Neals Yard Dairy |
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Made by the Appleby family and Gary Gray at Abbey Farm near Whitchurch, Shropshire |
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TYPE OF
CHEESE: |
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Traditional |
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RENNET: |
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Vegetable Rennet |
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MILK: |
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| Unpasteurised Cows Milk |
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DESCRIPTION: |
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The last of its kind, Applebys Cheshire is the only Cheshire in the UK which uses unpasteurised milk from their own farm, and clothbinding to allow the flavours to develop properly during maturing. The Applebys also aim to make a much less acid cheese than other cheshire makers as it allows for greater depth of flavour. Their cheeses are a subtle, intriguing and delicious combination of savoury vegetabley notes, clean salty minerally notes and lactic, citrussy acidity. The texture is moist and succulent but flaky. |
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The Farmyard at Abbey Farm looking towards
the dairy. |
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Generations of the Appleby family in the cheese
store. Mrs Appleby (the original cheesemaker) is in the centre.
On either side of her are her son Edward and his wife Christine.
On either side of them are their son Paul and his wife Sarah. |
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Cutting the curd |
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Gary Gray the cheesemaker, stirring
the curd. |
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A handful of curd just before draining. In order
to get it to this texture, the vat has been heated which expels
some moisture and shrinks the curd particles. Back to top of page |
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Gary draining the curd, watched by Randolph
and Sarah of Neal’s Yard Dairy. |
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As it drains, the curd is cut into blocks, which
are stacked at the edges of the vat allowing the whey to drain down
the centre. This is different to cheddaring (in the cheddar recipe) where the blocks of curd are stacked in order that they to knit together to form a close texture. |
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Surveying the curd as the last of the whey drains
off. |
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The cheesemoulds, lined and waiting for the
curd. Some are stained orange by the annatto, which colours the
cheese. |
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Gary tightens the press, which pushes the whey
out of the cheese. |
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The cheese presses, laden with cheese. |
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Preparing the cheese for cloth binding. In order
that the calico will stick firmly, the edges of the cheese are heated
with a domestic iron. |
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And this is what it does to the iron! In the
background a piece of calico is stuck to the top of a cheshire. |
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Once calico has been stuck to top and bottom,
a longer piece is bound round the sides of the cylinder. |
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Securing the calico. |
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Mrs Lucy Appleby, the original maker of Appleby’s
Cheshire and still its most discerning critic. |
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Edward Appleby tasting cheese in the storeroom. |
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Looking out across the fields at Abbey Farm. |
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Sarah from Neal’s Yard Dairy with Edward
Appleby outside the old farmhouse at Abbey Farm. |
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