St Cera

St Cera is the washed-rind sister to St Jude, made by Julie Cheyney and her team at Oakalby Dairy in Norfolk, near the town of Beccles. Like St Jude, it is made with milk from a single family farm whose herd grazes species-rich pastures on the edge of the Norfolk Broads. The milk, from British Friesians along with some Ayrshire and Brown Swiss cows, reflects the gentle care of the herdsmen and the seasonal shifts in feed and lactation. St Cera is the result of a close collaboration between Julie and Neal’s Yard Dairy’s maturation team, with regular dialogue shaping its evolution. Julie and her team also make their own version of St Cera in Norfolk, washed with a different culture, giving it a distinct texture and flavour.

For the first week St Cera is matured in the same way as we mature St Jude with some drying and encouragement of rind growth. After a week at our Maturation Arches, each cheese is then placed in a small wooden box, and washed four times over the course of a week with a brine solution. It is then moved into the cold room to slow its development until it is ready to be sold. The older the cheese the more barnyardy and punchy the flavour can become with a texture that becomes more oozy.