 This Month's Offer!
Some of you might not have had Vulscombe. A few of you might even think (gulp) that you don't like goats' cheese:
if so, this is the one to try, especially while it's half price!! Our
offer lasts until the end of October 12th. Read all about Vulscombe
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Mathematician + Wheelbarrow + Goat = Vulscombe
 In 1982, Oxford-trained mathematician Graham Townsend and his wife Jo arrived at ramshackle Vulscombe Farm with three children, a goat, a thousand pounds and a wheelbarrow. And one other thing. At their previous home, in Sussex, Jo had come up with a recipe for a soft goat's cheese. They took some with them on an outing to see Fidelio at Glyndebourne and the concensus was that it was rather good.
Settling in to Vulscombe Farm they began the slow business of developing the cheese, building up a herd ... and trying to make a living. At that time 'artisan' or 'farmhouse' cheese makers were few and far between. Graham and Jo, however, were confident they'd hit on something pretty special in their Vulscombe, and kept plugging away, whilst Graham kept one foot in the maths world. Validation came from Paxton & Whitfield - who were soon buying lots - and gradually production and the herd grew, with the 'family workforce' fully employed.
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 Vulscombe is made using what Graham calls the 'acid curd process'. The key thing is, there's no rennet, or even rennet subsititute, involved (rennet's the thing used in most cheese to thicken the milk into curd). Graham's cheese however, uses a special set of starter bacteria and a process of slow coagulation, with a crucial 48hrs warm incubating in something a bit like an airing cupboard.
The process is labour intensive and slow (6-7 days) but when it ends the cheese is ready to eat with no more maturing required. The method was apparently widespread, at one time: farms used it to make cheese for their own consumption. But it's rare now, with only 2 or 3 other makers using it commercially. As a result, though, Vulscombe really is different, and I certainly can't think of another cheese you could substitute for it. For me it's especially the texture; Graham agrees, adding that taste-wise it's one of the least 'goaty' goats cheeses around.
Things change - they gave up the herd in '97, and as a consequence started to pasteurise, which called for adjustments to the recipe, but Graham says the 70,000 cheeses they now make annually are as good as they've ever been. The 180g cheese is available plain or in three flavoured versions. There's also a 250g log which chefs particularly like.
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Blue Vinney, Leek and Pear Tart. Yes, a Recipe!
 Annie used Blue Vinney for this - but it would be worth trying ot with the Beenleigh or Devon or Harbourne Bues as well. We've all tried this and I can only say the combination of blue cheese, leeks and pears is an inspired one!
Serves 4
Pre-Heat Oven to 190c/375f/Mark 6
Line and grease 8in (20cm) loose-bottom tin
Cooking time: 35 minutes
For the tart case:
175g plain flour
75g butter
1 egg yolk
Salt & pepper (optional)
For the filling:
1 small leek - thinly sliced
75g Dorset Blue Vinney
200ml single cream
2 egg yolks
15g butter
2 ripe pears - peeled, cored & quartered
Sift the flour (seasoned if you like) into a bowl and rub in the butter
until it resembles breadcrumbs. In another bowl, mix the egg yolks
with 2 tablespoons of water. Pour the egg mixture into the dry
ingredients to make a firm dough. Knead gently until smooth, then wrap
in cling film and chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Now the filling. Melt the butter and gently cook the chopped leeks
until soft. Take off heat and cool. In a bowl, separate the eggs and
mix the yolks with the cream. Peel and core the pears and cut
lengthways into quarters.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface and line the prepared tin.
Prick the base with a fork and bake blind for 10 minutes. Take out of
oven and cool for 5 minutes. Spread the leek mixture on the base,
sprinkle crumbled Blue Vinney on leeks, gently pour the cream and egg
mixture and finally arrange the pear slices on top.
Pop into oven, middle shelf, and cook for 35 minutes until the top is
golden brown and the cream and egg mixture is springy to the touch.
Serve warm with green salad.
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Decoration Packs: Get The Look
Our striking Smeaton's Tower
cake (right) is named after a famous Plymouth landmark: the
red-and-white lighthouse on Plymouth Hoe, 250 years old this October.
But part of it's appeal, we know, is in the way Annie has decorated it.
So: ta-raaa! We're now offering decoration packs for Smeatons Tower, and also for the Eighty-Eight. Getting the look is now dead easy. You can add a pack to your order via the drop-down menu on either of these pages.
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Lurch into Merch
 We starting producing our own cards last Christmas, with a fetching falling-snow design. Since then scissors, paper and glue have been deployed in the creation of a Spring card and a Summer one (shown). An Autumn card is - erm - 'pending'.
There has been no public demand whatever for a Cheese Shed badge. Nonetheless I felt our customers ought to have one, so I've had 500 made, based on the Summer design. They started going into boxes this week, and I can confidently say that no well-dressed cheese enthusiast should be seen without one.
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