On a recent staycation in Somerset, Clare found herself a stone's throw from Shepton Mallet, the home of White Lake Cheese. One phone call later and Clare was delighted to don a blue hair net for her first behind-the-scenes cheese maker visit in far too long.
On a recent trip to the West Country, Clare was delighted to visit one of Britain's newest cheese makers, Marcus Fergusson, and learn more about his exciting plans to grow his blooming cheese business.
Cheddar is Britain's best-loved cheese. From supermarket blocks to farmhouse truckles, 50% of all cheese bought in the UK each year is Cheddar. A key step in making this ubiquitous cheese is "cheddaring". On a recent trip to Somerset, Clare learnt more about this process with a visit to Westcombe Dairy, nestled in the very heart of Cheddar making country.
As Archers fans amongst you will know, Montbéliarde cows are bovine royalty when it comes to cheese making. On a recent visit to Fen Farm, Team Slate took a walk through Jonny Crickmore's herd of Montys before a hands-on cheese-making experience.
"Slowly and gently" is the mantra by which Julie Cheyney makes her cheese, St Jude. This pace and tone is evident immediately upon entering her cheese room in Bungay, Suffolk. It was a real privilege to be invited for a hands-on visit to get a deeper understanding of what makes this beautiful little cheese so special.
Tim Jones of Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese has an enviable vocabulary for describing his cheeses. From the "wild" flavours of Double Barrel through "gamey" tones to the "candle-wax" texture of a perfect truckle of Poacher, after our visit to Ulceby, Lincolnshire these are the words we will be "poaching" to talk about them back at Slate.
Given her exceptionally low public profile, I was intrigued and excited to visit local East Anglian cheese maker Jane Murray at her home in Deopham just outside Norwich. Read about our visit here.
Extra Mature Shipcord is a delicious cheddar-style cheese with robust flavours and a long tangy tail to its taste. But what makes it so well liked by visitors to Slate?
Clare and John are always thrilled by the opportunity to get hands-on making cheese. Togged up in white coats and blue hairnets, there were cheeses to be turned and curds to be "cheddared" as they made a recent visit to Ferndale Cheeses.
Neal’s Yard Dairy is a prominent name in the world of cheese. With three shops in London and a thriving wholesale and global export business, their work is linked by a common vision: developing, curating, and delivering outstanding cheeses in excellent condition.
Happy cows are at the heart of life on Whitegate Farm, the home of Katherine and Jason Salisbury and their Suffolk Farmhouse Cheeses. On a beautiful sunny day, Clare arrived to visit just as their herd of fifty milking cows bounded out into the fields for the first time since October, immediately getting their heads down to enjoy the fresh spring grass.
With its bright yellow wax coating, Norfolk Mardler is one of the most eye-catching cheeses we have in our "wall of cheese" at Slate. On their recent cheese-making trip to Norfolk, Clare and John called into Fielding Cottage to find out more about how it is made.
