Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 10

This cheese originated in the late 1970s in Devon. It arose in part from necessity, as the producer sought new markets for sheep’s milk; one answer was to make a blue cheese. The person who developed Beenleigh Blue and its sister cheeses, Robin Congdon, was one of a handful of pioneers in the artisan manufacture of fine cheeses. This tradition, once vibrant in the British Isles, had almost died out during the 1940s under the impact of strict rationing.

Sheep’s milk cheese may once have been made in southern England - indeed, it was the dominant type - but Beenleigh Blue was the first blue sheep’s milk cheese to be made in the area for many years. The milk comes from 2 flocks kept nearby the dairy. Devon Blue, made from milk of a designated herd not far distant, was developed in the mid-1980s; Harbourne Blue is a new addition to the range, made from goat’s milk from a single farm on the edge of Dartmoor.