Did you know that the British Isles now produce more varieties of cheese than France? According to my cheese supplier, the UK now boasts more than 700 types of cheeses, ranging from the strongest stilton to the mildest Wensleydale.
However, having more variety does not make us more discerning consumers – we are still lagging behind our continental neighbours when it comes to cheese consumption and, more importantly, cheese knowledge.
I’ve always found it quite interesting to observe the reactions of our guests whenever the waiter wheels the cheese trolley over. In most of our restaurants we try to offer a good selection of both English and French cheeses.
Inevitably, there will be more interest and questions asked about the origin, age and strength of a French cheese as opposed to an English one.
Perhaps it is because a French cheese – for example, an Epoisses des Bourgogne – just sounds more sophisticated than a Somerset Brie or a Cornish Blue, or perhaps we are just too embarrassed to admit that we simply care less about British cheese than we should.
It would be an absolute shame to continue disregarding local offerings when the sheer variety and quality of English cheeses have improved so tremendously over the years – so much so that several local cheeses have been awarded the protected designation of origin (PDO), which ensures that a food product bearing the name of a particular region can only be made there.
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Two good examples are Blue Stilton, which must only be made in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire; and West Country Farmhouse Cheddar, which must hail from one of the four counties of Dorset, Somer-set, Devon and Cornwall.
Fittingly, the Great British Cheese Festival being held in Cheltenham at the end of the month will offer a fantastic opportunity to sample, indulge and learn more about local cheeses.
As a tribute to this event, I’m offering three simple dishes featuring some of our most popular local cheeses. They are all readily available at major supermarkets, but you could, of course, substitute them with any appropriate local varieties.