“Supple and crumbly” (Wensleydale); “has a cunningly unexpected crunch” (Belton Farm Red Leicester); “assertive, earthy and complex” (Gruyère); “spoonable texture and rich buttery flavour” (Winslade from The Hampshire Cheese Company) – just some of the descriptions of our selection from an excellent cheese board provided by our members for our recent cheese tasting.
We learned how French Cistercian monks were making early British cheeses from sheep’s milk but during the 14th century cows’ milk began to be used instead, and the character of cheese began to change from creamy cheeses to harder cheeses with crumblier textures. Did you know that Roquefort is said to have been discovered by a French boy who left his lunch in a cave while he went to woo his maid and discovered a mouldy, but tasty, cheese on his return? Or that George Orwell rated Wensleydale second behind Stilton (which is NOT made in the town of Stilton!) in his 1945 essay “In Defence of English Cooking”? And animator Nick Park of Aardman’s Wallace and Gromit franchise apparently chose Wensleydale for his character Wallace because it had a good name that was interesting to lip sync.
We loved the French/Swiss options on offer – Roquefort, Gruyère, Pié d’Angloys, and particulary the Livarot cheese from Normandy- but the variety of British cheeses was irresistible and top marks to Cornish Yarg and good old mature Cheddar. But the firm favourite on the night was Smoked Red Fox, an award winning Red Leicester from Belton Farm in Shropshire, matured for 16-18 months and naturally smoked over oak chips, a russet coloured cheese whose subtle crunch comes from (science bit coming up!) the naturally occurring calcium lactate crystals which form as the cheese matures, and which is the mark of a good cheese!