Cornish Yarg

A striking, nettle-wrapped cheese whose delicately earthy rind gives way a buttery breakdown and crumbly core, with notes of lemon and yoghurt.
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  • Spend over £39.50 to receive free delivery (England, Wales & Central Scotland)

Standard delivery is free to most postcodes in the UK for orders over £39.50. Click here for a list of postcodes where additional delivery charges apply.

For orders under £39.50, standard delivery is £8.00.

Collection from our London shops is free - choose Shop Collection at checkout.

Pasteurised Cow's MILK, Salt, Nettle Leaves, Cheese Cultures, Animal Rennet, Calcium Chloride,
Various sized cut pieces sat on a whole Cornish Yarg cow’s milk cheese, showing the green nettle-wrapped, edible rind and buttery, creamy paste
Close up of the mould-flecked green nettle-wrapped rind of a Cornish Yarg cow’s milk cheese
Location: Cornish Yarg map
Various sized cut pieces sat on a whole Cornish Yarg cow’s milk cheese, showing the green nettle-wrapped, edible rind and buttery, creamy paste
Close up of the mould-flecked green nettle-wrapped rind of a Cornish Yarg cow’s milk cheese
Location: Cornish Yarg map

Cornish Yarg is so called for the person who invented it in the 1980s, Alan Gray, whose surname spelt backwards is Yarg.

At some point in the 1980s, while digging around in his attic, Cornish farmer Alan Gray stumbled across a 17th century recipe for nettle-wrapped cheese and set about recreating it. Today the cheese is produced by Catherine Mead and her team at Lynher Dairies in Ponsanooth, Cornwall. The nettles are foraged from the local hedgerows each spring and frozen so they can be used throughout the year. By the time the nettles are brushed onto the cheese, they have lost their sting, but they still play an important role in forming the attractive rind for which the cheese is known. The animal rennet Cornish Yarg that we sell is made solely from milk from Lynher Dairy's own herd of Ayrshire cows and is matured there for 21 to 28 days before coming to Neal's Yard Dairy ready to sell.

We have a longstanding relationship with Lynher Dairies, with whom we are in regular contact. Though most of the Cornish Yarg they make uses plant-based coagulant, they produce an animal rennet version especially for sale at Neal's Yard Dairy.
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