Give cheese a chance at Christmas
One of the best things about December is that I usually have a bit of time to take a breather after the manic months of October and November. That’s because all the Christmas cheese has now been made and is patiently maturing in time for the big day. And there’s no need to be making lots of cheese for January, because that’s when most people decide to go on a “health-kick”.
With cheese production easing a little I can focus on my family. The great thing about having two young children is that they start getting excited about Christmas very early on and that rubs off on me. In fact, I’m probably more excited about it now than when I was a child.
The good news is that this year we’ll be spending Christmas at mum and dad’s house and they’ll be doing all the cooking – I just need to look after the cheeseboard, which, in my opinion, is the most important element of any Christmas meal. Every year I go to the same local deli and buy a huge selection of cheeses for it. Call me patriotic but I like to keep it British, mainly because we have so many good varieties in this country.
Obviously, I always include a piece of Burts Blue, not because I like showing–off but because I think it’s nice to give people an alternative to Stilton, which is delicious but a bit of cliché at this time of year. I also think it’s essential to include a hard British goat’s cheese, like Dutch Mistress, and a good aged cheddar like Montgomery’s. And if I’m feeling really indulgent I’ll treat myself to a soft, gooey round of Tunworth, which is amazing when baked and served with crusty bread for dipping.
When you choose a drink to pair with each of the cheeses, it’s really important to opt for something that is both versatile and will appeal to everyone - a chilled tawny port or a dessert wine usually does the trick. But a cheeseboard isn’t just about flavours. Unlike the main meal, it gives people a chance to sit back, talk and reflect on the day, while the kids go off and play with their presents. It’s one of the most sociable ways to eat.
Many hands and green fingers
With Christmas only a month and a bit away, our tiny dairy is firing on all cylinders. We’re producing almost 200 kilos of blue cheese a week – double the amount we normally make. While this may sound a lot, it isn’t really. I used to work for one particularly large dairy that processed 400 tonnes of cheese a week. So I guess that makes us pretty small.
Usually it’s just me and my fantastic assistant, Tom, making every single piece of cheese – but we’ve had to call in help from my family this year. When I say “family” what I actually mean is my dad. He may be 71 years old but he’s a very practical ex-engineer and is willing to muck-in with everything from fixing machinery to delivering cheese. As for my husband and two young children, they get involved too – as chief tasters. If they’re not happy with the cheese then neither am I, so it’s definitely a family affair.
Luckily, Dad isn’t just a dab hand in the dairy he’s also got green fingers and his allotment at this time of year is extremely productive. In November, the beetroot tastes wonderful and we tend to use it to make chutney, which is great slathered over a cracker with a big chunk of cheese. But the real star of the allotment this month is butternut squash, which we use to make squash and blue-cheese gnocchi – a really heart-warming vegetarian dish for winter.
It’s hardly surprising that Dad’s allotment is so productive as the soil in Cheshire is amazingly fertile, which is one of the reasons the region is so famous for its arable farming and cheese. The grass here is not only luscious but rich in clover too, which the cows cannot seem to get enough of. This results in extra creamy, flavourful milk that is perfect for making cheese. We source our milk from a select group of five local farmers, who deliver the milk to the dairy everyday at 7am. We taste every single batch every morning to check that the milk is up to standard. Do I get bored of doing this? Not a chance, in fact at such a busy time of year a glass of fresh milk a day provides some much-needed fortification.
October: From cheese fanatic to full time producer
A lot of people who’ve tried my cheese assume the dairy must be pretty big. In reality, the Burt’s dairy is just me and one very talented cheese maker, Tom Partridge.
We do everything ourselves, from sourcing the milk from local dairies, to handcrafting the cheese and delivering it to shops. As for our HQ, it’s a tiny prefab building on a small Cheshire farm. It might not sound impressive to some, but it’s a big step up for me; five years ago I made all the cheese myself, in my kitchen.
October is probably the busiest - and most exciting - time of the year for us, as it’s when we start to make all the blue cheese that will go on sale over Christmas. Sales of blue cheese rocket over the festive period – there’s just something about winter that conjures images of people sitting around open fires nursing port and rich blue cheeses like Stilton. In reality, our cheese is more of a modern British blue – a softer, more continental style cheese like Gorgonzola that can be enjoyed year-long.
It’s a stressful time of year because we have to work most weekends just to keep up with demand, but there’s a lot to look forward to. The days are getting shorter and cooler, which not only makes the dairy a more pleasant place to work (it can be ridiculously hot in summer) but also helps the cheese to mature more evenly. And the milk at this time of year also begins to change, which allows us to try-out new styles.
We might be flat out this month but we’ve managed to set aside time to make some experimental cheeses. One of the things we’re trying out at the moment is a semi-soft cow’s milk cheese matured in vine leaves. The leaves don’t impart much flavour, but they help the cheese ripen amazingly well, while retaining its moisture – which makes the final product extra gooey and flavoursome. Later this month, we’ll be taking the cheese around local food markets to see how it’s received. I’m so excited to hear what people think.
