Westcombe Cheddar

A smooth, well rounded farmhouse Cheddar from Somerset, selected for its warm, lingering flavours and happy balance of creaminess and acidity.

Clothbound with lard.

PORTION

250g

MINIMUM 250 g

500g

MINIMUM 500 g

1kg

MINIMUM 1000 g

2kg

MINIMUM 2000 g

Regular price £6.05 Sale

Quantity

- +

Spend over £29.50 to receive free delivery (England, Wales & Central Scotland)

Delivery Information

Standard delivery is free to most postcodes in the UK for orders over £29.50. Click here for a list of postcodes where additional delivery charges apply.

For orders under £29.50, standard delivery is £6.00.

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

Choose your preferred delivery date at checkout. As we use third party couriers (typically DPD) we cannot guarantee the arrival day of your order but we will do our best to ensure that it arrives as close as possible to your chosen date. To be sure it arrives in time, we recommend choosing a date a couple of days ahead of when you would like to eat your cheese.

Download Crib Sheet

milk type
Cow

ingredients
MILK, salt, rennet

coagulant
Animal Rennet

milk treatment
Pasteurised

location
Evercreech, Somerset

milk source
Own herd; Bought-in

breed
Holstein; Dairy Shorthorn

season
All year

average age
12-14 Months

cheesemakers
Rob Howard; The Calver Family

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Westcombe Dairy's maturing cave is equipped with Cheddar-turning robot, nicknamed Tina the Turner.

background

Cheddar has been made at Westcombe Farm since the late 19th century, and the cheese produced there today is much the same as it would have been back then. After dabbling briefly in the manufactu...

Cheddar has been made at Westcombe Farm since the late 19th century, and the cheese produced there today is much the same as it would have been back then. After dabbling briefly in the manufacture of block Cheddar in the 1970s, Richard Calver decided in 1999 to return the dairy to its traditional roots. Turning to the recipe that would have been followed in the 1890s, he dismantled the factory and built a dairy better suited to a more traditional make. When Richard's son Tom joined the business, he brought with him a chef's training and experience of working in Neal's Yard Dairy. Moving the make away from mechanisation as much as possible, Tom set about mastering every aspect of its process, from the quality of the milk, to understanding the interplay of rennets and cultures, to building a new maturing cave complete with Tina the cheese-turning robot.

At the same time, Richard, together with herdsman Nicholas Millard, continue to work on improving the herd. Most recently they took the bold decision to switch their herd of Holstein-Friesian to Dairy Shorthorns – a heritage breed that can subsist solely on grass and silage, and offers both versatility and slower, more sustainable growth. More information on their efforts towards more sustainable dairying can be found via The Westcombe Project Podcast.

Once moulded, the Cheddars are cloth-bound with lard and matured for between 11 and 18 months. Today, Westcombe is one of very few Cheddars left in Somerset that are still made by hand on the farm using their own milk, a natural cloth binding and traditional cheese cultures.

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our work with this cheese

We visit Westcombe Dairy six times per year to select our batches of cheese.

Accompaniments

Dijon Mustard
£2.85

Rosebud Piccalilli Chutney
£6.00

Serving Suggestions

Grate Westcombe Cheddar into scrambled eggs towards the end of cooking for deeper savoury flavour.

Recipes

Asparagus and Westcombe Cheddar Tart

This simple tart is a wonderful way to celebrate the short spring season of British asparagus. https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/asparagus-and-cheddar-tart/

FAQs

How much cheese to buy?

As a general rule of thumb, we would recommend roughly between 100 and 150 grams per person for after dinner, and a bit more if cheese is the focus of the meal. If you are buying cheese to serve over a couple of days or as part of a buffet, it is advisable to buy a few larger pieces. This will both look better and keep better than many small bits. To help visualise weights, a good tip is to consider that a regular supermarket pat of butter weighs between 200 and 250 grams. If you are at all unsure please give us a call for some advice.

How should I store my cheese?

The best option is to keep your cheese wrapped in its paper within a box in the fridge. This will prevent the cheese from drying out and absorbing other flavours. Your cheese will arrive wrapped in waxed cheese paper, which achieves the best possible balance between maintaining humidity around the cheese and allowing it to breathe. We are happy to provide some free extra cheese paper, just search for "cheese paper" and add it to your basket. We don't recommend cling film or foil as it can cause the cheese to sweat which will negatively affect the flavour.

A trial

Cheaper than my favourite cheddar (Montgomery) but how does it measure up. Answer : very well. Montgomery still rates best with me but Westcombe was close to it and very tasty.

Hi Richard,
Many thanks for sharing your feedback with us! It's much appreciated.
Kind regards,
NYD

Go to cheese

Every order we place must include a piece of Westcombe Cheddar. This is a smooth cheese with a pleasant cheddar taste, not too strong but flavoursome.

Hi Malcolm,
Many thanks for sharing your feedback with us! It's much appreciated.
Kind regards,
NYD

Gift

Apparently most appreciated by recipients - thank you