Baby Baron Bigod

Baron Bigod was the creation of Jonny Crickmore at Fen Farm dairy. Made in small batches to a Brie de Meaux recipe passed on by a French cheesemaker, it is the only traditional Brie-style cheese currently being produced in the UK. In fact, it is arguably more authentic than the majority of French Brie in that it's made on a farm as opposed to a creamery, using the very freshest of milk from Jonny's own herd of Montbéliarde cows. The curds are hand ladled into large moulds using traditional pelle-à-brie ladles, and the young cheeses are salted, wrapped in paper and aged for up to eight weeks in cave-like conditions, first at Fen Farm, then at our Bermondsey arches.

We keep the cheeses in our cold room at the arches, and turn them regularly. The goal is to prevent the rind from growing too thick and to keep breakdown of the paste even – without over-ripening it to the point where it's running away. We've continued to work closely with Jonny and his team over the years, and every three months they visit us to taste the cheese and evaluate its progress. The conversations that result help to inform their selection for us back at their farm.