COUNTER CULTURE

Hinds to hit the road after three decades at Neal’s Yard

On 25th November 2022, Jason Hinds hangs up his apron after 30 years at famed artisan cheesemonger, Neal’s Yard Dairy. He plans to spend the next 10 years travelling the world with his wife Caroline, but will remain a co-owner of the business.

The company’s sales director, a stalwart of British artisan cheese, joined the company in 1992, when it was one of the only outlets in the country championing independent cheesemakers.

It has since grown into an international supplier of artisan cheese, selling to high-end shops and restaurants around the world. Hinds has fulfilled his ambition to export the best British cheese around the world, opening markets including Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, most European countries, America, Canada.

Having received a French education, he felt strongly that he needed to convince France of the quality of British cheese when he started out in the 1990s. Despite the country’s historical resistance to foreign cheese, it is now Neal’s Yard’s second biggest market.

“The world is very different now,” he told FFD.“That’s a generation of consumers that are much more worldly wise, see beyond regional borders, see beyond national borders, are much more open-minded. They’re really interested now.’”

Back in the UK, artisan cheese has come into its own, too. He remembers that selling specialist cheese 30 years ago classed you as an outsider. “Raw milk cheese was a dirty word,” he said, seen by the larger scale industry as a threat, and mostly unknown to the public.

“Now, there’s an acceptance of where specialist fits in the cheese landscape,” the World Cheese Awards being a good example, where the range of cheeses, judges and raders attending “shows how the different market sectors play a role.”

And whereas a career as a cheesemaker, a cheesemonger, or an exporter of British cheese, was “risible” then, it is now a legitimate career path.

“The people taking on the work that I’m doing are supremely talented. I feel like I’m handing it over to really amazing people who will take it on and develop it and add their own touch to it.”

“If they need my advice, I’m there for them. I’m not going to vanish.”

Scientists working on new strains of white mould

After discovering how to breed blue cheese moulds, scientists have now turned their attention to getting white moulds in the mood for procreation in a bid to create new strains that could “revolutionise” briestyle cheeses.

Penicillium moulds were long thought to reproduce asexually, but Paul Dyer, professor of fungal biology at the University of Nottingham, has discovered a way to naturally breed different strains of Penicillium roqueforti to create completely new blue mould varieties that produce unique flavours, textures and colours in cheese.

The process, which has been licensed by bio-tech start-up Myconeos, is now also being used to develop new strains of the white mould Penicillium camemberti, backed by a £285,000 grant from the Government-funded Innovate UK scheme. Scientists are currently hunting for wild strains of the white mould in dairies that they can crossbreed to create a range of new ripening cultures.

myconeos.com

Grana’s got a brand new tag

The Grana Padano logo has received its first update since 1954. The new mark, which will feature on all packaging for the PDO cheese, has been redesigned to reflect a more modern style with its new font lettering.

Other changes to the packaging announced by The Grana Padano Protection Consortium include the indication of the ageing (12, 14, 16, 18 months) and the introduction of a new category “Riserva - Over 24 Months”.

granapadano.it

IN BRIEF

An archaeological mission in Sakara, Egypt, recently uncovered vessels of cheese dating back 2,600 years. Inscribed with ancient writings describing the contents as “Haram”, the name of the white goat and sheep’s milk cheese before it became “Haloumi” in the Late Roman Egypt period, it is thought to be the second oldest cheese ever discovered. Another search in 2018 found a block thought to be 3,200 years old in a broken jar located in a high-ranking Egyptian official’s tomb.

Adventurous eaters may find Love Cocoa’s limited-edition truffles in their Christmas stockings this year. Founder James Cadbury said the Cheese Chocolate Truffles, a 55% dark chocolate shell and cream cheese ganache strike the right balance between sweet and savoury, balancing the richness of the dark chocolate with the distinctive flavour of cheese. RRP £13.50 per 150g tube.

lovecocoa.com

After acquiring a 25% share of Italy’s Ambrosi group, formerly owned by Emmi, in June, the world’s largest dairy company Lactalis has signed a deal to buy fourth-generation family-owned Savoyard producer Verdannet. The raw cheesemaker is responsible for half of all Reblochon production, makes a fifth of the market’s Abondance, and a third of Tome de Bauges, as well as raclette and fondue blends.

As Good Cheese went to press, a new cheese shop was set to open in a former bookshop in Bristol. L’Affinage Du Fromage will be the first bricks-and-mortar site for online retailers Louise and Leo Wirtz –who have a background in dairy farming, cheese mongering and hospitality. As well as a selection of British cheese and accompaniments, natural wine, charcuterie and a range of essential items, customers will be invited to take part in events like cheese masterclasses at the shop.

laffinage.co.uk

NEW CHEESES

Stilton specialist Long Clawson has launched a new brand of the iconic blue. Named after the brand’s founding year, 1912 Artisan Stilton is made with milk from Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, as per the terms of Stilton’s PDO. Noting that people rarely sit down to a cheeseboard at home, the company wants to encourage cooking with the Stilton, and has brought chef Marco Pierre White on board as a brand ambassador.

clawson.co.uk

Devon cheesemaker Quicke’s has developed a twist on the classic territorial Double Gloucester. Its Smoked Double Devonshire clothbound cheese is available to retailers in 1kg and 1.5kg cuts, as well as in 200g pre-packed wedges. The orange-hued cheese offers up complex, buttery flavour which marries well with the caramel notes from the oak chips (also sourced from the Quicke’s estate) used to smoke the cheese.

quickes.co.uk

Shepherds Purse has renamed its Feta-style cheese as Mrs Bell’s Salad Cheese. Originally called Yorkshire Feta and then Yorkshire Fettle, the company had to change the name for a second time after pressure from the Greek government, which argued that Fettle was too similar to the PDO-protected name Feta.

shepherdspurse.co.uk

To mark its 225th birthday, Paxton & Whitfield has partnered with Cumbrian cheesemaker Martin Gott to develop and launch Cullum – a brand new British hard ewes’ milk cheese. Named after the founder of the market stall that came before Paxton’s first shop, Cullum is made at Gott’s Holker Farm during the height of milk production in the summer. Then, two weeks later, it is transferred to Paxton’s new maturing rooms in the Cotswolds.

paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk

Long Churn Cheese in Austwick, Yorkshire, has created a soft raw milk cheese called Attermire, which is washed in Riggwelter ale. The new cheese, made with milk from a herd of just eight Dairy Shorthorn and Gloucester cows, is based on French and Belgian monastic cheeses. It has a pliant texture, plus brothy, malty flavours. The name comes from a local rocky landmark.

facebook.com/longchurncheese/

Morbier-style Ashcombe is named best of British

A Morbier-style cheese called Ashcombe, made by King Stone Dairy in Gloucestershire, was named Supreme Champion at the 2022 British Cheese Awards .

The cheese claimed the title after some 500 cheeses were judged in a single day at The Bath & West Showground on 5th October, as the Awards returned following a two-year hiatus.

Crafted on an organic dairy farm in the Cotswolds, Ashcombe was developed during lockdown to use up thousands of litres of milk that would otherwise have been poured away. David Jowett, who also produces the well-known washed rind Rollright, decided to use this milk to produce a larger, longer aging cheese.

Like the French cheese Morbier, Jowett’s creation is a large, flat, disc shaped cheese, with line of wood ash running through its centre. The rind is billed as meaty and savoury, while the paste offers aromas of warm milk and hay.

The Reserve Champion cup at the British Cheese Awards went to St.Jude, made by St.Jude Cheese in Suffolk.

Organised by The Royal Bath & West Society, the 27th edition of the British Cheese Awards saw over 500 entries judged in a single day, as the competition took place during The Dairy Show for the very first time.

Julius Longman, chairman of the British Cheese Awards, said: “We are truly delighted to have brought the British Cheese Awards back following a twoyear Covid-enforced hiatus. Cheesemakers faced unimaginable challenges during the lockdowns, forcing them to innovate in all sorts of ways to survive, and this is evident from the many new and interesting entries that won prizes at this year’s competition.”

Wheeled appeal

Ursula and Silvia Perberschlager, joint managers of London restaurant Le Gavroche, on the enduring appeal of the cheese trolley

Cheese trolleys, or, as they are known in French, ‘chariots à fromages’ are a mainstay at some of the country’s top restaurants. And ours at Le Gavroche is as popular as ever.

We may be a two-Michelin-star restaurant but our ‘cheese shop on wheels’ is famous and and still causes as much excitement in the dining room today as it did in the 1990s.

It provides theatre and instils a childlike wonder that never gets stale – but this is helped by our extensive and evolving selection of fine cheeses.

Where the cheeseboard reaches its limits, the trolley delivers. A board might feature three or four cheeses, but trolleys can easily cater to all taste and dietary requirements. Cows’, goats’, ewes’, hard, soft, runny, pasteurised, raw, vegetarian… They’re all there.

New artisan cheeses are introduced all the time, according to what is best that week.

That said, there are some cheeses that we can never leave out: a seven-year-old cheddar; French classics like Roquefort, Brie, Comté, Morbier and Époisses and a selection of British cheeses like Cornish Yarg, Tunworth, Lincolnshire Poacher and Single Gloucester.

It’s not always the case in restaurants but, with the trolley, cheese is cut to order. So, it is served exactly as it should be, at the right temperature, with the right accompaniments (quince jelly triangles, fresh grapes, dried muscat grapes and oat cakes) and the right drink, which could be Port, Madeira, Cognac or wine – and not always red. Often it’s whites and sometimes sweet wines are the best partner.

It may be an extravagant treat for diners, and an expensive course to keep serving at the restaurant, but our trolley is still travelling across the dining room, and we have no plans to put the brakes on.

Innovative pairings for the elevated cheeseboard

Britain is a nation built on cheese, we’ve been enjoying it since the stone age and no British dinner party is complete without the addition of a cheeseboard. Comté is the delicious, hard cheese from the Jura Massif that will elevate your status from cheese arranger to tastemaker.

A FOODIE FAVOURITE, Comté also pairs beautifully with a selection of unexpected accompaniments.

Gourmands don’t have to settle for bog standard chutneys and grapes. Why not tempt your guests with Comté and chocolate, Comté and cherries or Comté and chilli?

Comté boasts a range of flavours with some people able to taste everything from yoghurt to pepper. This makes it the perfect cheese to experiment with flavour combinations that will surprise even the most seasoned sampler.

Comté’s delicious flavour originates from the raw milk of the Montbéliarde and French Simmental cows of the Jura Massif in France, each with its own hectare of land to graze on. The cows eat grass and a wide range of plants and flowers out on the pasture in the summer, and locally harvested hay in the winter, producing high-quality milk that gives Comté its very special taste, scent, colour and texture.

Every single day, the milk is brought in from a collection of local farms and transformed into large 40kg wheels of Comté cheese by small village dairies, known as fruitières. These dairies use the skills and expertise of their ancestors to make sure each batch of the cheese is at its most perfect.

The wheels are then moved to local ageing caves and cellars, where ‘affineurs’ take care of the wheels of Comté during the ageing process, regularly turning, salting and rubbing each one with brine solution for up to 24+ months. It is down to their experience and expertise to decide when the cheese is ready for consumption. The cheese’s taste is affected by everything from the altitude at which the cows were grazing and at what time of year.

As a result, every piece of Comté is different. Some have a firm, nutty texture and others a more floral flavour. Most importantly, every wheel is unique and deserving of its own special partner to bring out its unique taste.

Comté has been lovingly made for more than ten centuries. Farmers, fruitières and affineurs of the Jura Massif region of Eastern France produce the internationally popular cheese every single day of the year. It has AOC status, meaning it must be made following the traditional rules that generations have been using to create the cheese exclusively in this region, integrating Comté into every aspect of community life.

If you would like to stock Comté and enjoy a slice of the potential profits of this unique cheese, head to http://www.comtecheese.co.uk/ are-you-a-cheese-reseller/ to contact us, as well as downloading promotional materials to support your sales.

If you would like to stock Comté and enjoy a slice of the potential profits of this unique

cheese, head to

www.comtecheese.co.uk/are-you-a-cheese-

reseller/ to contact us, as well as downloading promotional materials to support your sales.