Speciality-Food-Magazine-November-December-2024

CHEESE UNCUT 28 New retail perspectives from industry experts “ChristmasCheese” H o here we are again, Christmas just around the corner and fingers crossed so are lots of consumers. Here’s hoping that the interest rates are more favourable for the spenders, leading to a jolly good time for all. There is still only a fraction of restaurants, pubs and hotels that sell handmade artisan cheese. I don’t mean the waxed truckles that you find at so called artisan food festivals, I am talking about those exceptional handmade masterpieces of soft, crumbly, smelly, stretchy and hard styles of cheese made from a single dairy herd that are cared for ethically and produce simply brilliant milk. Encouraging your customers to choose a plate of hand-made artisan cheese from single herd provenance that dine on rich pastures is going to take a little bit of work. As a good cheesemonger the back stories of such mighty cheeses are of paramount importance. Letting the consumer know about the breed of animal, its rich diet and about the cheesemakers and their peculiar and wonderful idiosyncrasies is great fun. This amount of information genuinely sells the cheese. Of course, the sample is the cherry on top. The monger knows the cheese well, and the last part of the script is for the consumer to test out the goods – and boom… “I’ll have 200 grams please”, along with a big cheesy grin. When you are choosing your board for Christmas, why not choose a handmade selection from a local cheesemonger or a good wholesale cheesemonger. Try to avoid the larger food wholesalers who may carry good cheese but are limited and often do not know about the actual product or even how to look after it. Get the cheesemongers to come in and talk to the team. I delight in doing this and seeing JAMES GRANT NO2 POUND STREET the reaction of the chefs and front of house team when they taste these glorious creations. Your staff will take on board the stories about how the recipe was founded, where it is made, who makes it, why it tastes like it does etc. Some of you reading this are already on board and actively selling exceptional cheese selections. I am confident that this decision to list and recommend such cheeses is mostly because of a cheesemonger’s recommendation or possibly your own superb passion for brilliant cheese. I am sure that you would all like to increase your sales this Christmas season. Perhaps your parties can be swayed to have an extra course of cheese or even a small board per table to finish and enhance their Christmas meal. If you can invest some quality time to train and introduce your staff to real handmade artisan cheese, I know that you will see the benefit. After coming back from Lancashire and helping to host The People’s Cheese – Heritage Edition it was made even more clear to me that we have some seriously exceptional territorial cheese in the UK. Heritage cheese is a group of cheese made exclusively in the counties and territories throughout the British Isles. The Heritage cheeses to look out for this Christmas are Cheshire, Lancashire, Gloucester, Caerffili, Leicester, Stilton, Dunlop, Cheddar and Wensleydale. Why buy these? Well, it is because they are totally different to the mass-produced same-name offerings in the supermarkets. These cheeses are a totally different breed, the flavour profile is immense, the cheese holds moisture, and it looks great. These cheeses truly represent their regions and the flavour shines through. Simply, if you’re putting on a cheeseboard this year in your business or at home, celebrate home grown British handmade and shout about them as much as you can! The heritage cheeses to recommend this Christmas are: Bourne’s Cheshire, Cropwell Bishop Stilton, Keen’s Mature Cheddar, Dunlop Dairy – Dunlop Cheese, Caws Cenarth – Caerffili, Crumps Gloucester, Sparkenhoe Red Leicester, Stonebeck Wensleydale and my absolute favourite Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire. Try Lancashire with Eccles cakes – super yummy. @specialityfood Encourage your customers to choose a plate of hand-made artisan cheese fromsingle-herdprovenance that dine on richpastures Exciting induction for cheesemonger Somerset Cheddar named People’s Choice winner Two-time winner of Affineur of the Year, PerryWakeman, has recently joined the cheese Hall of Fame, having been welcomed into the prestigious Guilde Internationale des Fromagers. It’s a significant milestone for the chief of cheese at Rennet & Rind, who is a staunch supporter of the British artisan food scene and known within the industry for championing cheesemakers, while pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in nurturing, maturing and selling cheese. Perry joins fellow Brits Charlie Turnball and Jenny Linford in the Guilde – a global community of cheese masters and experts dedicated to upholding the traditions and heritage of speciality cheese. It’s considered an exclusive ‘club’, open only to those who have made significant contributions to the industry – a testament to Perry’s work, palate and skill. The honour cements Perry’s position as one of the UK’s leading cheese experts as he continues on his mission to share incredible cheeses with food lovers. Keen’s ExtraMature Cheddar has been voted ‘People’s Choice’ during the online finale of a ‘cheese battle’ organised by The Real Cheese Project. Following the success of 2023’s Great British & Irish Cheddar Challenge, this year was the Heritage Edition of the tasting event, with the final streamed live fromMrs Kirkham’s Cheese in Lancashire, compered by The Real Cheese Project co-founder James Grant of No2 Pound Street, and cheese lover and comedianMarcus Brigstocke. Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar was tasted by online viewers alongside Blue Stilton fromCropwell Bishop Creamery, Mrs Bourne’s Cheshire Cheese and Thelma’s Original Caerffili fromCaws Cenarth, with the heritage of each cheese explained by the maker, and detailed tasting notes and observations provided on the night by guests including Jane Quicke fromQuicke’s and Lucy Cufflin from Chiswick Cheese Market. Two rounds of public voting at Chiswick Cheese Market preceded the event, which began with 40 entrants, across nine categories, whittled down by tasters to the four finalists. This latest accolade for the Keen family reflects the enduring popularity of traditional artisan Cheddar. The Keens have been producing cheese at Moorhayes Farm in Somerset since 1899, continuing to use rawmilk from their 250-strong herd of Friesian cows, taking their Extra Mature Cheddar to 18 months for a moist texture and full-bodied flavour with onion notes and a defined tang. Cheesemakers White Lake Cheese have announced the release of their latest cheese – a flavourful twist on an award-winner. Smo’King of the Castle is a gently oat smoked version of their award- winning King of the Castle cheese – a semi hard goats’ Caerphilly-style cheese which is based on an old family recipe and is made using unpasteurisedmilk sourced fromBagborough Farm, near SheptonMallet, Somerset, on which White Lake Cheese is based. White Lake Cheese has experimented with creating a smoked cheese for a long period of time, and has found that King of the Castle is the perfect partner for a gentle, moreish smoked flavour. Smo’King of the Castle has a nutty flavour and a sumptuous caramel colour that develops during the smoking process. White Lake Cheese release smoked cheese