can be chutney or marmalades these add new flavours that can be similar or contrasting with your cheese. Membrillo (Quince paste) is always a good choice, its most known for its pairing with Manchego but pairs well with a variety of cheeses and looks interesting on your cheeseboard. Honey is another good addition and easy to dunk into or drizzle onto your cheese. 

Dried fruit such as dried dates, apricots, figs, ginger, and cranberries are all good examples of dried fruit to add as an accompaniment. 

Fresh fruit cuts through many of the flavours of the cheese and can refresh the palate. Grapes, strawberries, figs, currents or berries, sliced apple or something more unusual like persimmon or pineapple can pair with vintage aged hard cheeses.

Nuts – walnuts, pistachios, almonds, brazil (most nuts pair well with cheese) 

Pickled - walnuts (or other pickled nuts), gherkins, onions

Charcuterie or pate – A nice selection of charcuterie alongside your cheeses can always add another level of interest, there’s so many different ones to choose from. A varied selection always works well such as spicy chorizo, serrano ham and Milano salami are a good combination you could add to.  

Crackers – A subjective one here as everyone’s got their favourites, I’m all for a nice none flavoured cracker or oat cake as I enjoy the flavours coming through from the cheese and not being overpowered or sometimes tainted from odd cracker flavours. I must however admit to being partial to a nice beetroot cracker on occasion or an interesting Cajun one I’ve recently stumbled upon. Whichever crackers you choose remember they are transport for something whether its cheese or charcuterie so try not to buy anything too overpowering. 

Happy festive cheese board creating and remember to just ask your cheesemonger if you are stuck for ideas, there’s nothing that I love more than chatting cheese. 

I was in a supermarket earlier this week and I found myself feeling somewhere between heartbroken and absolutely furious. Furious at the buying power of supermarkets who can force producers into such low prices that completely screw over both the producers and the small independents who don’t stand a chance at being able to compete with prices they can demand. 

They were selling cheeses cheaper than we could even buy them in for directly from the producers, granted, when we got some of the cheeses home to try them for the sake of my theory and to appease how angry I was, it became clear that every cheese we had chosen was under matured and/or was a poor example of how these cheeses should be. They were bland, and boring and felt like they had no soul to them, many of these cheeses if cared for and matured to the right age, are amazing spectacular wonders that I would say any day of the week are some of my favourite cheeses but these were the equivalent of hiring a V8 mustang and getting a 1L Micra instead. 

This is yet another way supermarkets and large companies screw over small independents in every single industry, public buy an item that seems cheap thinking they’ve got a bargain, and wondering why a similar item sometimes even labeled the same seems so expensive at local shops. The truth to this is twofold, firstly the products independents stock are always far superior products, they keep repeat customers by selling high-quality items and ensuring customer care. The second part to this answer is producers have to make the same item in larger quantities for supermarkets often having to use faster processes and sometimes with cheaper substitutes to keep to the production quotas they have been set all the while making much smaller profit margin. This seems like a great idea to start with as you have a huge quantity committed to be sold but I’ve spoken to so many producers over the years who have been left wondering why they agreed to the deal in the first place, once the sheer volume of the work and small profit margins start to drown them it often feels like a blessing and a curse.

Supermarkets/large companies now have their product at the low price they’ve bargained for and still manage to charge a higher % on top, far greater than the % independents can ask for, all the while managing to undercut the independents through their original low price demand for taking large quantities. On top of all this large companies rely on staff working for minimum wage and zero-hour contracts while independents try to look after their staff as people, so often paying staff more than they pay themselves. 

It's a truly broken system where we screw over those at the bottom and line the pockets of CEOs on six-figure salaries by shopping big instead of local, many small towns have now reached the tipping point where so many small independents have closed down through low footfall, rising costs of bills and lower sales over the past few years. The bigger picture to this change in the retail arena of independents vs big companies is what happens when those big companies start to see a downturn in their sales and decide that the small town branch is one to close. What happens in those towns that have had their independents driven out of business and then the big companies close too?  Jobs, money in the local economy, ability to shop for items locally, yet another empty shop on the high street, ghost towns of pound shops and charity shops? 

Local economies need to thrive as a collective with money going back into the local economy and local families to thrive as a town, as a destination and as a place people want to live and bring up families. One cannot survive without the other. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it, use it or lose it, but unfortunately for many small towns and so many independents the idea of shopping local is now a long-forgotten dream as the independents are becoming fewer and fewer. 

Mimolette has sharp, nutty and fruity flavour with a similar aroma to compliment it. It has a striking colour of bright orange to its paste alongside its standout shape of a cannon ball.  Mimolette is notoriously hard to cut through as a whole and gets even harder (but with even more complex taste profiles) the longer it matures. The unique looking rind of the Mimolette is produced from maturation in damp cellar like conditions and the presence of cheese mites which eat parts of the rind and leave the pitted surface. The rind is completely edible on the cheese and 100% should be eaten as it adds so much taste and complexity of flavour. A definite favourite of ours and on the cheese counter instore. 

A semi-hard cow’s milk cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille. The history of Mimolette can be traced as far back as the 17th century with its original production based on an Edam. During the 17th Century many imported goods were banned in France under the rule of King Louis XIV, Edam fell among these banned imports and was sorely missed in the northern parts of France. As with any banned goods there was soon smuggling involved to get hold of the sought-after items, quickly followed by entrepreneurs of the time that decided to produce a similar product in France as a way to get around the ban. Mimolette was produced using the Edam recipe but had its own quirks added such as the annatto that provides the strong orange colouring, the maturation process and the different pastureland that the animals were grazing which changes the cheese flavours entirely based upon the flavours within the grassland that the cattle have been grazing. 

There are different ages of Mimolette from six months through to vintage at twenty-four months, the Mimolette we most often have in stock is the twenty-four month aged. 

Archaeologists have found evidence that dates cheesemaking in the La Mancha region to as far back as the Bronze age (3700 BC), there is no exact evidence if this cheesemaking was Manchego but throughout written accounts in history from the region it was always a Manchego style cheese described and the Manchega breed of sheep. The Manchega breed of sheep has truly stood the test of time, most probably due to its hardiness that seems to pair well with the regions dry and rocky terrain. The sheep graze mainly dry pastureland and shrub land but seem to fair very well on this sort of terrain, it certainly does not affect their milk quality which offers a very high fat content and is a rich milk perfect for the production of Manchego. Due to breeding of Manchega sheep staying predominantly among the breed itself the bloodline is remarkably pure, this means that the Manchega sheep giving us their beautiful milk today are direct descendants of these historic sheep that were grazing the region in the bronze age. 

Manchego is produced to three different varieties:

• Manchego Fresco is only matured for two weeks and is rarely found outside of Spain, it is mild in flavour due to its freshness. 

• Manchego Curado aged between three – six months, this is a semi firm cheese with nutty sweet flavours. 

• Manchego Semi Curado aged between three weeks and three months, this offers very mild flavours and is semi-soft. 

• Manchego Viejo aged between twelve and twenty-four months, this is a hard cheese with a deep rich flavour. 

It is the Manchego Viejo that we reguarly have in stock.

The distinctive pattern on the rind was originally produced by the curd being pressed into esparto grass baskets which left their imprint on the curd. Today the pattern comes from moulds deigned to replicate the pattern on the surface. The actual rind is inedible as it is sprayed with a breathable plastic or wax coating to protect the cheese once it has matured for preserving it and transportation.  

Manchego has been protected under PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status since 1984. For any cheese wishing to be classified as Manchego PDO it must be made to specific standards set by the PDO legislations, this protects the cheese and the food from geographical regions from replication. This particular PDO states that the cheese must be made in La Mancha region, it must be made from unpasteurised Manchega milk, it must be aged in natural caves for a minimum of two months or a maximum of two years and it must be made to a specific size of no more than 12cm in height and no more than 22cm in diameter. There are 340 producers of Manchego currently registered under the PDO status. 

Manchego exportation is a huge industry for the region exporting nearly 6 million KG of it each year. The area of La Mancha is also famous for the 17th century novelist Miguel de Cervante and his two-part novel ‘The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha’. This fabulous author drops the odd line in about the sheep in the region and mentions Manchego too, it brought much fame to the area and is the second most translated book in the world after the Bible. Don Quixote is also relevant with Manchego as its PDO certification has the image of Don Quixote and riding his horse on it. 

Expect from this cheese a buttery, sweet and nutty flavours alongside a hard yet granulated texture. The aroma is beautifully rich and buttery offering a well-rounded experience. 

Named after the town of Valencay in France where it was originally produced, an unpasteurised goats cheese with a long history. This style of cheese dated back to the reign of Charlemagne in late 700AD to early 800AD. The actual Valencay style and shape of the cheese has direct mentions dating from around the 16th Century onwards (give or take the top of the pyramid shape), there are many stories around how the pyramid became the truncated pyramid that we have today.  

The most popular of these stories and one that does seem to have some historical references to back it up is one involving Napoleon. In 1798 he led a campaign to Egypt where he hoped to establish a French presence in the Middle East and to stop the British having access to the East Indies and India. The campaign did not go to plan after a lack of reinforcements from France and civil unrest in both Egypt and France meant he had to retreat home humiliated by the absolute disaster it had been. On his arrival home he attended a welcome gathering where he was served a Valencay in its original pyramid shape. He was that angry at the reminder of his disastrous campaign he drew out his sword and chopped the top off in a fit of rage. Since then all Valencay cheeses have been produced as truncated pyramids. 

Valencay was the first region in France to achieve both a wine and cheese that hold an an AOC (Appellation d’origine controlle) status. Valencay was given AOC status in 1998 with regulations stipulating the geographic areas it is allowed to be produced in, the two goat breeds that are approved milk producers of Alpine or Saanen, it must be made with raw milk (unpasteurised) and it must be matured for 11 days. These among other regulations that make up the AOC and are in place to protect the characteristics of the cheese and the area it is from. 

Valencay has a light and moussey texture with a fresh and lemony taste, as the cheese ages the flavour develops and becomes stronger.  

The production of Valencay is a lactic set production where a starter culture is added to the milk to start the acidification process, this is sometimes the whey from an earlier cheese make (this can be a risky option, if you have any issues with your prior cheese make you risk transferring this into the next make and so forth) or sometimes a packet starter culture. Slow acidification then takes place before a tiny amount of rennet is sometimes added to coagulate the milk but for the most part the coagulation takes place from the acid produced from the lactic acid bacteria (LAB) which then forms the curd. The curd is then gently ladled into moulds where it is left to slowly drain further before being removed from the mould and lightly dusted with ash. Each cheese is then transferred to drying racks and moved to rooms where it will mature for the next 11 days and form its external mould rind. Due to the maturation process of the cheese our friends on the other side of the pond cannot enjoy Valencay because of their import laws stating a cheese must have matured for a minimum of 60 days before it crosses the border. Sad times for our friends in the USA. 

However, its fab news for us in Europe as more and more Valencay is produced each year to meet demand as more people discover just how delicious it is. On average there is now 350 million tons produced each year.

We regularly have Valencay in stock as its an Aldred’s favourite.