CHEESEWIRE

Group launched to assist EHOs with raw milk cheesemaking concerns

By Patrick McGuigan

The Specialist Cheesemakers Association (SCA) has launched a new technical group to discuss “areas of concern” with environmental health o cers (EHOs) that have raw milk cheesemakers in their area.

Thirty-one EHOs from England, Scotland and Wales joined the rst online working group at the end of May, which was chaired by dairy consultant and SCA technical committee member Paul Thomas.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a hostile environment to raw milk cheesemaking in the UK, but there are some EHOs that are wary of raw milk cheeses and can get quite nervous,” he told FFD. “Raw milk cheese poses unique challenges, and we need to demonstrate that safety can be e ectively managed.”

The SCA said the group had been set up to discuss “areas of concern, emerging problems and food safety management speci c to this type of cheesemaking”, with topics raised at the rst meeting including Shiga-toxinproducing E-coli and Bovine TB.

While making cheese with raw milk is legal in the UK, new cheesemakers are sometimes strongly advised to pasteurise their milk by EHOs.

Five Scottish cheesemakers also successfully overturned new Food Standards Scotland guidance on raw milk cheese production in 2019, which they argued would e ectively regulate raw milk cheese out of existence in Scotland.

Yorkshire Pecorino made raw milk cheese when it launched 10 years ago, but was swi ly advised to pasteurise by the local EHO.

“They had no experience of cheesemaking in the area, so were very wary,” said owner Mario Olianas, who still uses pasteurised milk today. “They completely discouraged me from using raw milk and I thought it was better to agree.”

Other well-known British cheesemakers have switched from raw milk to pasteurised in recent years including Neal’s Yard Creamery and Norton & Yarrow.

Fraser Norton, co-owner of Norton & Yarrow, who makes Sinodun Hill and Brightwell Ash, told FFD that the decision to pasteurise last year came a er encountering a number of low-level issues with the quality of milk being bought in.

This resulted in whole batches of cheese being thrown away.

“It’s very expensive to do that, leaving us with a big hole in our cash ow and a ecting consistency of supply,” he said. “It can cost as much as £10,000 to 15,000 when an issue with quality occurs in the milk, which is a huge amount for a small business.”

The group has been set up to guide EHOs through tricky issues around raw milk cheesemaking processes

NEWS IN BRIEF

Vegan ‘cheesemonger’ La Fauxmagerie has signed a deal to supply Waitrose stores nationwide with vegan cheese alternatives, including Shoreditch Smoked, Truffle Camemvert, Betta Feta, and Brixton Blue.

Dairy Crest, owned by Saputo, has admitted 21 pollution incidents, including discharges of waste into the River Inny, and permit breaches at its Davidstow Creamery in Cornwall, where it makes Cathedral City. The company was due to be sentenced as FFD went to press.

Around 100,000 wheels of PDO-protected Parmesan are to be fitted with tracking chips in an initiative to prevent fraud. The scheme will help the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium differentiate between authentic and fake cheeses.

Morgan McGlynn, owner of Cheeses of Muswell Hill and regular face on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch, has written a new guide to cheese pairing and creating delicious cheeseboards. The Modern Cheeseboard, Pair Your Way to the Perfect Grazing Platter is published by White Lion this month and features 40 cheeseboards with information on the cheeses, the accompaniments and garnishes. cheesesonline.co.uk

THREE WAYS WITH...

Spenwood

Created in the 1980s, Britain’s take on Pecorino, Spenwood from Village Maid Cheese in Berkshire is now hailed as a modern classic. Made with thermised sheep’s milk, the hard pressed cheese is aged for six to nine months until it has a supple texture and nutty flavour, becoming more piquant over time.

Pecorino White wines made with the Pecorino grape variety in Marche and Abruzzo, Italy, have a racy acidity and interesting stone fruit and herbaceous notes that make them a refreshing match with hard sheep’s milk cheeses. The sharpness of the wine cuts across the salty, savoury elements of Spenwood, while the fruitiness emphasises the cheese’s sweet notes.

Truffle hazelnuts Truffles and sheep’s milk cheeses have a natural affinity as demonstrated by Italian flavoured cheeses like Pecorino al Tartufo and Moliterno. There’s also a lovely nutty quality to Spenwood that make Tartuflanghe’s truffle-flavoured hazelnuts a no-brainer as an accompaniment. The roasted and salted nuts from Piedmont, coated in truffle juice, ramp up the nuttiness of the cheese and add a layer of mushroomy perfume and a pleasing crunch.

Ramen Noodles might not be an obvious cheese partner, but restaurant group Bonedaddies begs to differ. The London chain developed a special ramen dish in collaboration with the Cheese Bar last year, topped with grated Spenwood. Combining with homemade pork broth, fried pork belly, soy egg, sesame pesto, chilli oil, beansprouts and Tokyo noodles, the cheese acted like extra seasoning – upping the umami and adding richness.

Import issues and local demand boost Highland Fine Cheeses’ sales

By Patrick McGuigan

Highland Fine Cheeses has seen a 25% increase in sales, which it says has been helped by disruption to imported cheeses caused by Brexit and growing demand for local food.

The Tain-based cheesemaker, which supplies delis, farm shops and supermarkets including M&S and Waitrose, saw sales rise to £1.9m in the year to May, an increase of around 25% on the year before.

Owner Rory Stone said the business had seen sales jump partly because of disruption to the ow of Continental cheeses, caused by delays at customs, shortages of HGV drivers and the introduction of full customs declarations for imported goods in January.

“There have been gaps on the shelves and buyers are looking for more British cheeses to o set concerns about imported cheeses,” he said. “Shoppers also want to support British companies, following Covid.”

He added that the price of some French and Italian cheeses had increased, making British cheeses more competitive.

However, the cheesemaker sounded a note of caution, explaining how huge increases in the cost of milk, energy and labour were dampening the bene ts of growth.

“A 25% increase looks good on paper, but I’ve seen milk prices increase by nearly 50%,” he said. “We implemented a price increase in February, but it looks like we will have to bring in another soon.”

The price of milk continues to surge on the back of huge hikes in feed, fertiliser and energy costs with major processors announcing they will pay farmers above 46p/ litre from 1st July, up from around 32p/litre at the same time last year.

Cheesemaker Rory Stone has seen a 25% increase in sales

hf-cheeses.com

BEHIND THE COUNTER TIPS OF THE TRADE

Jon Broadhurst, Cheese & Friends at the Silverhill Larder, Sheffield

Jon and Debbie Broadhurst have rebranded their Sheffield cheese shop, which was long known simply as the Silverhill Larder, but is now Cheese & Friends at the Silverhill Larder. To help spread the word, the couple have been taking stalls at local markets and food festivals.

“It’s about marketing the shop, so we’ve picked events that are maximum five miles from us,” explains Jon Broadhurst. “You need something engaging, so we build a wall of 12 different cheeses, which really draws people in. Then it’s about giving a taster and getting involved in a conversation.”

The company also ran a prize draw with people leaving details for the chance to win a hamper.

“We got over 300 emails with people ticking boxes about tastings and our newsletter,” he says. “We also gave flyers to customers with a 10% off discount, so we’re interested to see if that brings new people to the shop.”

silverhilllarder.co.uk

CHEESE IN PROFILE with

Cornish Kern

What’s the story?

Lynher Dairies, based in Ponsanooth near Truro, is run by Catherine Mead and is perhaps better known for its Cornish Yarg. Kern, which is the Cornish word for “round”, developed in 2010, takes inspiration from alpine and Gouda cheeses. And in 2017, it was crowned Supreme Champion at the World Cheese Awards. The milk used to make Cornish Kern is taken daily from a small herd of Ayrshires, which spend over 70% of their time grazing just down the road at Gadles Farm, where the Hoskens family adhere to the highest of animal welfare principles to render rich, creamy milk.

Milk:

Cows’, pasteurised.

How is it made?

The milk is gently heated at low pasteurisation temperatures to better preserve its flavours. Nutty alpine starter cultures are added to create a close texture and the curd is scalded to encourage its characteristic caramelised notes. After being pressed into 4kg moulds, the cheeses are floated in a briny bath for two days before being coated in a breathable black wax coating and left to mature for 16-24 months.

Appearance & texture:

With a firm-butsometimes-flaky texture, this hard cheese has phenomenal fruity alpine notes with a pronounced nutty sweetness and brothy, long-lasting flavours. The rich, creamy milk imparts a fudgy texture, while the breathable rind has been specially designed to reduce moisture loss.

Variations:

None.

Cheesemonger tip:

Having been crowned Supreme Champion at the World Cheese Awards, this famous cheese is often sold out. So, if you see it, bag it! It is perfect on its own or as part of a cheeseboard.

Chef’s recommendation:

In line with its alpine cousins, Kern is an ideal fondue cheese but it works equally well baked into breads and scones. It pairs perfectly with Chardonnay or Riesling white wines.

There are a number of ways you can study Level 1 & 2 Academy of Cheese courses: online as self-study eLearning, interactive virtual classes or traditional classes at a venue. Visit academyofcheese.org for more information.

Time on their side

It is really exciting to see how we can in uence the cheeses and add value

Paxton & Whit eld’s new ageing facility shows how Britain’s oldest cheesemonger is evolving

Interview by Patrick McGuigan

A KID IN a sweet shop is nothing compared to a cheesemonger in a maturing room. Paxton & Whit eld’s quality manager Jazz Reeves is clearly enjoying herself immensely as she moves among the shelves in one of company’s new ageing rooms, sampling the truckles and wheels with a de twist of her cheese iron.

She lingers longest over a hard sheep’s milk cheese called Cullum, named a er Paxtons’ founder Stephen Cullum, which has been made exclusively for the retailer by Cumbrian cheesemaker Martin Gott. Small chunks are handed round, followed by conversations about salt levels and rind development.

“We plan to sell Cullum at di erent age pro les from three to 12 months,” explains Paxtons MD James Rutter, one of those tasting. “Cullum is about taking the glut of summer milk and preserving it for the winter. That’s what true a neurs do on the Continent. They buy up front and age it on. It’s good to be able to work so closely with cheesemakers and nd solutions to problems.”

A er 225 years in business, Paxtons already has some very established relationships with cheesemakers, but now has further scope to collaborate a er moving to a 10,000 sq premises last year. Twice the size of its previous HQ on the same estate in Bourton-on-the-Water, the site comprises ve maturing rooms, warehousing, cutting and packing space and an open-plan o ce.

Reeves and the team are currently trialling di erent temperatures, humidities and techniques in the maturing rooms. As well as Cullum, projects include ageing the Swiss cheese Schnebelhorn to eight months and creating an extra mature cave-aged cheddar.

Eventually there will be dedicated rooms for washed rind, mould-ripened, blue and hard cheeses. “There’s a lot to work out and we don’t want to rush it, but it is really exciting to see how we can in uence the cheeses and add value,” says Reeves.

With its long history, Royal Warrant and shops in Piccadilly, Chelsea and Bath, you might think value was relatively low on the priorities of a typical Paxtons customer. Older, well-heeled shoppers are still an important part of the customer base, but the business has also seen a big increase in younger, online shoppers, who are more price-sensitive, especially with the cost-of-living crisis. To this end, the company is looking to add new cheeses, closer to the £20/kg mark.

“I’d hate anyone to come into one of our shops and leave without having bought anything because it was too expensive,” says Rutter. “We need to keep attracting people who wouldn’t normally shop in our kind of shops.”

Paxtons’ online sales grew hugely during lockdown, rising from 11% of sales in 2019 to 30% today, as a new generation of 25-35-yearold cheese lovers discovered good cheese via the Internet. That group is now the largest and fastest growing demographic of the company’s online business. But bricks-and-mortar retailing remains an important focus, with sales almost back to pre-Covid levels. The unique experience of visiting a cheese shop can’t be replaced, says Rutter.

“From that smell when you rst come in, seeing the cheese on the counter and hearing the cheesemonger talking to customers, to being handed a piece of cheese and feeling it in your hand and then tasting it. People want that experience.” |

paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

CROSS SECTION

Paxtons Cave Aged XO

1

Paxton’s own-brand cave-aged cheddar is made by Ford Farm and aged in Somerset’s Wookey Hole Caves, using pasteurised milk and vegetarian rennet. The cloth-bound cheese is normally aged 12 months, but some truckles are now being matured to 18 months or more at the new premises under the new Cave Aged XO (for extra old) brand.

2 3

The extra ageing gives the cheese a more brittle, snappier texture and more intensity, bringing out a deeper savoury note, which contrasts nicely with the cheese’s trademark sweet, pineapple and hazelnut flavour. It’s a bigger, bolder cheese compared to the 12-month standard. Paxtons’ standard Cave Aged cheddar retails for £6.50 per 250g - a slightly lower price point than other cloth-bound cheddars, such as Westcombe (£6.75) and Montgomery’s (£7.25). ‘First edition’ Cave Aged XO, aged for 21 months, retails for £8/250g.