{"id":36924,"date":"2019-07-17T10:40:54","date_gmt":"2019-07-17T14:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=36924"},"modified":"2020-12-07T16:05:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T21:05:10","slug":"bucking-tradition-and-brexit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/bucking-tradition-and-brexit\/","title":{"rendered":"Bucking Tradition (and Brexit)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">M<\/span>ike Thomson grins at me from behind huge science-geek glasses as he holds out a nibble of blue-veined cheese for me to try. The annual May food fair thrown by Sheridans Cheesemongers just outside of Dublin is underway: Sheep have been nudged out of their pasture and replaced by striped tents, smells of grilled burgers and buttery escargot float through the air, and craft brewers sling beer into plastic cups to be carried over to a lawn where guitarists strum. Normally such an idyllic scene would be cause for a smile.<\/p>\n<p>But Thomson has several reasons not to grin. Many parents immediately discourage their children from tasting his blue cheese. (\u201cHere, let them try it,\u201d he says, evenhandedly.) Fresh may be the latest culinary buzzword, but Thomson doesn\u2019t play into the trend\u2014his sign says, \u201cKeep It Mouldy,\u201d an homage to the not-so-fresh-smelling cheeses he produces at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mfcheese.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike\u2019s Fancy Cheese<\/a>. Seemingly another strike against him: Everyone here is Irish, yet as a Northern Ireland native, Thomson is actually a citizen of the United Kingdom. Already indebted to 100 investors, the 33-year-old now has Brexit hanging over his head, too.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_36929\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36929\" class=\"wp-image-36929 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_6-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"2250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_6-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_6-copy-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_6-copy-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_6-copy-683x1024.jpg 683w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-36929\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mike Thomson of Mike&#8217;s Fancy Cheese<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The particulars of Great Britain leaving the European Union have been debated for more than three years, still without full resolution. In Northern Ireland, two decades after the Troubles, the fragile peace of an open-bordered land is at stake. For four decades\u2014from 1968 to1998\u2014recurrent bombings and other deadly violence reflected the tension between Catholics and Protestants in the country. Today, the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is unmanned, and residents of the North\u2014while officially British citizens\u2014can choose to hold a British or Irish passport. (Thomson\u2019s is Irish.)<\/p>\n<p>For Thomson, his tenuous start-up livelihood is also threatened. Business-crushing tariffs could easily be added to his cheese if it\u2019s considered a UK export to the Republic of Ireland or continental Europe (70 percent of his cheese is currently exported to one place or the other). Once he\u2019s saturated Northern Ireland\u2019s small market, it will likely become increasingly difficult to grow and pay back his loans. \u201cThere\u2019s no one advocating for Northern Ireland and its agriculture at the negotiating table,\u201d says an Irish politician who wishes to remain anonymous. But Thomson still has hope he can succeed. \u201cWe\u2019re a small enough business,\u201d he says. \u201cI think we can get by.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Sheridan, co-founder of Sheridans Cheesemongers, calls Thomson one of the most promising young cheesemaker she\u2019s seen lately. I bite into the morsel Thomson handed me. The cheese is a bit like Stilton but brighter, with some citrus amidst the usual dairy-barn tang. Thomson calls it Young Buck. If staying in business depended purely on the quality of this cheese, there would be no question of survival. Unfortunately for Thomson, the longevity of Mike\u2019s Fancy Cheese is a bit more complicated.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36926\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_2-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_2-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_2-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_2-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Getting Started<\/strong><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thomson discovered&nbsp;the world of artisan cheese&nbsp;as a teenager working behind the counter&nbsp;at&nbsp;Belfast\u2019s Arcadia Deli.&nbsp;He\u2019d always enjoyed cheese, but meeting the people who actually made it fascinated him.&nbsp;When he came across a&nbsp;cheesemaking&nbsp;course at England\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheese-bites\/getting-schooled-cheese\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">School of Artisan Food<\/a> a few years later, he was ready to try his hand.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">During the program,&nbsp;students&nbsp;planned to&nbsp;visit the Marcel Petite&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Comt\u00e9<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;caves&nbsp;in eastern France.&nbsp;Just&nbsp;before&nbsp;they&nbsp;were&nbsp;about&nbsp;to depart,&nbsp;Thomson&nbsp;discovered&nbsp;he\u2019d lost his passport\u2014he&nbsp;couldn\u2019t&nbsp;leave the country.&nbsp;Instead, he&nbsp;traveled&nbsp;to&nbsp;Hampshire Cheeses, and later, to&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sparkenhoe<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;Farm&nbsp;in&nbsp;Warwickshire, U.K.,&nbsp;to learn the art of&nbsp;Red Leicester\u2013making.&nbsp;And he excelled.&nbsp;After&nbsp;completing the course,&nbsp;he became head&nbsp;cheesemaker of&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sparkenhoe\u2019s<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;Red Leicester. Thomson describes&nbsp;the experience fondly:&nbsp;\u201cHappy days, happy days.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">The plan was to&nbsp;eventually&nbsp;return to Northern Ireland, where,&nbsp;according to his research, no one had produced raw-milk cheese in 50 years. Thomson&nbsp;presented&nbsp;his experience, business plan, and letters of recommendation&nbsp;to&nbsp;four banks, but&nbsp;still none of them would lend him money. He was 26 years old&nbsp;and had no collateral.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36928\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_5-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_5-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_5-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_5-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_5-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/>&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thomson turned&nbsp;instead&nbsp;to a brand-new European crowdfunding platform,&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Seedrs<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">.&nbsp;As money came in, he&nbsp;quickly learned to use the royal \u201cwe\u201d in describing his business goals, even though he was a one-man band. A&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Sparkenhoe<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;colleague&nbsp;donated&nbsp;nearly&nbsp;15 thousand dollars. His mother\u2019s&nbsp;extensive&nbsp;Irish-Catholic family pulled together the same. Within a month,&nbsp;he had more than 100&nbsp;thousand dollars&nbsp;in hand from&nbsp;around 100&nbsp;investors. By 2013,&nbsp;he was ready&nbsp;to start making cheese.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thomson began with a&nbsp;circa-1919 Stilton recipe and&nbsp;experimented&nbsp;from there. He still does every step by hand, including ladling and draining the curds and piercing each wheel 250 times with a&nbsp;metal&nbsp;skewer&nbsp;to ensure the&nbsp;even&nbsp;distribution of blue mold. The resulting cheese has its own character, its texture softer and&nbsp;moister&nbsp;than a traditional Stilton, with a well-developed&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">mushroomy<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;rind, light&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">blueing<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">, and that bright citrus tang.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Young Buck tends to make believers out of even&nbsp;the biggest&nbsp;blue cheese&nbsp;haters.&nbsp;\u201c<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">It created an immediate shift in my attitude towards blue cheese,\u201d&nbsp;wrote diner Mark Jordan in an online review.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Jordan had&nbsp;almost asked Belfast\u2019s Michelin-starred&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Eipic<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;restaurant to leave it off a cheese board last year, since he\u2019d never liked blue cheese.&nbsp;Then&nbsp;he&nbsp;tasted&nbsp;Young Buck&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">and noted it&nbsp;was&nbsp;\u201cquite possibly the nicest cheese I [had]&nbsp;ever tasted in my 57 years of being a foodie.\u201d<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36930\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_1-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_1-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_1-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_1-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-contrast=\"none\"><strong>Making a Go of It<\/strong><\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">To&nbsp;create a great&nbsp;product is one thing;&nbsp;to&nbsp;advertise&nbsp;it properly is&nbsp;quite&nbsp;another. Thomson isn&#8217;t afraid to show industrial imagery in his marketing. His Instagram feed&nbsp;feels&nbsp;urban and modern: delivery vans,&nbsp;graffitied&nbsp;walls, blue hairnets, and metal vats, with&nbsp;nary&nbsp;a cow in sight. \u201cWhat pisses me off is&nbsp;any company that markets&nbsp;itself as rolling fields,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you\u2019re starting a modern business, it\u2019s going to have certain hygiene standards. We played on that as a positive.\u201d&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Kevin Sheridan took notice of Thomson&#8217;s fresh approach and raw, beyond-rural imagery. &#8220;You tend to see pictures of cottages, old stools, maybe a campfire&nbsp;[in cheese marketing]. But modern cheesemakers can use great design and technology. We can&nbsp;[respect]&nbsp;the good old things, and then move forward.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thomson invites me to visit his production facility in Newtownards, a slightly gritty area outside Belfast. I meet him at what&nbsp;appears to be&nbsp;a modest self-storage complex. A baker, a yogurt maker,&nbsp;a tech repair company, and a&nbsp;few&nbsp;gyms occupy nearby garages.&nbsp;Clad in&nbsp;a&nbsp;blue hairnet and rubber boots, Thomson leads me through the small room where the curds are produced,&nbsp;which is suffused with&nbsp;the scents of&nbsp;yeast and booze. We&nbsp;head&nbsp;to&nbsp;where the wheels are aged,&nbsp;a&nbsp;space&nbsp;that&nbsp;practically pierces our noses&nbsp;with ammonia.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_36932\" style=\"width: 1510px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-36932\" class=\"size-full wp-image-36932\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_11-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_11-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_11-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_11-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_11-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-36932\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cutting the curd for Young Buck<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">While he primarily sells at farmers\u2019 markets and to restaurants, buyers are also welcome to&nbsp;visit&nbsp;his&nbsp;cheesemaking&nbsp;facilities. \u201cThis is our own&nbsp;&lt;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">i<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&gt;Breaking Bad&lt;\/<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"><em>i<\/em><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\"><em>&gt;<\/em><\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;garage,\u201d Thomson jokes when three customers who\u2019d recently met him at a cheese show pop in. \u201cThat\u2019s the authenticity,\u201d one says as she makes her way through his office&nbsp;where the desk&nbsp;consists of&nbsp;a strip of plywood on top of two sawhorses,&nbsp;complete with Thomson\u2019s laptop.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">The buyer stocks up on wheels that Thomson pulls from a picnic cooler. \u201cBang on, me boy, bang on,\u201d she says as she leaves.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">And so&nbsp;Thomson keeps at it, hoping to&nbsp;increase&nbsp;cheese production from 15 to 20 tons per year.&nbsp;He\u2019s&nbsp;also&nbsp;branching out\u2014in&nbsp;December&nbsp;2018&nbsp;he opened a Mike\u2019s Fancy Cheese retail shop in Belfast. The new space, across from a barbed-wire-topped parking lot, has the urban, industrial feel he loves. It hosts workshops on of-the-moment culinary skills like fermenting butter and making kimchi, and though it\u2019s&nbsp;off the beaten path, foodie tour groups&nbsp;stop&nbsp;by regularly.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-36931\" src=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_10-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1000\" srcset=\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_10-copy.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_10-copy-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_10-copy-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/Summer2019_MikesFancyCheese_PC-Joe-Laverty_10-copy-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">Thomson sees plenty of benefits to the shop\u2014he\u2019s especially hoping to inspire more&nbsp;cheesemaking&nbsp;in Northern Ireland. But it\u2019s also part of his&nbsp;contingency plan&nbsp;in case tariffs get slapped on his cheese exports.&nbsp;His girlfriend, Raymona Crozier, is a politics producer at the BBC, and she keeps him informed of every twist and turn in the negotiations. But he\u2019s trying to be ready in any case.&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201cThe more cheese we sell direct, the bigger the cushion,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s been our Brexit plan: to sell more cheese to the public in Belfast.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:true,&quot;134233118&quot;:true}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">The risks of Brexit flare all around, and they could still incinerate his business\u2014or block any future exporting and growth\u2014with one&nbsp;harsh&nbsp;regulation or bureaucratic oversight. How does it feel to be Mike Thomson,&nbsp;a young&nbsp;buck? \u201cOh, terrifying, yeah&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">yeah<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">&nbsp;<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">yeah<\/span><span data-contrast=\"none\">!\u201d he says. And then he laughs.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Photographed by Joe Laverty.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cheesemaker Mike Thomson produces Northern Ireland&#8217;s only raw-milk cheese, and now grapples with the politics that could affect his business. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":36927,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26354,11],"tags":[16581,930,3122,16577,1010,1992,16580,16575,16574,16579,16582,16576,9683,16578],"coauthors":[591],"class_list":["post-36924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories","category-travel","tag-belfast","tag-blue-cheese","tag-brexit","tag-dublin","tag-ireland","tag-irish-cheese","tag-kevin-sheridan","tag-mike-thomson","tag-mikes-fancy-cheese","tag-northern-ireland","tag-seedrs","tag-sheridans-cheesemongers","tag-uk","tag-young-buck"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.4 (Yoast SEO v24.4) - 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