Goodwood Estate moves into cheddar

Shorthorn milk is used from the Estate's own herd

An organic cheddar-style cheese called Charlton is the first product to come from Goodwood Home Farm’s new dairy.

Cheesemaker Christopher Vowles told Fine Food Digest that further cheeses, including a blue and a Brie are in the pipeline after setting up a cheese rom and three storage units in farm buildings last year. The facility is able to process 1,400 litres of milk a day from the Goodwood Estate’s own herd of Shorthorn dairy cows.

The pasteurised Charlton is made to a traditional cheddar recipe with the cheeses larded and bandaged by hand. “The Shorthorn milk is much creamier than you would get from a Friesan, so the cheese has a lovely richness with a tangy bite at the end,” said Vowles, who previously worked for Lyburn Farm and whose father and grandfather also made cheese.

The cheese is available in two varieties, mild (6 month maturity) and mature (12 months), as well as an 18 month extra mature variety. It will be sold in the Goodwood farm shop and local delis.

Goodwood Home Farm encompasses more than 3,300 acres, combining arable land with livestock, including 200 dairy cows, 1,200 ewes and 20 Saddleback sows. Most of the produce from the farm is sold on the estate through its hotel, clubhouse and farm shop. It achieved full organic status in 2004.
 * First published in the Cheeswire section of Fine Food Digest's June 2011 issue. Click here

New ewes' milk cheeses from Scotland

The company behind Scotland’s famous Lanark Blue cheese has developed two new unpasteurised sheep’s milk cheeses, including a washed rind cheese made with fermented whey.

HJ Errington in Carnwath, which is best known for its Lanark Blue and Dunsyre Blue cheeses, named its new washed rind cheese Elsrickle after a neighbouring village. The cheese is washed in Fallachan - a type of cheese ‘wine’ also known as blaand, which has been made from fermented whey in Scotland for centuries. 

 “We started making it this year due to several customer requests,” said Selena Cairns, who is a partner in the company and the daughter of founder Humphrey Errington. 

 

The company has also launched a hard ewes’ milk cheese called Corra Linn named after one of the water falls on the Clyde. The cheese is matured in cloth for at least five months and weighs 6kg. 

 

“We have been experimenting with it for the past few years as the techniques are very different to blue cheese,” said Cairns. “It has been difficult to get the cheese consistent. We have found that as the ewes’ milk changes throughout the season it gets harder as the fat content of the milk goes up. We are really pleased with the results although the cheese does change though the season giving a variety of different flavours.”

* First published in the Cheeswire section of Fine Food Digest's June 2011 issue. Click here