Speciality-Food-July/August 2025

CHEESE UNCUT specialityfoodmagazine.com 23 New retail perspectives from industry experts There seems to be a lot of development in the blue cheese arena at the moment, and amongst the innovators is Stinking Bishop producer Charles Martell & Son, which has recently revealed Hulla Baloo. When first made, Charles said, the cheese was heralded with the New ‘hot cheese’ launch for Emmi Kaltbach Melting and cooking cheeses are big business, as consumers continue to value making cheese the centre of their dining and entertaining occasions. Tapping into the upwards trend, Emmi Kaltbach is launching a new seasonal line – Kaltbach Fondue – into cheesemongers, independent and fine food retailers this September. Made from a blend of award- winning Swiss Kaltbach Le Gruyère AOP and Kaltbach Emmentaler, white wine and Kirsch, the rich, indulgent new offering should prove to be a hit. All consumers need do is warm it up and add their favourite accompaniments, fromboiled new potatoes to crusty sourdough bread, grissini sticks, charcuterie or crudites. It’s ideal not just for counters as the weather cools, but in foodservice as an easy option too. A hat trick for Perry Perry James Wakeman, chief of cheese at Rennet & Rind, has been named British Affineur of the Year for the third time. It’s only the fourth year of the competition, organised by the Academy of Cheese to demonstrate the skills of UK affineurs and cheesemongers –with Perry taking a ‘lay year’ to judge in 2024. As others in the category, he was challenged with pushing the boundaries on a truckle of Cheddar fromQuicke’s. The resulting cheese (named Dillon) was matured at a high temperature and humidity in cloth for three weeks, followed by rolling with a spiked device to develop intense notes close to the rind. “When you sell cheese to your customers, a lot of the time you don’t get a lot of feedback,” Perry said. “But here, in one room, you have the best cheese people in the world looking at your cheese and judging it. And it’s so nice to go down with all the other competitors, standing side-by-side, talking about what they did, how they did it, what they didn’t like, and what they did like. Everyone is sharing and growing.” Nick Bayne andMartin Knapp of The Fine Cheese Co in Bath won Best Washed Rind Cheese, Best Soft Cheese, Best Crumbly Cheese, and the People’s Choice award for their Cheddar entry. Roger Longman of White Lake Cheese won Best Blue Cheese. Cotherstone returns When famed cheese writer Patrick Rance wrote The Great British Cheese Book (published in 1982), having lounged by the Cross family’s fire at Quarry House Farm in Teesdale, enchanted by the slowprocess of crafting Cotherstone cheese, he declared that if Stiltonwas the king of cheeses, Cotherstone had to be the emperor. There were fears, nearly two years ago, when Joan Cross (who’d been making the cheese since childhood) retired, that the recipe would be put to pasture. But her son, and fourth generation farmer, Gordon stepped up to the table – and nowCotherstone is back in production. Not as heavilymarketed or recognised as Dales cheeses (such asWensleydale), Cotherstone first came to the attention of the cheese world in the 1860s, when it debuted in London (thanks to increasing rail services). Later, when Gordon’s father, Alwyn, struck up a conversation with Neal’s Yard Dairy founder Randolph Hodgson, it became one of the first farmhouse cheeses sold in the shop, ramping up production, and transforming Cotherstone from a firesidemake produced in the sitting roomGordon grewup in to a commercial operation. With this heritage under threat, Gordon couldn’t deny his calling. “My personal view, if we sold the business and it went to another maker, was that it might lose its unique flavour and texture,” he said. “I’ve been out of the country for 20 years. My kids are getting older. I want them to have a legacy, so I decided I would keep it on.” Significant investment wasmade last year, and nowCotherstone is back on the order books, largely via Carron Lodge and Neal’s Yard, who age it on to around threemonths for a stronger profile. Gordon describes the cheese as semi-hard and smoothwith a tang. “It remindsme of the Pennines on a cool, damp day.” Cheesemonger named Food Hero Andy Swinscoe, co-founder of The Courtyard Dairy in Yorkshire and a passionate advocate for traditional British farmhouse cheeses, has been named a Food Hero in the British Library Food Season. He was selected froma shortlist cheesemonger, he has built up a business that’s become an important platform for farmhouse producers to sell cheese and tell their stories.” Andy attributed the award to the entire team, and went on to say he was thrilled that the efforts they’ve put into reviving traditional cheesemaking have been recognised. “We will continue to build on the strong foundation that has been established, so that small-scale cheesemaking goes fromstrength to strength in the UK.” of eight potential winners, chosen for having an outstanding impact on the food we eat, food culture, or our understanding of food, with judges calling himone of themost knowledgeable, engaging and proactive experts in his area. “A successful