BREAD-CHEESE-WINE

BCW35 – APRIL 2018 – LOCAL HEROS

Posted on April 12, 2018 Updated on April 14, 2018

COURSES

1. Baton / Dorstone Goats / Grapes and Onion Crumb / Locksley Gin and Pink Grapefruit Tonic
2. Linseed Sourdough / Stanage Curd / Sheffield Honey / The Den Chenin Blanc, SA
3. Yorkshire Square / Little Mester / Walfdorf Salad / Renishaw Hall Sparkling Wine
4. Malted Cob / Linconshire Poacher / Carrot and Coriander Chutney / Gayda En Passant
5. Sour Cherry Biscuit / Cotehill Blue / Brew Foundation Janet’s Treat Porter / Cherry Brandy

CHEESE

Dorstone
Dorstone is made by Charlie Westhead and his team at Neal’s Yard Creamery in Dorstone, Herefordshire, from the milk of a mixed herd of British Alpine and Toggenburg goats. The cheese’s distinctive fluffy texture is a result of the curds being “pre-drained,” a technique in which the yoghurt-like curds are ladled onto mats to drain before being mixed with salt and patted into moulds. As a result, the curds are less dense and open-textured. Dorstone can be eaten within a week or so of production, or aged for a month or more.

Little Mester
Little Mester is a small, surface-ripened soft cheese, made with milk from the Our Cow Molly herd, which grazes just a few miles from Kelham Island at Dungworth. It is made by Sophie Williamson under the name of Sheffield Cheesemasters,

Stanage Millstone Curd
Stanage Millstone is a creamy, bloomy rind cheese made by hand in small batches at Cow Close Farm, using milk from a neighbouring herd of Hathersage cows. The curd used this evening is made at the start of the process when the curds are separated from the whey.
The trick is using fantastic quality milk sourced from a single herd of robotically milked cows on a neighbouring farm. The robotic milking means that the cows are happier as they can pick and choose when they are milked. The curd is made from whole pasteurised cow’s milk, vegetarian rennet and salt.

Lincolnshire Poacher
Brothers Simon and Tim Jones oversee the production of Lincolnshire Poacher on their family farm, Ulceby Grange in Lincolnshire. The farm has been in the family since 1917. The first batch of cheese was made there in 1992. Lincolnshire Poacher is often described as a cross between Cheddar and mountain cheese. The brothers are passionate about land stewardship. They farm sustainably to get the best milk from their closed herd. They create their own energy from wind, sun, heat exchange, and a straw pellet boiler. Cheesemaker Richard Tagg will turn about 6000 litres of milk into roughly 28 to 30 wheels of cheese, which are matured by an experienced and dedicated team in the farm’s immaculate storerooms. Neal’s Yard typically select cheeses when they are between 12 and 18 months old, and sell them between 18 and 24 months old.

Cote Hill Blue
Mary and Michael Davenport are small tenancy farmers of Cote Hill Farm in Lincolnshire, with only 63 cows’ (including some of the unusual Red Poll breed which has a rich milk).  With the price of wholesale milk falling, the Davenports knew they would have to add value to their milk or give up dairy farming. So in 2005 they went on a short cheese-making course and decided to have a go at it.  They noticed there was a gap in the market for a soft unpasteurised blue cheese, so they went to great lengths to develop what is recognised as a notoriously hard cheese to make (there was a reason for the gap in the market!). Cote Hill Blue was the outcome – a soft, rich blue given a distinctive and unusual taste by the quality of their unpasteurised milk.

MARCH 2018 – FRENCH THEME

Posted on March 29, 2018 Updated on April 14, 2018

BREAD
1. Comte / Tomme De Savoire, Chestnut Bread, Tomato Compote (sharp)
France is famous for growing Chestnuts and the subtle nutty flavour is the perfect accompaniment for the cheese. We have added cooked chestnuts to our Sharrow Sourdough loaf. This bread is made up of a mix of white, wholemeal and rye flours and is made over a three day period. The first day the sourdough is refreshed, keeping the yeast and bacterias alive that leaven the dough. The next day the dough is mixed, proved and then put in the fridge to ferment overnight. In the morning of the third day the bread is baked. This long process gives sourdough the classic chewy texture and depth of flavour.
2. San Nectaire, Yorkshire Square, Mushroom Pate
Our Yorkshire Square loaf is also a sourdough, meaning that there is no yeast added, and
contains only three ingredients: flour, salt and water. The flour used to make this is grown and milled in north Yorkshire by Yorkshire Organic Millers. It is a 85% extraction so is somewhere between a white and a wholemeal flour (wholemeal being 100% of the grain!). We chose this loaf for the French theme as it is made in a similar way to the famous French bread Poilaine. It is naturally low in gluten so we prove it in a tin to give it a good crumb. It has a crumpety texture and is very moist.
3. Ossau Irati, Brioche, Fig Jam, Fresh Figs
Brioche is an enriched dough containing butter, eggs and sugar. The bread is rich, very soft and has a very light texture. You make this dough by developing the dough fully then adding the butter at the end over a long period of time, a little like the liquid when you made risotto. This allows the butter to be absorbed fully.
4. Munster, Baguette, Green Salad
No French themed evening would be complete without it! The chewy and holey texture are created by the long fermentation of the dough and its high water content. We hand roll each baguette and prove them on a linen couche – this helps them to keep their shape. They are ‘slashed’ with a razor blade to create the ‘ears’. A classic combo with a washed rind cheese.
5. Roquefort, Hot x bun
It is Easter after all! This fruited and spiced loaf is a wonderful compliment to the salty
cheese. Almost every European country has an Easter bread containing dried fruit and
spices so I don’t think would seem so out of place on a French table.

CHEESE

COMTÉ SAINT ANTOINE
Comté has been made in the Massif du Jura for over eight centuries in small, village based co-operatives called fruitières. The milk is delivered daily from the surrounding dairies within no more than an eight-mile radius. At a few weeks old, the cheeses are moved to the cellars of the affineurs and at four months the cheeses are graded to determine whether they are good enough to be awarded the green band which denotes the highest quality of Comte. This Comte is matured by Marcel Petite at the old fort of Saint Antoine It is matured for 24 months and is particularly fruity, smooth, mellow and nutty with a long finish.

SAINT NECTAIRE
This Saint Nectaire comes from the ripening rooms of affineur Xavier Morin. He is a passionate advocate of the cheeses from Cantal and the Auvergneand works in complete partnership with each individual cheese maker. It is made from the milk of the now rare breed of Salers cow native to the Auvergne region of France. Most cheese makers consequently have moved over to breeds that are easier to farm and more suitable for mass production.. Although the yield is very low, less than half than that of a Holstein, the quality of the milk is exceptional. Underneath the silky grey rind of the Saint Nectaire is a supple and creamy paste that has a gloriously ‘earthy’ flavour.

OSSAU IRATY
From the French Pyrenees, this cheese is made from the milk of only the
Manech and Basco-Béarnaise ewes that graze the Ossau Valley in Bearn and the Iraty beech forests of the Pays Basque. It has a smooth, white interior and a delicate, fruity flavour.

Reblochon Fermier Missilier
Reblochon cheese has a supple paste as it is lightly pressed by small wooden discs when in the mould. The cheese has a blush pink-to-white coat, with a taste that’s delicately sweet and fruity, with a nutty finish.This Reblochon is made by Fromages J.P. Missilier in the mountainous region of Le Grand Bornand in the Haute-Savoie. Their herd consists of 40 Abondance cows, a breed which is highly prized for its rich milk and its ability to thrive in challenging climates and give excellent, protein-rich milk. In May, the whole family, their friends and the Abondance cows, set off by foot for the high mountain pastures and will stay here until October. The Summer pastures provide sumptuous, vast grass meadows strewn with wild flowers, which give great depth and complexity to the flavour of the cheese. Reblochon is protected by strict AOC regulations stipulating that only the native breeds of Montbeliarde, Abondance and Tirane are used.

Roquefort Carles
Roquefort is considered to be one of the greatest blues in the world. It was mentioned by Pliny in AD 79, and has been protected since 1411. The cheese can only be made in the area surrounding Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, and with the local Lacaune breed of sheep. The caves situated around Roquefort (Grand Causses) provide the ideal conditions for maturing blue cheese – moist, cool and breezy. Roquefort will be aged here for around three months as its blue veining develops. This Roquefort is made by the third generation of the Carles family. They started cheese-making in 1927, and remain one of the only family producers of Roquefort left in the region. The flavour of the cheese is reminiscent of the air in the caverns where it ripens and the mould grows naturally. This artisan variety, made in smaller batches with local milk and penicillin roqueforti cultured from rye loaves baked in-house, is round, deep and perfectly balanced: big, creamy chunks of the paste dissolve on the palate like sharp, soothing milky lozenges.

WINE

FEBRUARY 2018 – VEGETARIAN THEME

Posted on February 22, 2018 Updated on March 5, 2018

COURSES

1. Dopff Au Moulin. Cremant d’Alsace / Torta de Barros
2. Collectables Sauvignon Blanc, NZ / Cotherstone
3. Meinklang Gruner Veltliner, Austria / Ribblesdale Goat
4. Fedele Nero D’Avola, Italy / Old Winchester
5. CDR de Fleurs, Rhone, France / Devon Blue / Ginger Cake

CHEESE

Torta de Barros

Torta de Barros was a bronze medal winner in the 2015 World Cheese Awards. It is a raw sheeps’ milk thistle rennet torta style cheese with an aroma of fresh mango on the rind, fruity flavours and a luxuriously creamy interior.

Cotherstone

Cotherstone is now only mademade by Joan Cross in Durham. It is semi-soft, with a pale-yellow paste and a natural rind. Unlike other British Territorials, this cheese is intended to be eaten young, around six to eight weeks old. By then it has developed lovely fresh and lemony flavours, which sometimes can carry a hint of yeastiness. The paste is crumbly but moister than a Cheshire, for example. Traditionally made in Yorkshire, Cotherstone belongs to a group of cheeses we refer to as ‘Dales-style’ cheeses, which also includes Wensleydale and Swaledale.

She learned cheese making from her mother, and has been making the cheese for over thirty years producing only very small batches. When Joan’s cheese arrives in the Neal’s Yard maturing rooms in Bermondsey it is very young and very moist. We dry-salt the cheese by rubbing the surface with sea salt. Later in the maturation process we wash the rind to help it develop evenly. The cheese then forms a natural crust that sometimes develops a pinkish-gold appearance. When the rind has fully formed, the cheese becomes broken down and softer towards the rind and develops vegetal, earthy flavours.

Ribblesdale Goat

Ribblesdale goat’s milk comes from a single herd located about an hour and a half away in Lancashire as there are no milking goats available in N Yorkshire.  It is single source and excellent quality.   In 2008 they started making cheese again after a break and moved from Horton in Ribblesdale (hence Ribblesdale!) to Hawes to larger premises to create a new dairy. Everything is made by hand: the milk is stirred by hand, the curd is hand cut and hand shovelled.  A vat takes as long as it takes, there are no set times or schedules.  All the cheese is made in a long, slow and traditional way using a synthetic form (not GMO) of rennet called Hannilaise.

Old Winchester

In the New Forest at Lyburn Farm, Mike and Judie Smales have created a modern British classic cheese – Old Winchester. As milk prices fell, Mike and Judie decided they needed an outlet for the milk from their 180 British Friesian cows.  Deciding to make cheese, they went on a one-day Cheddar-making course with Val Bines.  With this basic knowledge the Smales decided to make a Gouda-style (the curd is washed so the cheese ends up slightly more sweet). Yet it turned out a bit different from expected.  But not every mistake is bad!  Instead, the amazing Old Winchester was born: a cross between Gouda, Parmesan and Cheddar.  At the Courtyard Dairy it is aged for 18-months to give it a sweet, tangy, crystallised depth.  (It is also known as Old Smales). As well as a great ‘table cheese’ Old Winchester works incredibly well as a vegetarian Parmesan replacement as it is made without animal rennet, you will often find chefs using it for vegetarian dishes.

Devon Blue

Devon Blue is one of three cheeses made by Ben Harris and his team at Ticklemore Dairy in Devon. It is made to a Roquefort recipe, as with the other two cheeses. Devon Blue has a quick set. The young cheeses are dry salted and pierced, then aged in a cave-like environment for a few weeks where the blue mould is encouraged to develop. They are then wrapped to prevent further blueing and cold matured at around 5c. This means the flavour in the paste is able to develop slowly over several months. The milk used for Devon blue comes from a co-operative of local farms in the South Hams. Because the Dairy don’t produce their own milk, they choose to pasteurise what they bring in.

The batches Neal’s Yard Dairy select tend to have a sweet, caramel, walnuty flavour profile. Occasionally some cheeses will develop light spicy flavours too. It has a crumbly, buttery texture with subtle blue veining throughout.

WINE

DOPFF AU MOULIN, CREMANT D’ALSACE

The Dopff family have been winegrowers since 1574 and still manage the 70 hectare estate near the charming medieval town of Riquewihr. A dry and elegant Cremant showing hints of quince and white flowers, fine bubbles with good length and weight. Grape varieties are 50% Auxerrois and 50% Pinot Blanc. Secondary fermentation takes place in the bottle using the traditional Champagne method and the wine is ages for 18 months in the bottle on its lees.

WALNUT BLOCK COLLECTABLES SAUVIGNON BLANC, MARLBOROUGH, NEW ZEALAND.

Located in Marlborough’s premium Rapaura sub region. A vibrant Sauvignon Blanc with lovely melded aromatic notes of stone fruits over a herbaceous background. The smooth, textured palate is concentrated with exotic fruits and citrus flavours. Well integrated natural acidity leaves a pure and lengthy finish.

MEINKLANG GRUNER VELTLINER, AUSTRIA

The inspiring Mitchlits family own and run this model biodynamic 2000 hectare estate in the Burgenland region of Austria. Angela looks after the winemaking, her husband Werner is operations manager  and Werner’s younger brother is responsible for the herd of Angus steers that roam across the estate, provide natural fertiliser to the 55 hectares of vineyards and are represented in the bottle label.

In the cellar only indigenous yeasts are used, there is no fining or filtration and sulphur levels are kept very low. Movement of wine is by gravity. Fermentation is conducted in stainless steel, large used oak or concrete eggs.

The Gruner Veltiner shows lively citrus notes with fresh green apples and white pepper on the finish. Fresh with a stony minerality.

FEDELE NERO D’AVOLA, SICILY

Sicily’s number one grape variety Nero d’Avola is indigenous to the island. This shows a wonderful structure, yet has soft tannins and is very approachable. Packed with red berry fruit flavours and works well with red meat and tomato based pasta.

RESERVE DE FLEUR, RHONE, FRANCE

Located 20 km west of Avignon in the Rhone valley. A blend of Syrah, Grenache and Carignan which are mainly sustainably farmed. Each grape is vinified separately before blending and aged in stainless steel. No oak is used in order to preserve the freshness and the lovely mouthfeel that gives rich dark fruit and black pepper notes.

JANUARY 2018 – BEST OF 2017 THEME

Posted on January 25, 2018 Updated on January 25, 2018

BREAD

1. Rosemary Potato Sourdough  Bread / Rosemary Manchego / Olives, nuts and quince jelly/ Montecrio White Rioja, Spain
2. Baton / Baron Bigod / Roasted Red Peppers / Giol Frizzante Prosecco, Italy.
3. Beetroot Bread / Dorstone Goats and Innes Log / Roast Beetroot & Thyme / Mayfly Sauvignon Blanc, New Zealand.
4. 100% Rye / Summerfield and Comte / Watercress and Parsley Pesto / Santa Macarena Pinot Noir, Chile
5. Caraway Seed Cake / Cashel Blue / Neropasso, Italy

CHEESE

Rosemary Manchego

Coated in lard and rosemary it has a dense and lightly crunchy texture with buttery and herbal aromas. It is full flavoured and savoury delicate and elegant with a long and balanced finish. Made in Villarejo de Fuentes, Cuenca, Spain. Raw milk and traditional rennet.

Baron Bigod

A raw cow’s milk cheese with a distinctively layered paste: the core is friable, with yoghurty acidity, progressively more unctuous, mellow and vegetal towards the rind; aromas are of mushroom and earth. Jonny and Dulcie Crickmore began producing Baron Bigod in 2013 at their farm near Bungay, Suffolk. Raw milk and traditional rennet.

Innes Log

Made by Joe Bennett in Staffordshire from the raw milk of his own goats. A lactic goat’s milk cheese: flavours of bright acidity and grass, lengthening with maturity; there is perceptible spice from the Geotrichum moulds on the ashed rind. Textures are dense, ganache-like and coat the mouth. Uses own raw goats’ milk and traditional rennet.

Dorstone

Made by Charlie Westhead in Herefordshire. A turret-shaped lactic goat’s cheese, darkly-ashed with a picturesque down of snowy Geotrichum yeasts. Texture is moussey and meltingly light, often with a sherbet-like citrus sparkle. Pasteurised goats’ milk and traditional rennet.

Comte

An unpasteurised French cheese from the Jura mountain region: smooth, mellow, nutty, and with a long finish.

From the Jura mountain region comes one of Frances’ favourite cheeses – and ours, when in the hands of Marcel Petite. Smooth, mellow, nutty and with a long finish.

Raw milk and traditional rennet.

Summerfield

Only made when the cows are at pasture during the summer months, this cheese is in extremely short supply.  Made to a Gruyère recipe, it has that sweet, supple nuttiness associated with the best Gruyères. Made by Alastair Pearson at Botton Creamery (near Whitby), North Yorkshire. Vegetarian rennet and raw milk from the community farm.

Cashel Blue

A balanced amount of blue veining adds a sweet and spicy lift to the rich, full flavoured yellow paste. Cashel Blue tends to be a moist, buttery textured cheese. Pasteurised milk and Vegetarian rennet.

Winner: Course 1.

1. Rosemary Potato Sourdough  Bread / Rosemary Manchego / Olives, nuts and quince jelly/ Montecrio White Rioja, Spain

Course 2 photo

OCTOBER 2017 – ALTITUDE THEME

Posted on October 31, 2017 Updated on November 7, 2017

BREAD

1

2

3

4

5

CHEESE

Picos d Europa

A distinctive, maple leaf covered cheese, Made using 90% cows’ and 10% goats’ milks, with a fresh, creamy aroma, a buttery, melting texture, and nutty, mushroomy, sometimes spicy flavours. Pasteurised milk. Traditional rennet.

Sinodun Hill

The yoghurty flavour of the paste of Sinodun Hill is complemented by a delicate, almost red-fruit flavour from the rind. Its rind is wrinkly with a golden colour, often accompanied by the odd spot of white or blue mould. Sinodun Hill (pronounced ‘Sin-uh-din’, with the emphasis on the first syllable) is a lactic goat’s pyramid with a light, almost-whipped texture. It is made by a young couple, Rachel Yarrow and Fraser Norton, at the Nettlebed Estate in Oxfordshire. The Sinodun Hill has only been made since early 2016. They started out making cheese with bought-in milk. Happily, as of March 2017 Rachel and Fraser transitioned to making cheese from the milk of their own herd of goats. Although it is still very early days, we look forward to following the development of this exciting new farmhouse cheese. Raw Goat’s Milk. Vegetarian.

Comte

An unpasteurised French cheese from the Jura mountain region: smooth, mellow, nutty, and with a long finish.

From the Jura mountain region comes one of Frances’ favourite cheeses – and ours, when in the hands of Marcel Petite. Smooth, mellow, nutty and with a long finish.

Raw milk. Traditional rennet.

Vacherin

This cheese originates from the Mont d’Or in France (and is also known as Vacherin du Haut Doubs or Mont d’Or).  As the summer comes to an end and the air gets cooler, the cows come down the mountain and their milk becomes fattier and reduces in quantity.  These changes mean making Comté (a hard aged cheese) becomes difficult.  Hence, traditionally, a soft, rich, quick-ripening small cheese is made.  To this day the cheese can only be made seasonally between 15th August and 15th March. Raw milk. Traditional rennet.

Fellstone

Mellow and succulent with a sharp, fresh finish.Tom and Clare Noblet started to make cheese in 2015 on their dairy farm on the edge of the Lake District. Based on a traditional old ‘dales’ recipe of the north of England, Fellstone is aged for three months by which time it has the fresh lemony-lactic flavours of a good Wensleydale, with a supple, firmer texture. Raw milk. Traditional rennet.

WINE

Gavi Chiarlo

2. Charles Smith Velvet Devil Merlot

Garzon Albarino

Soave Suavia

5. Delaforce LBV Port

WINE

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SEPTEMBER 2017 – HARVEST THEME

Posted on September 28, 2017 Updated on September 28, 2017

BREAD

1. Ogleshield, cornichons, caper berries, tomato, Baton
Our classic baguette is made over two days to give it a chewy crumb and crisp crust. It is made with a poolish, where we take 1/3 of the total flour and water mix it with a very small amount of yeast and let it ferment in the fridge overnight. This long fermentation adds flavour to the final dough.

CHEESE

Federia Alpine

Made by Anne Clayton in Malpas, near Cheshire. She spent 17 years working in Livigno, in the Alps of Lombardia, northern Italy and met her husband there who is also from Cheshire. He farms 360 Friesian-Holsteins on an old manor farm on the border with Shropshire, but Anne takes just 200 litres of milk per make. That’s about 15 cows worth. She decided to start making cheese and invited an Italian cheesemaker over who taught her everything. All her kit is from the Italian Alps, even her copper vat. Raw cows’ milk and traditional rennet.

Baron Bigod Brie

Made by Jonathan and Dulcie Crickmore at Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk and aged to perfect ripeness in The Courtyard Dairy’s maturing rooms, Baron Bigod is Britain’s first unpasteurised Brie to be made in traditional large (3kg) wheels and ladled by hand. Baron Bigod (pronounced By-god) was the Earl of Norfolk in the 12th-century. Montbeliarde cows from France provide the rich milk needed. Raw cows’ milk and traditional rennet.

Rollright

Made by David Jowett and Antony Curnow at King Stone Farm, Chipping Norton, Cotswolds, England. A mellow, buttery-rich, ‘washed-rind’ cheese based on the classic French ‘Reblochon’. Winner of ‘Supreme Champion’ (Artisan Cheese Awards 2016) and ‘Best Soft Cheese’ (Great British Cheese Awards 2016). The Haine family, who provide the milk for the cheese, farm 105 cows of mixed traditional breeds, mainly Brown Swiss, plus crosses with Jersey, Guernsey, Ayrshire, Shorthorn, Frisian, Holstein, Swedish Red, Simmental… These cows feed on King Stone Farm’s diverse and plentiful clover and herb pasture (a dozen native grass species!) through spring to autumn. At three months old, after being regularly washed in brine, it has a thin, orangey-red rind and soft, buttery interior reminiscent of those clover pastures. Pasteurised cows’ milk and traditional rennet.

Ogleshield

Jamie Montgomery in North Cadbury, Somerset, with his Jersey herd of cows, makes a raclette-style cheese.  Ogleshield is washed for three-months and is perfect for raclette grilling or simply eaten on its own! Jamie Montgomery developed this cheese whilst looking for a recipe to use his Jersey milk which is too rich in fat to make a good ‘ageing’ cheese.  When two Americans visited Montgomery’s they were tasked with developing something to do with this milk, in return for learning the secrets of Montgomery’s Cheddar.  They developed a Tomme style cheese which was sent to affineur Bill Oglethorpe who decided to have a go at washing the cheese and Ogleshield, a washed-rind raclette style cheese, arrived. Raw cows’ milk and traditional rennet.

Lanark Blue

An iconic farmhouse British cheese, this is Scotland’s answer to Roquefort; the rich sheep’s milk complemented by a strong, powerful blue veining. Made by Selina Errington in Carnwath, near Edinburgh, Lanark, Scotland. In the early 1980s Humphrey Errington took on a small holding close to Edinburgh, Scotland.  Wanting to recreate a cheese traditional to the area, he discovered that sheep were more common than cattle on this rugged landscape, so decided to use sheep‘s milk to make cheese following a recipe written in the 1820s by Sir Walter Scott.  He imported the finest dairy sheep, the Lacaune breed (the same used to produce Roquefort), and set about creating an unpressed blue cheese similar to those made throughout the North of England in the middle ages. In recent years, Humphrey has taken a back seat as his daughter, Selina, has taken over the reins of the cheese making.  Her husband Andrew runs the farm and milks their 450-strong flock of sheep. Raw milk and vegetarian rennet.

WINE

Wunsch et Mann Gewurztraminer

Corney & Barrow Margaux

Dao Branco, Portugal

JCB Cremant de Bourgogne

Justinos 5YO Madiera

AUGUST 2017 – ISLAND HOPPING THEME

Posted on August 31, 2017 Updated on August 30, 2017

BREAD

1. Grape Foccaccia, Sweet Walnut / Killeen Goats Cheese / Stopham Pinot Blanc, UK.
2. Potato Bread w/ Roasted Aubergine / Durrus or Gubbeen Cheese / Assyrtiko Santorini, Greece.
3. Soda Bread and tangy Tomato compote / Young Buck / Clos Culumbo, Corsica
4. Cottage Loaf w/ red onion marmalade / Coolea / Nibaru, Sardinia.
5. Caraway seeded cake / Cashel Blue / Umeshu Plum Sake, Japan.

CHEESE

Killeen

Leaving Holland in search of the Irish ‘good-life’, Marion Roeleveld went on to develop Killeen – a goats’ milk Gouda made with milk from her own goats.
The Courtyard Dairy ages Killeen in-house for 11 months (8 months longer than normal Killeen), so the cheese develops a greater depth of flavour as the sweetness and toasty-roasted hazelnut flavours show through.

Made by Marion Roeleveld in Ballyshrule, Galway, Ireland

Durrus

Durrus is made by Jeffa Gill in Co Cork, where it has been made since 1979. Jeffa works with the milk of two local farmers on the Sheep’s Head Peninsula, whom she has used for over 25 years. The rind can be plump and pliable or slightly firmer with a bit of a savoury crunch and flavours range from mild to earthy, typically on the spectrum of butter and mushrooms.

Gubbeen

Gubbeen is a semi soft, washed curd, washed rind cheese, made by Giana Ferguson in Cork, Ireland. It is orangey pink in colour and has a somewhat elastic texture. It can be mild and sweet, or more intense with a mushroom flavour. Giana’s husband Tom’s family have farmed at Gubbeen for several generations. Giana came from Spain via France, with a cheesemaking background. She is responsible for the cheeses; he, the milk.

Young Buck

Young Buck is an outstanding, relatively new, raw-milk, blue cheese from Northern Ireland.  An interesting take on a Stilton recipe, Young Buck cheese is traditionally made and hand-ladled to produce a rich, lingering flavour.
Made by Michael Thomson of Mike’s Fancy Cheese Co. at Newtownards, County Down, Northern Ireland.

Coolea

Dick and Helene Willems moved from Holland to County Cork, Ireland in the late 1970s. They started making Coolea on their own farm as a hobby in 1981, and the business was fully established by 1986. In 1998 their son Dick junior took over. Coolea can be sold young or matured for longer for a more interesting and intense flavour. The Coolea from Neal’s Yard is between eighteen months and two years old and its flavour is reminiscent of caramel.

Cashel Blue

Louis and Jane Grubb started making Cashel Blue when there was no blue cheese being made in Ireland. They were a part of the resurgence of Irish farmhouse cheese-making which had been underway since the late seventies.

In 2003 their daughter Sarah and her husband Sergio took on the running of the business. Geurt van den Dikkenberg is their cheesemaker.

Cashel Blue is made all year round using a combination of the milk produced on their own farm and bought in milk. Neal’s Yard select cheeses which we can mature for three to four months. This longer maturation helps to develop its rich, creamy texture and well-rounded flavour.

WINE

STOPHAM ESTATE PINOT BLANC, ENGLAND

THALASSITIS ASSYRTIKO, SANTORINI, GREECE

ETIENNE SUZZONI, CLOS CULOMBU ROUGE, CORSICA, FRANCE

ALBERTO LOI, MONICA DI SARDEGNA “NIBARU”, SARDNIA, ITALY

AKASHI TAI, SHIRAUME UMESHU PLUM INFUSED SAKE, JAPAN