As a Wisconsin cheesophile, I’ve not restricted my my tastings to domestic cheeses. I’ve enjoyed a fair variety of Italian, French, Swiss, Dutch, Belgian, Danish, Norwegian, Spanish, Mexican, and even Canadian cheeses.
But besides the occasional Stilton, I realize I’ve never spent any significant time with English cheeses. Not even an actual English Cheddar!
In an attempt to rectify that, I picked up some Cheshire cheese (meh) and a ‘double Gloucester’ (rather nice, but not real memorable).
Can anyone educate me on finer points of English cheese appreciation? Which types should I essay next? Any I should avoid? And what the heck is the ‘double’ in the 'double Gloucester" mean?
Red Leicester and Wensleydale are, IMO bland and boring. The most amazing English cheeses are, for me, the rich ones. Usually unpasteurised and made in small batches.
In particular the famous Stinking Bishop, which is incredibly expensive, but exquisite. It’s a soft cheese, unpasteurised, in the brie style, made in small batches by a single artisan - and the rind is washed in perry (strong pear cider). Eaten so mature that it’s near liquid, it has the most divine taste, but it really lives up to its name - you won’t want it hanging around for too long.
There are all sorts of super-mature cheddars available too. When I see an American cheese called “sharp” I laugh. Really mature English cheddar is so sharp it makes your eyes water and the roof of your mouth itch.
As mentioned, Stilton’s lovely too. It’s a crumbly blue. The best stuff is matured in a porcelain pot, and is really moist and spreadable. It’s very strong and rich in flavour. They also do white stiltons, with white mold, and a lot of this gets gimmicked up with stuff like apricot or cranberry - worth a try.
No English cheese should be eaten without chutney, though. Always get chutney and nice fresh bread.
Wensleydale is a popular cheese, due, no doubt, to Wallace and Grommit. There’s far better northern cheeses, though, IMO, in particular Lancashire (“the Leigh toaster”), which is made at farms around my hometown. It can be pretty strong (tasty in local slang), white and very crumbly, and doesn’t turn stringy when toasted.
It’s almost impossible to get hold of outside of Lancashire IME (supermarkets here stock Wensleydale and Cheshire, hardly ever Lancashire, and Cheshire is not the same cheese as Lancashire, though Cheshire and Staffordshire are the same).
I’ve also never heard of Red Lancashire cheese. Lancashire is always white. Do you mean Red Leicester, Northern Piper?
I enjoy Stilton and Red Leicester: either on toast, in an omelette or on top of soup.
I would also recommend grapes as an accompaniment to any cheese/biscuit combo.
However I would admit that most mass-market English cheeses are pretty bland.
There are delightful local ones (my town market sells cheese with apricot, really strong cheese and goat’s milk cheese for example).
Also, unlike the French and Dutch, we don’t have many cheese shops. :o
Double Gloucester is made with full fat milk. Single isn’t.
IMHO the major difference between UK and French and Italian cheese quality is the customers. Good, properly aged British cheese is harder to find because too many people settle for the supermarket version. Double Gloucester can be rather fine, but often you get a dull long-life version.
So for English (and Welsh) cheese, head upmarket to find the real thing. Quicke’s would be a good place to start with cheddar. Here (in Australia) I would look to pay a little less for mature English cheddar than aged Comte.
Any non-cow British cheeses? I don’t like cow cheeses and, given how proud the Scotish are of their sheep, I figure there must be sheep cheeses in the Isle as well…
I am kind of baffled how the OP, a self confessed Vegemite eater, appears to have never tried Australian cheese, which is just about the best on earth (well Jindi alone have 3 best in the world awards).
I just had Stinking Bishop for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and it tasted similar to chewing on a rind of brie, although it was almost melted at room temperature. I may get roasted for saying that, but it was that strong sharp flavor that you feel in your nose rather than taste, and if you enjoy that then it’s definitely the cheese for you.
English blue cheeses tend to be really divine; I had a bit last weekend on some of the thick water crackers they use here instead of thinner saltines. The cheddars tend to be softer than their typical Wisconsin counterparts and less sharp.
One thing I noticed about supermarket cheeses here is that they tend to have a sweet flavor instead of what I typically think as “cheese” flavor (having grown up in the Midwest). Much closer to cottage cheese than “normal”. Some tend to crumble easily instead of slice nicely, especially Lancashire. Very good with apples.
I’m not sure where you live but there are some huge grocery chains that carry a few English cheeses. Definitely give it a try.
Depends what you are buying and where. Cheeses like Cheddar and the two you mention are widely available in denaturalised ‘plastic’ forms. No way are proper examples of any of these bland and boring.
Lots of ewe’s milk cheeses from Scotland. Try Swinzie [sp?] or if you prefer a blue cheese I like the Lanark Blue. There are also a number of goat cheeses but I’m not so keen and wouldn’t know which to recommend.
Very true, the difference between the specialist cheeses and the supermarket versions wrapped in plastic but with the same name is tremendous.
Unlike **jjimm **I don’t go for the really strong cheeses, to me they don’t have the fineness of flavour - you just get the roof of your mouth burnt off. Personally my favourite is a good mature Cropwell Bishop stilton - not **too **strong - eaten with Digestive biscuits, washed down with a decent red wine (drools over keyboard ). For a hard, non-blue cheese I would go for Mrs Kirkham’s Traditional Lanashire (which you can get down south Capt. Ridley!).
One of the local markets* imports cheeses from Ford Farm. I have tried most of them now that they import. I love Wensleydale the best and on a cracker.
I have had their ‘Oakwood’ Smoked Cheddar rings and it is excellent but I have had a better smoked cave aged cheddar from the Howe Caverns in NY state.
Wensleydale with Cranberries & Double Gloucester with Chives & Onions were both enjoyable cheeses. The Wensleydale with Cranberries again on crackers or toast and the Double Gloucester with Chives & Onions just in cubes to snack on.
I’ve tried a few others but I can’t give you a review of them. They did not stand out.
How did the Cheese of the month club work out?
Jim
Delicious Orchards, a very large farmers market and bakery and probably the best one in Jersey.
Must just be Edinburgh, then. Millions of varieties of cheddar (some of which are quite good, though) and about three different regional cheeses at my local supermarkets. There’s actually a wider selection of French cheeses than British ones!
I look forward to trying a truly sharp english Cheddar. Most american cheddars are junk. But I’ll match my local cheese factory’s ultra-aged cheddars against any other, and expect it to be at least a contender. They once gifted me with an 11 year old 5 pound wheel of their cheddar; I’ve had nothing like it since, and I regularly consume 5-7 year old cheddars.
I do thank you for your input, especially as regards chutney. We go thru a lot a chutney in our house, but mostly with indian food; I’ll have to start adding it to my cheese snacks.
). For a hard, non-blue cheese I would go for Mrs Kirkham’s Traditional Lanashire (which you can get down south Capt. Ridley!).