Of Stiltons and other delightful cheeses
The cheeses of Cropwell Bishop Creamery, including animal and vegetarian rennet PDO Stilton, Blue Shropshire (orange cheese) and Beauvale on the far right. Credit: SChrist
Last week’s outing was to the Midlands of the UK. When I mentioned this to people beforehand, they’d sigh as if I was being sent to Coventry, as they say over here. Or Slough for all you “The Office” fans. As we drove over the rolling countryside that is Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire, I thought, dunno, it looks pretty gorgeous to me. These counties, along with Derbyshire, are the only three counties where the Protected Designation of Origin Stilton cheeses can be made. This PDO was one of the first cheeses to be given protected status in the EU.
We went to visit one of the four producers left in the country, which is sad, as Tuxford & Tebbutt has shut down recently. Cropwell Bishop Creamery in the same-named town, continues to produce the iconic cheeses from milk delivered from eight farms in the Peak District. The cheese is internationally sold throughout the world, and as Robin Skailes, director of CBC points out, “We see ourselves as custodians of the Stilton brand – no-one actually owns it. Instead, we are caretaking it to hand it down to the next generation.”
I have long been a fan of Cropwell Bishop’s Beauvale blue cheese, which is a creamier blue cheese than the PDO Stilton. The creamery also makes white Stilton, which despite its Stilton name is not a blue cheese, but a marvellous white territorial – somewhat crumbly and eminently edible. I like to think I enjoy Beauvale because I’m a hip younger generation type, but in reality, it’s about getting that cheese on an oatcake without it falling off. Stilton is eminently edible (I have it on hand to cut and crumble on salads regularly), but the Beauvale is almost an easier cheese delivery system for me and my greedy self.
- Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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