Kitabı oku: «The Taste of Britain», sayfa 3
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DEVON AND CORNWALL.
Cornish Yarg Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
PRESSED COW’S MILK CHEESE, WITH NETTLE LEAVES AS A WRAPPING, MADE IN 2 SIZES, 15CM DIAMETER AND 25CM; BOTH ROUGHLY 7CM HIGH. WEIGHT: 1KG AND 3KG. FORM: A TRUCKLE AND A FLAT WHEEL. COLOUR: ALMOST WHITE CURD, WITH A POWDERY GREY RIND THAT SHOWS A PATTERN DERIVED FROM THE NETTLE LEAVES IN WHICH IT IS WRAPPED. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: A YOUNG YARG CHEESE HAS A FRESH, LEMONY FLAVOUR AND A MOIST, CRUMBLY CURD; IT SOFTENS AS IT MATURES, DEVELOPING A DEEPER FLAVOUR.
HISTORY:
The use of leaves of common plants such as nettles as substrata for draining cheeses, or wrappings for the finished product, has a long history, though now unusual. ‘Nettle Cheese’ was mentioned in the seventeenth century by Gervase Markham, who considered that a new milk cheese ripened on nettles was ‘the finest of all summer cheeses which can be eaten’.
Although Cornwall was never famous for cheese in the way of counties to the east, some was made. A recipe ‘to make our good Cornish cheese’ was published in Farmhouse Fare, a collection of recipes from farmers’ wives all over the country. The details suggest that modern Cornish Yarg is not dissimilar. It was developed in the 1970s by Alan and Jennie Gray (‘Yarg’ is simply ‘Gray’ spelt backwards). It has been awarded a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).
TECHNIQUE:
Milk from designated herds of local Friesian cattle is used; the milk is pasteurized. Starter is added, and the milk left for about an hour, before renneting with vegetarian rennet. It is then left for another hour. The curd is cut by hand, drained gradually and the mass stirred, recut and turned until considered dry enough. It is milled through a peg mill into pieces of about 50mm then filled into moulds. It is left under medium pressure for about 18 hours, after which it is unmoulded. Brining is for 6 hours. The cheeses are wrapped in nettle leaves; these encourage the growth of penicillium moulds essential for ripening. The cheeses are stacked in controlled humidity and temperature for 3 weeks, turned daily.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, CORNWALL.
Curworthy Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
PRESSED, PASTEURIZED AND UNPASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE. THERE ARE 3 CHEESES IN THIS GROUP, CURWORTHY, DEVON OKE (THE LARGEST) AND BELSTONE. DIMENSIONS: 10CM DIAMETER, 4.5CM DEEP (450G, CURWORTHY ONLY); 12CM DIAMETER, 5CM DEEP (1.1KG, CURWORTHY AND BELSTONE); 15CM DIAMETER, 6CM DEEP (2.3KG, CURWORTHY AND BELSTONE); 16CM DIAMETER, 10CM DEEP (4.7KG, DEVON OKE). COLOUR: BUTTERY YELLOW, DARKER TOWARDS THE EDGES, WITH A FEW SMALL HOLES. TEXTURE AND FLAVOUR: SMOOTH, SWEET, WITH OVERTONES OF DRIED GRASS AND SHARP AFTERNOTE.
HISTORY:
The Curworthy recipe was devised in the early 1980s using old instructions for ‘quick’ cheeses from the South West combined with local expertise. Sources included Gervase Markham’s Country Contentments (1620), Baxter’s Library of Agriculture (1846) and Dorothy Hartley’s recipe for slipcoat or slipcote (1954). Slipcoat is a term which was used quite widely in England until the beginning of the last century meaning either a cheese which burst its coat and was eaten young because it would never mature properly (usually referring to a Stilton), or a creamy, light-textured cheese to be eaten young, made with only a light, brief pressing -a category to which Curworthy belongs. The initial development was carried out by the Farmer’s Weekly (the main trade journal for the farming community), Wanda and David Morton (farm managers working for the magazine) and the staff of the local Agricultural Development and Advisory Service. Curworthy is an emergent product; it began initially as an experiment in diversification. Having proved successful, the farm and recipe were acquired by the current makers in 1987 and output has increased steadily.
TECHNIQUE:
The same method is employed for all 3 cheeses. Animal rennet is used for Curworthy and Devon Oke, both of which can be of pasteurized or unpasteurized milk; Belstone is always made from unpasteurized, using vegetable rennet. Milk from a designated herd of Friesian cattle is used. The milk is pasteurized if required and then brought to the temperature necessary for cheese-making; starter and rennet are added. The curd is cut 2 ways, stirred and scalded to about 38°C, then drained and piled at one end of the vat, before being filled into the mould. It is pressed for about 2.5 hours, after which the cheese is removed and brined. Maturing varies with size, but is a minimum of 6 weeks for the smallest Curworthy and up to 6 months for Devon Oke.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, OKEHAMPTON (DEVON).
‘Bachelor’s fare: bread and cheese, and kisses.’
JONATHAN SWIFT
Dorset Blue Vinney Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
BLUE MOULD, HARD, SKIMMED COW’S MILK CHEESE, MADE IN CYLINDERS OF 1.35-2.3KG AND 6KG. COLOUR: CREAM OR YELLOW, WITH FINE BLUE-GREEN VEINS. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: STRONG, SHARP BLUE FLAVOUR; HARD TEXTURE.
HISTORY:
The word vinney derives from an archaic word vinew, which meant mould. It was in general use until the sixteenth century but was subsequently confined to South West dialect. Here, it was associated with a blue-mould cheese made in Dorset. This was certainly known in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as a cheese made by the wives of dairymen, using milk left after the cream had been removed for sale or conversion into butter. Thus it was always a very low-fat, rather hard cheese (Rance, 1982). Numerous recipes survive. The growth of blue mould in the cheese was regarded as the defining characteristic, and was encouraged by various methods, including placing the cheeses in barns or harness rooms to mature.
In the twentieth century, several factors adversely affected production: the secure market for whole, fresh milk provided by the Milk Marketing Board; the invention of efficient mechanical devices for separating milk and cream, which left no residual fat, producing a very hard cheese; and limits on cheese-makers imposed by the Ministry of Food during 1939-45. Until the 1970s, output remained low and the cheese was hard to find. A true Blue Vinney is once again available commercially.
TECHNIQUE:
The milk from morning milking is skimmed by hand. Skimmed-milk powder is added to adjust the fat content, to make a cheese suitable for modern taste. Starter culture, rennet from vegetable sources and penicillin mould are added. The curd is cut into 2cm cubes and left overnight. Next day, the curd is drained, cut into blocks, milled, salted and packed into moulds. These remain in a warm dairy for 5 days. The cheeses are unmoulded, spread with a paste of flour and blue mould, and ripened for 10 weeks to 5 months, with spiking after 1 month to encourage the spread of mould through the cheese. Dorset Blue has been awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DORSET.
Double Gloucester Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
HARD, PRESSED, UNPASTEURIZED AND PASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE. DOUBLE GLOUCESTER IS MADE IN A FLAT WHEEL ABOUT 30CM DIAMETER, 12CM HIGH, WEIGHING ABOUT 11KG. COLOUR: PALE ORANGE TO DEEP RED-ORANGE. SOME CHEESES HAVE ANNATTO ADDED TO THE CURD. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: MELLOW, ROUND FLAVOUR AND CLOSE CREAMY TEXTURE.
HISTORY:
Two cheeses are associated with Gloucestershire: Double Gloucester, and the less common, lower fat Single (see below). Despite a common heritage, they are separate. The differences of method are subtle and the origin of the terms double and single obscure. They evolved in the late eighteenth century, when the traditional method for making ‘best’ cheese developed into one calling for the whole milk of 2 milkings, or the cream from an evening milking plus the whole milk from a morning milking (Rance, 1982). Double may refer to this use of 2 lots of milk. Alternatively, the terms may have meant nothing more than double being twice as thick as single (Black, 1989).
Gloucestershire, which includes both the Cotswolds and the low-lying land in the valley of the River Severn, has certainly produced cheese for a long time. Rance (1982) states that a regional cheese was exported in the eighth century AD. It is impossible to know what this was like. Fourteenth-century records show a Cotswold manor making cow’s and sheep’s milk cheeses and sending them to the nuns who owned the farm, in Caen in Normandy. If Gloucester cheese did incorporate sheep’s milk, no trace of this habit has been found beyond this isolated record.
Evidence for cheese-making throughout the county during the early modern period can be seen in the tall farmhouses which contain a cheese-room on the third storey; domestic inventories also mention much cheese-making equipment. One area, the Vale of Berkeley, in the south, became very important. Possibly the local Gloucester breed of cattle, whose milk is particularly good for cheese-making, contributed to the excellence of their cheese.
At first, Gloucester was a coloured cheese made from the full-cream milk of a single milking. These were known as ‘best’ until Double Gloucester was recognized as a separate type at the end of the eighteenth century. The cheeses continued to have a high reputation, although disease reduced the population of Gloucester cattle and they were replaced by ‘improved’ breeds from the Midlands. Cheese production became factory-centred in the twentieth century. A little farmhouse cheese survived and renewed interest in old breeds led to the revival of Gloucester cattle and the use of their milk in cheese from the 1970s onwards.
Several folk customs are associated with cheeses in this region. One is the ‘cheese rolling’ on Whit Monday at Cooper’s Hill, between Gloucester and Cheltenham. Four cheeses are rolled down the hill and chased by an assembled crowd. A similar merriment was recorded at Randwick.
TECHNIQUE:
Current practice is to make Double Gloucester from the whole milk of 2 milkings. It is heated to 28°C and starter is added. Annatto is mixed through the milk and then rennet is added and the milk left 45-60 minutes. The curd is cut into cubes of about 3mm and stirred for 20-40 minutes whilst the heat is raised to about 37°C. Stirring continues until the correct acidity is reached. The curd is allowed to settle and the whey drained off slowly. It is cut into fairly large blocks, piled and turned every 15 minutes as the acidity develops. Milling is through a fine curd mill; then salt is added (about 750g for each 45kg), stirred in thoroughly and allowed to dissolve. The curd is placed in moulds lined with cheese-cloth. Pressing continues for 2 days; the cheese is removed and turned once during this time, and increasing pressure is used on the second day. The cheese is ripened at 8°C and turned daily; then matured for 3-8 months.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
WEST ENGLAND, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.
Single Gloucester Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
PRESSED, COW’S MILK CHEESE, ORIGINALLY MADE IN A WHEEL 6.5CM THICK, ABOUT 40CM DIAMETER, WEIGHING ABOUT 7KG. Now MADE IN VARYING WEIGHTS, 900G-3.5KG. COLOUR: PALE LEMON. FLAVOUR: MILD, SWEET-SHARP, WITH CREAMY FINISH.
HISTORY:
Single Gloucester became distinct from the closely related Double Gloucester (see the entry above) at the end of the eighteenth century. Patrick Rance (1982) said that they were praised by William Marshall in 1796, who considered them equal to ‘whole-milk cheeses from counties with poorer soil and less admirable cattle,’ even though they were made partially from skimmed milk. Single Gloucester evolved as a lower-fat cheese, smaller in size. Unlike Double, it was not coloured. The making of Double Gloucester flourished in the Vale of Berkeley, whilst the Single was made on farms in the north and east of the county. They were more seasonal, some only made during the spring, and they were only matured for 2 months. They have never been as widely marketed as Double Gloucester and for much of the twentieth century only small amounts were made. Interest was renewed in the 1970s and it is now on sale again. Awarded Protected Designation of Origin.
TECHNIQUE:
This cheese uses a mixture of whole and skimmed milk. It is heated to 19°C and starter added, followed by a vegetarian rennet. The curd is left to set for about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The curd is cut, stirred to break it up further, and the heat is raised to 34°C. The curd is drained, cut into relatively small squares and turned. It is recut and turned at least twice more to make very small pieces. It is then sliced and milled through a Cheshire mill, and salt is added. It is filled into cheese-cloth-lined moulds. Pressing is for 48 hours, during which the cheese is removed, turned and put back in the cloth, then given a final pressing for 2 hours without the cloth. Maturing: 3-12 weeks.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
WEST ENGLAND, GLOUCESTERSHIRE, DEVON.
Sharpham Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
MOULD-RIPENED, SOFT, UNPASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE IN 3 SIZES. WEIGHT: 250G; 500G; OR 1KG. FORM: THE SMALLEST CHEESE IS SQUARE; THE LARGER ROUND. COLOUR: WHITE MOULD CRUST WITH STRIPES FROM STRAW MAT; DEEP RICH YELLOW-CREAM. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: SHARP AND CHALKY WHEN YOUNG, RIPENING TO A SOFT CREAMY TEXTURE WITH MILD MUSHROOM FLAVOUR.
HISTORY:
Sharpham cheese belongs to the new cheeses which have arisen during the last 40 years as the artisan side of the industry began to revive from the damage inflicted by rationing during and after World War II. Several craftsmen have become well established in Devon, a county traditionally famous for dairy produce - in the early eighteenth century, the traveller Celia Fiennes noted that the dairy market in Exeter occupied 3 streets.
Experiments were carried on for some years at Sharpham House, near Totnes, before the present recipe was evolved. The particular type of milk used - from Jersey cattle - has a high butterfat content. Much background research was undertaken in France and, eventually, a Coulommiers type (widely taught in Britain and popular with small cheese-makers throughout the last century) proved successful. Sharpham has been sold since the early 1980s.
TECHNIQUE:
Milk from the Sharpham Estate Jersey herd is first flash-heated and cooled. Starter is added, and the milk ripened, vegetable rennet and a penicillin strain are added. The curd is cut by hand and separated from the whey; some of the whey is scooped off after a few minutes and the curd cut again; then it is hand-ladled into moulds and drained. The cheeses are turned, drained further and salted. Maturing is at a relatively warm temperature for about a week; then they are left for the mould to develop. They are wrapped and transferred to cooler temperatures to finish ripening.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, TOTNES (DEVON).
Vulscombe Cheese
DESCRIPTION:
SOFT GOAT’S CHEESE, IN ROUNDS 6CM DIAMETER, 4CM DEEP. WEIGHT: ABOUT 180G. COLOUR: WHITE. FLAVOUR: CREAMY, DENSE, SLIGHT LEMON TANG, VERY MILD GOAT FLAVOUR. VARIANTS ARE FLAVOURED WITH HERBS AND GARLIC, OR WITH CRUSHED BLACK PEPPERCORNS.
HISTORY:
This is one of many goat’s milk cheeses which have become so important in British artisan manufacture during the last 40 years. Before, with the exception of a few families who kept milking-goats as a hobby or to provide milk for children allergic to that of cows, not many paid attention to making goat’s cheese and none reached the market place. During the 1960s and 1970s, interest in self-sufficiency and small-holding led to the greater popularity of goat’s milk products. This was given extra momentum by changes in agriculture and the necessity for diversification in the 1980s. There are now many well-established makers of goat’s cheese, spread throughout Britain, with concentrations in Kent and Sussex, North Yorkshire, Cumbria and the Scottish Borders. Though receiving little support from government and small in volume, this is a dynamic and creative sector. Recipes may be inspired by French examples or British originals evolved through trial and error. It is impossible to list them all. British taste generally leans towards young, cream-textured cheeses characterized by a mild goat flavour and slightly acid freshness, although some people do make mould-ripened, soft cheeses, or hard, pressed cheese, or blue cheeses using goat’s milk. Vulscombe is based on the acid curd method, used by cottagers and farmers’ wives during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to make small quantities of fresh soft cheese for immediate consumption.
TECHNIQUE:
British goat cheeses are a diverse subject and it is impossible to discuss them all. One which represents the general taste for mild creaminess has been selected. Vulscombe is named for the valley where it is made. The area has a mixed farming economy in which dairy products are important. The cheese derives from the milk of one herd of goats grazing old-established, flower-rich pastures at an altitude of about 250 metres in central Devon. Supplementary hay and silage are fed in winter and a grain-based concentrate is used for lactating animals. Cheese-making begins once 3 milkings have been accumulated. The temperature is raised to 10°C and a cultured starter added. Then it rises to 32°C over some hours and incubation continues until the milk has separated into curds and whey. Straining is through muslin and cheese-cloth for about 36 hours, then the curd is salted and herbs or peppercorns added if appropriate. It is ladled into moulds and pressed lightly for 24 hours.
REGION OF PRODUCTION:
SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DEVON.
Whey Butter
DESCRIPTION:
BUTTER MADE FROM THE WHEY. IN COLOUR IT IS PALE GOLD; IN FLAVOUR, IT IS DESCRIBED AS ‘NUTTY’ OR SLIGHTLY CHEESY, THIS DEEPENS WITH AGE.
HISTORY:
Whey butter has probably been produced by cheese-makers in Britain for many centuries. Whey is the by-product of cheese-making, a thin liquid separated from the curd in the early stages. Depending on the type of cheese, the whey carries with it a small proportion of butter-fat and, in some areas, this is collected and churned into butter. Val Cheke (1959) states that, in the early medieval period, one of the duties of the dairy maid was to make whey butter and there are many references from later centuries relating to this practice. Maria Rundell (1807) gave details of how to manage cream for whey butter, a process which required the whey to stand a day and a night before it was skimmed, then boiled, poured into a pan of cold water and skimmed again ‘as the cream rises’ - this is not unlike making clotted cream. She remarks, ‘Where new-milk cheese is made daily, whey-butter for common and present use may be made to advantage.’ This statement still holds true today, and it is made in many cheese-making areas.
