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.
In the first of a series of 'Cheesemaker Chats' I wanted to share recent news from Fen Farm Dairy here in Suffolk, where Jonny Crickmore and his team make brie-style Baron Bigod.
Recently Clare caught up with Blake to learn more about St. Helena, and how this Australian from Byron Bay comes to be making cheese on the Waveney fenlands of north Suffolk.
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?
Jane Steward is passionate about medlars and spreading word of this forgotten fruit, once common in English gardens. In 2016 she established Eastgate Larder making medlar jelly and fruit cheese using Norfolk grown medlars, including fruit from her own smallholding.
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.
