{"id":32197,"date":"2017-11-20T13:00:20","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T18:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=32197"},"modified":"2021-09-21T16:54:22","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T20:54:22","slug":"best-cheeses-year-anglo-celtic-isles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/best-cheeses-year-anglo-celtic-isles\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Cheeses Of The Year: The Anglo-Celtic Isles"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s great cheese nearly everywhere you look these days, whether you\u2019re planning to summer in the south of France or ski the slopes of Canada. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take you to five popular tourist regions\u2014the Alps, the Anglo-Celtic Isles, Australasia, Canada, and the Mediterranean\u2014complete with recommendations for places to visit, fun facts, and of course, some of the best wedges and wheels in the area.<\/em><\/p>\n

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F<\/span>rom Stonehenge to the Scottish Highlands and Dublin to Snowdonia, the Anglo-Celtic Isles\u2014England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland\u2014offer a wealth of history, culture, natural splendor…and, of course, curds. Cheddar and Stilton may encapsulate cheese from across the pond for many, but the resurrection of farmhouse tradition (first in the UK, then Ireland in the late 1970s) has led these two islands to punch above their weight at international competitions. The result: award-winning products characterized by experimentation respectful of tradition.<\/p>\n

GOLDEN CROSS<\/h3>\n

Golden Cross Cheese Company, Lewes, England<\/em><\/p>\n

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Golden Cross<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Divine intervention wasn\u2019t necessary for Golden Cross\u2014named for the rooftop cross of a local pub\u2014to nab gold at the latest Artisan Cheese Awards. Based on a Sainte-Maure recipe 25 years in the tweaking, this unpasteurized goat\u2019s milk log bears a bloomy Penicillium candidum rind and an interior firmer than its French cousin. Matured a couple of weeks and dusted with charcoal, its flavor is goaty and creamy.<\/p>\n

SPENWOOD<\/h3>\n

Village Maid Cheese, Riseley, England<\/em><\/p>\n

When Anne Wigmore launched Village Maid Cheese out of a garden shed in 1986, she called on memories of tasting Sardinian pecorino to create Spenwood. Aged six months, this hard ewe\u2019s milk cheese is thermized rather than pasteurized\u2014a gentler milk-heating process that allows the cream-colored wheels to retain a sweet, nutty character.<\/p>\n

ISLE OF MULL<\/h3>\n

Isle of Mull Near Tobermory, Scotland<\/em><\/p>\n

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Isle of Mull<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Using milk sourced from a herd of Swedish Red and Meuse Rhine Issel cows fed spent grain husks from a local distillery, it\u2019s little wonder that this multi-award-winning Scottish cheddar boasts an alcoholic tang in addition to robust flavor. Aged up to 18 months, the cheese\u2019s paste morphs in color from ivory in winter to cream in summer thanks to the herd\u2019s varying diet throughout the year.<\/p>\n

HAFOD WELSH ORGANIC CHEDDAR<\/h3>\n

Holden Farm Dairy, Lampeter, Wales<\/em><\/p>\n

Though launched in 2007, this wheel tastes of the distant past. Created by Sam Holden on Wales\u2019 oldest organic farm, unpasteurized Hafod<\/a> is made from a recipe that rolls back the shortcuts of cheesemaking science. This means a longer day in the dairy, but one that results in close-knit cheddar with nutty, buttery flavor and a long, mellow finish\u2014ripe for a gold at this year\u2019s Artisan Cheese Awards.<\/p>\n

CAVE AGED GOATS CHEESE<\/h3>\n

Ford Farm Cheesemakers, Dorchester, England<\/em><\/p>\n

This hard, pasteurized goat\u2019s cheese stormed the World Cheese Awards when it won this year\u2019s Best British Cheese accolade. Crafted using the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar PDO recipe, Cave Aged Goats Cheese is named for its aging space, Somerset\u2019s ancient Wookey Hole Caves. According to Ford Farm\u2019s Mike Pullin, this is the \u201csecret ingredient\u201d: The heady underground atmosphere seeps into the cheese\u2019s porous paste, enhancing its goaty flavor and caramel notes.<\/p>\n

DUMPLING<\/h3>\n

Wootton Organic Dairy, North Wootton, England<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dumpling<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Four years in development, Dumpling\u2014a soft cheese named for its resemblance to a soup dumpling\u2014scooped the Best Organic Cheese title at this year\u2019s British Cheese Awards. To achieve a balance of honeyed, grassy paste surrounding a fresh, lactic core, brothers Dave and James Bartlett employed a French-style acid set in which curd coagulates over a slow, 12 to 18-hour period with minimal use of rennet. Aged 10 days, this unpasteurized sheep\u2019s milk cheese may be ripened as long as a month to add punch on the palate.<\/p>\n

CORLEGGY<\/h3>\n

Corleggy Cheeses, Belturbet, Ireland<\/em><\/p>\n

Unpasteurized Corleggy\u2014a hard goat\u2019s milk cheese\u2014was one of 66 out of more than 3,000 cheeses to win Super Gold at the 2016 World Cheese Awards. Made in northern County Cavan by mother-and-son team Silke and Tom Cropp, vegetarian-rennet Corleggy (\u201clittle windy hill\u201d in Gaelic) forms a natural rind after a brine bath. Matured between eight weeks and four months, depending on the season, Corleggy\u2019s mild, nutty flavor pairs well with light red wine, such as pinot noir.<\/p>\n

DURRUS \u00d3G<\/h3>\n

Durrus Cheese, Coomkeen, Ireland<\/em><\/p>\n

A pioneer of Irish farmhouse wheels, Jeffa Gill created semi-soft Durrus<\/a> \u00d3g while attempting to make a Reblochon-style to use in tartiflette<\/i>. Aged three to five weeks, the washed rind\u2014named Best Irish Cheese at the 2017 British Cheese Awards\u2014has a rich, creamy flavor that reflects the diverse pastures on Atlantic-facing Sheep\u2019s Head peninsula, home to Durrus Cheese.<\/p>\n

FUN FACTS:<\/h2>\n