The Lidgate Cheeseboard
Blue Murder and other mysteries of the Lidgate Cheeseboard. They are a must for a picnic or an easy and sophisticated snack …
The hot weather has meant many of our customers are looking for picnic ready foods and there is nothing quite like some amazing crackers and beautiful cheese to go with a cold drink. So this week I thought I would let you in on the tale behind the making of some of our best cheeses.
Blue Murder is a cheese of a cumulation of creative minds: Alex James of Blur fame, Juliet Harbutt, a New Zealand native cheese writer and founder of the British Cheese Awards, and the Stone family from Highland Fine Cheeses. Having worked with dairies around the UK, Alex and Juliet set out to create a new steely blue, armed with rich milk from a herd of Holstein Friesian cows, who roam freely in luscious highland grass filled fields. The team developed a cheese unique to the UK. Aged a minimum of ten weeks, Blue Murder arrives in cube form with thin grey rind, butter kissed interior and shards of blue veins running throughout.
Baron Bigod is the only traditional raw milk Brie-de-Meaux style cheese produced in the UK and one of only a handful of its type in the world to be made by the farmer on the farm. Beneath the nutty, mushroomy rind, it has a smooth, silky golden breakdown which will often ooze out over a delicate, fresh and citrussy centre. The cheese is made by hand in small batches, very early in the morning so that the raw milk is still warm, straight from the cow at the perfect temperature for cheesemaking. The curds are carefully hand-ladled into large moulds, using traditional pelle-a-brie ladles and the young cheeses are hand salted and then aged for up to 8 weeks in a cave-like environment.
Maida Vale Ale Washed Cheese has nothing to do with Maida Vale in West London. It is a soft Guernsey milk cheese with a rind washed in a local ale from the Uprising Brewery. The rich, soft style has a kick from the ale with its earthy hoppy style contributing to the flavour of the salty edge to the milk. Washing the rind of a cheese with ale is a habit famously used by monks in Northern France and Belgium where they are partnered with their local beer.
If you are looking for something to go with your cheese – I’d highly recommend this selection box which is one of my favourites - A beautiful selection box containing three Toast for Cheese flavours: Cherries, Almonds & Linseeds, Apricots, Pistachios & Sesame Seeds and Dates, Hazelnuts & Pumpkin Seeds.