Get Tasty This Valentine’s Day with heart-shaped cheese

With Valentines just around the corner we thought we’d let you in on a little secret – most of us would prefer a heart shaped cheese, than a heart shaped box of chocolates – or perhaps both!!

So we thought we’d list a few of our favourites….

Where is the sting in this heart-shaped nettle-wrapped cheese?

Lynher Diary, the home of the Yarg –  a scrumptious semi-hard cheese from Cornwall – makes one of the most visually stunning heart cheeses all wrapped in nettle leaves; as well as having a deliciously creamy taste, the nettle leaves create a natural and entirely edible rind.

Perhaps for the hot lovers the choice might be the heart-shaped cheese from  Godminster – vintage organic cheddar, in deep red wax. This cheddar is strong, with a creamy rather than crumbly texture & is very, very tasty. 

Finally, Coeur de Neufchatel – a beautiful white creamy heart. Normally we stick to British cheeses, but this one is simply delicious – it will enrich any cheese board! Neufchatel is a soft, slightly crumbly. mould ripen cheese made in Normandy. Legend has it that the heart shape is due to young women who wanted to discreetly express their feelings for  the English soldiers during the wars in the Middle Ages…so it is the perfect cheese for Valentines. 

Stilton – What’s in a name?

Michael Portillo discovered some of the secrets of Stilton last night on his Great British Railway Journey shown on BBC. Viewers were told that the name arose due to the place where it was first sold, not made!

This is a disputed point – there is no doubt  that ‘stilton’ acquired its name from the village of Stilton, but  this creamy cheese was being made and sold in and around the village of Stilton possibly in the late 17^th Century and certainly in the early 18^th Century.

With the development of the coaching trade, the town soon became a trading post between London and Edinburgh for many commodities and it is known that one of the innkeepers in the town – Cooper Thornhill, landlord and then subsequently the owner of The Bell Inn – turned this to his advantage by first selling the local cheese from the Bell Inn, not only to passing travelers but also into London. Some legends have it that in 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm near Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire – possibly in Wymondham, Leicestershire. Thus supporting the argument that the cheese was only ever sold in Stilton, not made.

It is undisputed that as demand grew, so Thornhill sought out new sources and around 1743, struck up a commercial arrangement with a renowned cheese-maker from Leicestershire  – Frances Pawlett. It is said that she supplied cheese to Thornhill and through a co-operative arrangement got other cheese makers in Leicestershire to make Stilton cheese. As demand for Stilton Cheese grew, so the production witched
almost exclusively to Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and the area around the town of Stilton began to concentrate on trading cheese rather than producing it….

Stilton is one of only 17 British products have the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission. Officially it can only be produced in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire – and made according to a strict code.

Cheshire Cheese

Bourne’s Cheshire Cheese is a sheer delight as Michael Portillo discovered when he jumped off the train during his explorations on the Great British Railways Journeys currently being shown on BBC 2.  He tried his hand at making it and then tasting it – delicious was the verdict!

It is claimed that Cheshire Cheese was mentioned in the Domesday Book; we are not sure about that, but it has certainly been around for a long time and probably reached its peak of popularity in the 18^th Cent.

We love Mrs Bourne’s Mature Cheshire and have featured it in our wedding cheese cakes – definitely a treat not to be missed.

Featured on BBC2 on Tuesday 11 Jan.