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The British Cheese Festival was held in Cardiff Castle over the weekend of 26th and 27th September. Unfortunately I could not attend this year as we had too many events around that weekend in Switzerland. 884 cheeses were entered into the competition which is good news, but I have to say some of the winners are quite surprising, and I fear not great news for lovers of real British Cheese. The Supreme Champion cheese went to Quenby Hall Blue Stilton, the youngest of the Stilton producers and I have to say it is an excellent cheese, slightly less salty than the Stiltons we are used to. We do have some in stock and we will be serving it at some events over the net few weeks so I would value your opinions! However, the prize for Best English Cheese went to Long Clawston Red Leicester. At first it seems that I should be applauding another local dairy making a traditional Leicester cheese but when you consider that the dairy adds the Helvetica Enzyme to the milk to increase flavour and sweetness you will know why I am disappointed. The cheese is so sweet it almost tastes of toffee, which would not be a bad thing as such if the sweetness came about by the natural flavours in the milk rather than an artificial ingredient. The Best Export cheese also went to a Red Leicester, this time a "block" cheese (as opposed to a traditional cloth bound one) from Beltons. Surely, the prize for helping the export of British cheese would go to a Stilton or one of the PDO cheddars? A block Red Leicester is just the sort of cheese that gives British cheese a bad name in the first place. Best Scottish went to Morangie Brie made by Rory Stone (he also makes the excellent Strathdone Blue). I have not tasted Morangie, and no doubt it is an excellent cheese, but being something of a purist I have to say that I do not think a French style of cheese should be the best Scottish cheese. Best Welsh cheese went to a factory made mild cheddar from Llandyrnog Creamery. I know something about Welsh cheeses, and although I have not tasted this cheddar, surely it cannot be the best cheese in Wales? Best Goat went to Quicke's goat Cheddar. This is a nice enough cheese that we briefly stocked last year but I could choose almost 10 other goat cheeses to beat it. Best Semi-Soft went to Rachel (which is one of the far superior goats) and is our Cheese of the Month for October. No arguments here, it is one of our favourites! Best Cheddar went to a mild cheddar from Quicke's - another surprising choice. Best Modern British went to our ever popular Lincolnshire Poacher who also won the best flavoured cheese with their traditional smoked Poacher. All in all I am disappointed in the judging and the winners. Out of all the medal winners, there are only 5 or 6 that I would choose to introduce to Switzerland. Maybe next year something will be done to improve the quality of the judging. I hope to be present next year (and we are trying to arrange a group visit by the British Cheese Centre of Switzerland) so that I can actually taste more of the cheeses. It is not surprising that there are rumours going around amongst some of the more traditional cheese makers and purists (such as myself) that there is room for another championship - the "Real British Cheese Awards" - open only to traditional farm made cheeses. Maybe the organisors of the current British Cheese Festival might add a category along similar lines. I'll keep you posted! Michael Jones | ||
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