Beyond Cheddar: the Cheeses of the English Westcountry

Beyond Cheddar: the Cheeses of the English Westcountry
By Hugh Waldron

"Now more than ever there's no need to look beyond the British Isles for a world- class cheeseboard", said The Times' Frances Bissell in the mid 90s. Ten years on, the same could equally be said of the English Westcountry alone, where tradition and innovation have combined to create a range of quality cheeses that any country would struggle to equal.

The four counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall are justifiably famed for the quality of their produce, and can boast more food and drink producers than any other English region. At the centre of the Westcountry tradition is, naturally, cheddar cheese, which takes its name from the Somerset town. Cheddar, however, has long since moved outwards to the neighbouring counties. The importance of this cheese is indicated by the fact that it has now been awarded the EU's Protected Designation of Origin. The PDO scheme was set up in 1993 to define the authenticity of traditional foods and help to preserve their place of origin, methods of production and essential ingredients. Only a very select group of British foods have been protected in this way.

Long established Cheddar makers include Montgomery's – winner of Gold at the 2005 World Cheese Awards, Keen's, Westcombe Dairy and Quicke's. The Montgomery and Keen families have been cheesemakers for three generations, but even they look like newcomers when compared to the Quickes, who – but for a few decades– have been making cheese on their Devon farm for 450 years! Traditional cheddar as made by these makers has an intensity and complexity that comes from the muslim-wrapped truckles that mature on wooden shelves for over a year. Allowed to breathe, the cheese forms an old fashioned rind that is the hallmark of a well-matured traditional cheddar. Newer examples include Godminster Vintage Organic Cheddar, a powerful, moist cheese coated in a distinctive red wax.

Other traditional cheeses include the so-called 'territorials' such as Caerphilly and Double Gloucester. The Westcountry can boast fine examples of these in Duckett's Caerphilly and in Quicke's Double Gloucester. Quicke's also make a Red Leicester, as do Westcombe Dairies whose 'Westcombe Red' is the only cheese of its kind made with unpasteurised milk.

Wartime rationing allowed production of only seven varieties of cheese – all pasteurized, and in the early postwar period production of 'artisan cheese' or 'real cheese' languished – reflecting the general threat to traditions that which often seemed anachronistic in the modern world, not to mention competition from large factory-style creameries with their economies of scale. The last 30 years, however, have seen a renaissance in small-scale cheesemaking. The impetus here comes partly from the consumer, tired of homogenized, low-quality food, and partly also from the production side. Whether it's dairy farmers seeking to diversify in the face of low prices for milk, or people with no farming background looking to 'downshift' and change their lives, there are now more makers of farmhouse cheese than at any time in the last 50 years.

New cheesemakers often means new products, like the three goats cheeses produced by Dave Johnston near Crediton in Devon, one of which – Norsworthy – won a coveted Gold at the 2005 World Cheese Awards. Impressive given that Dave only produced his first cheese in 2002! In Cornwall there is Cornish Blue, and Sue Proudfoot's three cheeses: Miss Muffet, Keltic Gold and Trelawny. At other times cheeses are revivals of earlier traditions. The Dorset blue cheese, Blue Vinney (or Blue Vinny), had almost died out when Michael Davies resurrected it. A now very popular cheese, Cornish Yarg (distinguished by its covering of nettles or wild garlic leaves), is based on an old recipe, while Cornish Garland continues an old Westcountry tradition of herb-flavoured cheeses. In the area of soft cheese one can - unexpectedly perhaps - find a Somerset Camembert and award-winning bries (Somerset Brie, Cornish Brie) as well as the similarly mould-ripened, but cream enriched Elmhirst.

One small area of South Devon – south of Totnes, alongside the River Dart – can boast two makers of fine cheese, both relatively recent. As well as a vineyard, the Sharpham estate produces Elmhirst and the wonderful Sharpham Rustic, whilst Robin Congdon of Ticklemore makes a trio of superb blue cheeses: Devon Blue (cows' milk), Beenleigh Blue (sheeps' milk) and Harbourne Blue (goats' milk).

Other makers are expanding away from cows' milk cheeses into goats' milk, sheeps' milk, and even buffalo milk products. Historically, sheeps' cheese was actually far more common in England, but there is no denying the present-day dominance of cows' milk cheeses, and cheddar in particular. A shift, however, is underway, and producers are keen to respond: the region can now boast excellent ewes' milk cheeses such as Nanterrow and Somerset Rambler alongside a whole host of goat cheeses such as Norsworthy and Ticklemore (hard), Gevrik, Capricorn and Vulscombe (soft).

One problem for lovers of gourmet cheese has always been that many of these items are difficult or impossible to buy if you live at any distance from the makers. Now however, we are in the era of the online cheese shop: over 50 of these cheeses as well as gift and cheese board selections are available mail order from an online cheese store like The Cheese Shed. If customers all over the UK can buy cheese online, the prospect is of a virtuous circle in which a geographically broadening market adds to the makers' financial security.

There seems to be every reason to think that the re-invigoration of the Westcountry farmhouse cheese tradition will continue.