I have heard
Stilton cheese referred to as ‘The King of Cheeses’, which is, of course, only someone’s
opinion, or perhaps someone’s clever marketing. An Italian may disagree, and
say that Parmigiano-Regiano is the King, a Frenchman may insist it is Brie de
Meaux, and a good Fetta will almost certainly get the vote of a Greek. The
appellation is silly. There are only good cheeses and bad cheeses, and amongst
the good cheeses, some are superb.
There are
two cheeses that I personally associate with the Christmas season. The first is
English Wensleydale, because that was the traditional cheese to serve alongside
the Christmas cake when I was growing up in Yorkshire. The second is Stilton,
for reasons which remain completely obscure to myself.
One thing
that can be said with certainty about Stilton cheese is that it is one of the
oldest named British cheeses. The first written reference to it appears in
1722, in William Stukeley’s Itinerarium
Curiosum (Account of the Curiosities and Antiquities in Great Britain), but
I have yet to track down a copy of his actual words on the cheese. The second
reference is from the writer Daniel Defoe, in his record if A Tour thro' the
Whole Island of Great Britain, in
1724. He says "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which
is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the mites, or
maggots round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat
the mites with, as you do the cheese." More on cheese mites tomorrow, I
promise.
The odd
thing about Stilton cheese is that is has never been made in the village of
Stilton in Cambridgeshire. It seems that name of the cheese came about because
the village – on a major coaching route – was the major point of sale, and
eventually ‘the cheese bought in Stilton’ became ‘Stilton cheese’.
In 1969, the
Stilton Cheese Makers Association obtained trade-mark status for their product,
and in 1996, the cheese was one of the first to be given ‘Protected Designation
of Origin’ (PDO) status by the EU. The rules are that:
- it can
only be produced in the Counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and
Leicestershire.
- it must be
made from locally produced milk.
- the milk
must be pasteurised.
- the curd
is not pressed.
- the blue
veins must radiate from the centre of the cheese
- the shape of the cheese must be cylindrical.
- it must be allowed to form its own crust
- the shape of the cheese must be cylindrical.
- it must be allowed to form its own crust
A couple
more factoids are:
-it takes
136 pints milk (78 litres) to make one 17 lb (8kg) Stilton cheese.
- it is
currently made in only six dairies within the three counties.
- it is one
of the few cheeses that freeze well.
One of the
greatest mysteries about Stilton cheese to me is the origin of the often-quoted
method of scooping out the middle and filling it with port before serving it. I
can understand drinking good port with good Stilton, but sabotaging the
cheesemakers’ art in an attempt to gild an already tasty lily seems misguided
at best.
‘Potting’ is
a good way to use up odds and ends of cheese – think of it as making your own
cheese spread. In previous times of course, it provided a far more important
function – preservation before refrigeration.
To Pot Cheese.
Cut down
half a pound of good sound mellow Stilton, with two ounces of fresh butter; add
a little mace and made mustard. Beat this well in a mortar, and pressing it
close in a potting-can, cover with clarified butter if to be long kept.
The
Cooks & Housewife's Manual (1826), by Mrs. Margaret Dodds (pseud.)
In other posts:
If
the Italian King of Cheeses (‘Parmesan’) is your preference, a previous post
(here) gave it some space, and an earlier post (here) included a nineteenth
century recipe cheese ice-cream made with Parmesan.
Quotation for the Day.
People who
know nothing about cheeses reel away from Camembert, Roquefort, and Stilton
because the plebeian proboscis is not equipped to differentiate between the
sordid and the sublime.
Harvey Day.
2 comments:
Excellent post, thank you.
Keith.
http://woodsrunnersdiary.blogspot.com/
I love stilton, but it's difficult to get here in Madrid (actually, that's a fib - there's one reliable supplier, but their prices are horrendous). An acceptable sub is Bleu d'Auvergne, which most of the supermarkets stock.
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