99 Station Street

When we talk about cheese in the UK, people often quote the rubbery white, yellow or orange stuff that was probably destined for turning into riot rounds. Given the lack of civil disturbance these days, we have to suffer low velocity hits to the head instead, by eating the stuff. Let’s put the record straight here, Great Britain now offers more choice of cheese than France. The base of much of the low opinion of British food goes back to the last war. Dairy supply was rationed and the Ministry of Food insisted that cheese production was limited to a few options that could be mass manufactured.

After rationing ceased and attitudes started to change, a small handful of craftsfolk started to rebuild the supply of traditional British cheeses. Europe took note of what we could do and through the efforts of governments working together, there is now recognition. Great Britain holds the highest EU status of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) for 11 of it’s cheeses. This means that the manufacture of the product and the sourcing of raw materials are maintained within a set geographical area. Also the traditional production methods are set by law for the cheese to receive it’s official stamp of approval.

Within our immediate region, we have 5 of the 11; Buxton Blue, Dovedale, Staffordshire, Blue Stilton and White Stilton. The last two are limited to production in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire alone. This leaves Staffordshire with 3 of the 11, Great British Cheeses. This may not sound much. The main reasons are that most British cheese makers have missed the boat on EU protection (Lancashire, Cheshire, most Cheddar etc), cannot afford the certification or don’t want to upset our continental cousins.

The most famous output of Burton, is beer, or the other stuff that comes after all the beer goodness has been taken out … love it or hate it. Beer is basically, please forgive me brewers, stuff from the field, put into tanks and mixed with bugs, warmed and left for a while. Cheese is basically, stuff from the field, put into the tanks and mixed with bugs as well. That is by no means derogatory, it’s science through and through. Someone in the 12th century in Burton, discovered how to mix water, grain and spores with alchemical accuracy to produce consistently, the beer we are famous for. Cheese is not much different and often produced by the same passionate artisans as the beer. It’s on your doorstep folks, time to discover Great, British produce.