November 2022
Your TOG 'Mouse' Cheese board, that is, not your little squeaky grey rodent living behind the skirting board. An important distinction.
To coincide with the launch of our new 'Mouse' cheeseboard, we have teamed up with Westcombe Dairy just down the road in Somerset to bring you some recommendations for cheese to serve on your new board. We spoke with shop manager Paul Burton who knows a thing or two about cheese.
1. WESTCOMBE CHEDDAR
• UNPASTEURISED COW’S MILK
• AGED 12 - 18 MONTHS
One of only three cheeses classed as ‘Artisan Somerset Cheddar’ by Slow Food UK, Westcombe Cheddar is Westcombe's flagship cheese: a handcrafted, traditional clothbound cheddar made from unpasteurised milk right in the hills of East Somerset, just down the road from TOG HQ. Expressing the full character of Westcombe’s terroir, the Cheddar has a deep brothy flavour and mellow lactic tang. Notes of hazelnut, caramel and citrus come through on the long, smooth breakdown. It’s known locally as a 'five mile cheddar', as you’re still tasting it five miles down the road! BUY NOW
2. DUCKETT’S AGED CAERPHILLY
• UNPASTEURISED COW’S MILK
• AGED 3 - 4 MONTHS
Despite its Welsh origins, Caerphilly has been made by West Country cheesemakers since the 1800s. Originally a way to generate some short-term cash while their cheddars matured, it has since become an honorary Somerset cheese in its own right – and for good reason.
With its fresh character and clean lactic tang, Duckett’s Aged Caerphilly is the perfect foil to Westcombe Cheddar. Summer grass and raw mushroom flavours meld into a long savoury/umami finish. The real beauty of Aged Caerphilly, however, is the contrast between the crumbly interior and the softer area under the rind, essentially giving you two cheeses in one.
3. LITTLE ROLLRIGHT
• PASTEURISED COW’S MILK
• BRINE WASHED FOR 3 WEEKS
Since late 2019, former Neal's Yard Dairy intern David Jowett has been making his French-inspired washed rind cheeses on Manor Farm in the Cotswold village of Chedworth, Gloucestershire. Rollright is regularly washed in brine for three weeks, resulting in the thin orangey-coloured rind that surrounds the cheese's soft, buttery paste. The spruce band with which it is wrapped adds a note of pine to the cheese as well as holding it together as it ages.
This small version of Rollright is perfect for baking. The texture is soft and glossy, and the flavour milky, with substantial woody notes and a hint of peanut. BUY NOW
4. STICHELTON
• UNPASTEURISED COW’S MILK
• SOFT BLUE CHEESE
Made by Joe Schneider in Nottinghamshire, this raw milk blue cheese starts off delicate and crumbly, with notes reminiscent of the other northern territorial cheeses, becoming creamy and full flavoured on the tongue. Its scattered blue veining contrasts with the rust coloured rind that gives it a malted, toasted flavour toward the rind. BUY NOW.
Read TOG’s interview with Tom Calver, Director and Head Cheesemaker at Westcombe HERE.
