Speciality Food Magazine - May 2025

specialityfoodmagazine.com 17 “Let’s celebrate well-made additive cheese” I have generally taken a swerve when it comes to additive cheese. This last month I have been sampling additive cheese made with passion, natural ingredients and the consumers in mind. Quality is key as well as the nutritional content. There are so many different additive cheeses available but mostly these are highly processed with e numbers, dehydrated flavours and oils added. They are often produced by extrusion that removes the air from the paste and giving the so-called cheese a pudgy consistency. The paste comes out of the extruder under high pressure and is cut off in discs. There is no waste with this process. The disks are then dipped in wax and labelled accordingly. A lot of these waxed and flavoured Cheddar styles use a starter culture used for sweeter Alpine-style cheeses. That culture is Lactobacillus Helveticas, and it gives a big up front sweet and nutty flavour. This culture is naturally used to make Gruyere and Emmentaler. Sadly, these cheap waxed alternative cheeses have a highly processed paste with e numbers, additives, adjunct culture (falsely enhancing flavour) and unnatural colouring. Not really the best cheese for nutritional needs. They are covered in brightly coloured wax, catchy names and have eye catching labels. Sadly, the uneducated consumer buys them without understanding how cheaply they are being made and how poor the nutritional content when compared to other natural additive cheeses. I visited IFE (International Food & Drink Expo) at Excel in March. I was pleased to taste some outstanding cheese with natural flavours. I visited the cheesemaker Vega Mancha and sampled their fabulous, flavoured range on cheese. I was not at all disappointed. First taste was cured sheep cheese covered with honey and oregano, and it was delicious. The oregano was picked locally and the honey from local hives. What more could I ask for than a beautiful and well- JAMES GRANT NO2 POUND STREET balanced cheese complimented with a delicious herbaceous sweetness? Then I tried a cured extra spicy sheep cheese, five to six months aged. It was immense – the flavour of the cheese was indeed sheepy with a glorious heat and colour from the local cayenne pepper. These Spanish examples were exemplary and something that perhaps British cheesemakers may want to sample for good ideas. In the UK there is some movement in flavoured cheesemaking, and I was thrilled to see The Cornish Cheese Co having some fun experimenting. I tried an immense Brie that had been cut horizontally and sandwiched with a delicious filler of mascarpone and natural limoncello. There was also a Brie with wild garlic and mascarpone as well as cranberry and apricot and ginger. These cheeses were all handmade and what’s more made to order! Do check out what Philip and The Cornish Cheese Co are doing when it comes to cheesemaking as well as their sustainable and ethical mission. Flavours mask any of the actual cheese flavour in large industrially produced waxed cheese. These cheeses are not examples of real cheesemaking nor do they hold any decent nutritional benefits. Sadly, theses industrially produced cheeses are about how much money can be made. What is the cost to society, surely, we should consider our local agrarian cheesemakers and stop buying from unscrupulous industrial producers with only money in mind. Our land, animals, people and communities deserve healthy sustainable cheese. I was so pleased to see the innovation in British cheesemaking and how flavour enhanced can be good when done properly. What is important, when done properly, is that flavour can work in cheese as a perfect pairing in one. It can be made ethically and sustainably. It may take longer and is harder to produce but it is real with natural unadulterated or overworked flavour. Many of our Continental friends have used flavours properly for centuries. Think about French Brie and truffle, Spanish and Italian herb cheeses and Dutch caraway seeded cheese. Do shop around for British alternative naturally flavoured cheeses. When you realise how the wax is being pulled over your eyes with these British so-called artisan truckles you will be in a more healthy, ethical and sustainable place. I was so pleased to see the innovation inBritish cheesemaking and how flavour enhanced can be goodwhen done properly Claire Burt, founder of Burt’s Cheeses, is celebrating her newest creation being named Best New Cheese at the British & Irish Cheese Awards. Having started out in 2009, near Knutsford, Claire moved her operation to Bidlea Dairy two years ago, allowing her to take advantage of bigger facilities and expand the business, while using milk direct from their herd. Bidlea Blue is Claire’s homage to the dairy. “I’ve always wanted to play around with a Cheshire style cheese,” she explained, talking of the beginnings of this variety, which is based on a Cheshire recipe, using a different starter, and following the process of draining the whey, allowing the PH to drop, salting and stacking rather than pressing. Once formed, the cheeses are pierced to develop their blue veining, and wrapped in vine leaves soaked in local Gwatkin Cider – a method Claire put into practice last year, winning the Blue class of the Affineur of the Year competition, using a Stilton. Claire says she loves the extra layer of texture and deep flavour the soaked leaves bring to Bidlea Blue. “We realised it helps to protect the rind, but also it makes the rind stickier and fudgier. You still do get that Cheshire sharpness and a bit more acidity from the paste, and it has a harder texture and stronger blue flavour than Burt’s. It’s more up front and spicy. I’ve really enjoyed developing it!” Burt’s Cheese launches new ‘Cheshire-style’ blue Specialist cheese and deli wholesaler, Rowcliffe, has recently unveiled the latest offering from its own Rolling Cheese Co brand – waxed truckles. The collection of 200g cheeses has been meticulously chosen to deliver an exquisite tasting experience, beginning with a base of 18-month matured Cheddar, chosen for its sweet, sharp, lingering flavour. This is blended with a diverse selection of additions to craft a truckle of every palate, including Victorious Vintage (also available as a 2kg cutting cheese), Smoked Splendour (gently smoked over oak), Rocking the Herbs (infused with herbs and mild spices), Truly Truffle (adorned with natural black truffle), Lady in Red (vintage Red Leicester), and Ka Pow Chilli (Red Leicester with cayenne, sweet bell pepper, jalapenos and herbs). Rowcliffe marketing manager, Helen Hunt, said the team is “thrilled” with the new additions. “We have dressed a cow for each product, who embodies the essence of its flavour,” she added. The range is available now. Try Rowcliffe’s new truckle range Register your business online at: www.specialityfoodmagazine.com/directory or call to book on 01206 508629 The Directory is Now Open, Book in now!