Elbow deep in curds at the School of Artisan Food

Hair nets à go-go: making a lactic cheese

We've barely had time to pull on our wellies and natty blue hair nets at the School of Artisan Food's cheesemaking course, before tutor Paul Thomas has us emptying a churn of raw milk into a shiny steel vat.

The milk is still warm from the cows that roam the Welbeck Estate in Nottingham, where the school is based (it's also the home of top blue cheese Stichelton), so we quickly add starter cultures to kick start the cheesemaking process. 

Flavoured cheese: anyone for Thai curry cheddar?

Earlier this year Waitrose ran a clever social media competition encouraging shoppers to come up with new ideas for flavoured cheeses, which the public then voted for online. 

The final shortlist included three cheeses: Raspberry & Pink Peppercorn Wensleydale, Carrot Cake Wensleydale and Beetroot and Horseradish Cheddar. The one that got the most votes would then be listed in Waitrose stores.

CHEESE OF THE WEEK: Västerbottensost

Without coming over all new age, there is something beautifully holistic and harmonious when a cheese naturally matches a wine or beer made in the same area. It's hard not to get a warm fuzzy local food feeling about classic combos such as Comté with 'vin jaune' (yellow wine), which are both made in the Jura mountains, or a slice of Westcombe cheddar with a Somerset cider.  

Then there are those completely random match ups, which have nothing to do to with each other, but just work really well together.  

Burrata: move over mozzarella

Photo: She Paused 4 Thought

It's hard to walk anywhere in Puglia without bumping into an olive tree or tripping over a grape vine. The region's fertile plains, which stretch along the heel on the boot of Italy, are carpeted with more than 60 million olive trees and hundreds of vineyards that flourish under the baking sun. 

The resulting fruity olive oils and lusty red wines are much loved by locals, but it's a very special cheese that has become a must-have ingredient for London's top chefs. Sales of burrata - a rich, decadent cousin of mozzarella - have rocketed in the UK in recent years with the creamy 'formaggio' popping up on menus in everything from salads and risotto to pizzas and puddings.

CHEESE OF THE WEEK: Occelli in chestnut leaves

Beppino Occelli's range of grand cheeses are
wrapped in everything from straw to tobacco leaves

Mention the words 'flavoured cheese' to a serious fromage lover and their face will usually fall into a stern look of disapproval. At the big international cheese awards, this class is generally full of products laced with cranberries, mango and curry powder and are widely dismissed (rightly in my view) as being awful gimmicks.

But as with so many things in life, you can't generalise. There are some terrific flavoured cheeses. Lynher Dairies in Cornwall is a case in point. It's nettle-wrapped Cornish Yarg is a modern British classic, while its lesser known Wild Garlic Yarg won the Flavour Added Cheese category at this year's British Cheeses Awards.

Top five cheese and beer matches

I've never really understood why red wine is lauded as the perfect partner for cheese. The tannins often clash and clang with the creaminess of the cheese horribly. Beer is better in my experience with more complementary flavours and a refreshing quality (maybe from the bubbles?) that cleanses the palate and leaves you ready for more cheese.The citrus notes of an IPA match up nicely with the lemony tang of a goat's cheese, while sweet, chocolatey stouts work a treat with aged Gouda with its caramel and coffee flavours.

CHEESE OF THE WEEK: Quickes Vintage

I paired this cheese with a cider at a recent event I organised with the Brighton Food Society and it went down a storm. Devon producer Quickes Traditional ages most of its cheddars for around a year, but some have the potential to be matured for much longer. Quickes Vintage, which is made with pasteurised milk, is 24 months old when it is released, making it one of the most mature farmhouse cheddars in the country.

Owner Mary Quicke describes her cheeses as being “10-mile cheddars” in that if she tastes a piece before driving away from the farm, the flavour will still be developing on the palate 10 miles later. Unlike über sweet block cheddars, Quickes Vintage has what Mary describes as a 'grand staircase of flavours' taking in creaminess, intense savoury 'umami' notes and a lovely mellow caramel sweetness.

Rosary goat's cheese wins British Cheese Awards 2014

Flavoured cheeses are often frowned upon by fromage purists, but this year's winner of the British Cheese Awards proves there are some great examples out there.

Rosary goat's cheese, flavoured with garlic and herb, was named Supreme Champion at yesterday's awards, which saw more than 1,000 entries from 177 British and Irish cheesemakers.

Made by Chris and Clare Moody on the Hampshire and Wiltshire border, the pasteurised cheese is soft, fluffy and speckled with fresh herbs and garlic.It is sold in Waitrose and by delis including Arch House Deli in Bristol and Victoria's Deli in Cambridge.

Hafod: taking it slow

It only takes a few weak rays of sunshine for Brits to start flashing the flesh and breaking out the flip-flops, but that's nothing compared to the delirium of cows when spring arrives. According to Sam Holden of Holden Farm Dairy in West Wales, setting the cows loose in the fields for the first time after the winter is one of the great moments in a farmhouse cheesemaker's year.