Читать книгу The Taste of Britain - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall - Страница 7

DESCRIPTION:

UNPASTEURIZED, SOFT COW’S MILK CHEESE. DIMENSIONS: 8CM SQUARE, 2CM DEEP.

WEIGHT: 250G. COLOUR: CREAM, WITH WHITE MOULD SURFACE. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE:

MILD, WITH SLIGHT ACID FLAVOUR, MELLOWING WITH AGE, CREAMY TEXTURE.

HISTORY:

Bath cheese is mentioned in several late-Victorian texts. Law’s Grocer’s Manual (c. 1895) said it was ‘a noted kind of soft creamy cheese’. Conditions imposed upon farm cheese-makers during the first half of the twentieth century were unfavourable for the soft, moist category of cheese to which this belongs. It was not made for many years until the current maker revived it in the 1980s.

TECHNIQUE:

Unpasteurized milk from one herd of Friesian cattle is used. Starter is added to milk at about 32°C, then animal rennet, and it is allowed to coagulate. The curd is cut to encourage whey separation to begin, and the curds and whey ladled into moulds placed on rush mats. The cheeses stand overnight. The surface is dry-salted, after which the cheese is left to dry 2 days at about 15°C. It is ripened in cooler conditions for 3-4 weeks. The cheese is made all year but is best in the autumn.

REGION OF PRODUCTION:

SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, BATH (SOMERSET).