 Mothers' Day: 14th March
Everything happens on the 14th of the month, or so it seems: we've just had Valentine's Day, and coming up on the next one is Mothering Sunday.
This box went down well last year, so we thought we'd give it another outing. Check all the details by visiting this page, and order now for delivery in time for the 14th. Browne's Truffles, delicious biscuits and not forgetting Godminster Cheddar and a very special lemon & lavender flavoured soft cheese ...
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Epitome of Tradition: Keen's Cheddar
 Walking through the big maturing room, packed from floor to ceiling with 25 kilo cheeses, it's amazing to hear that 30 years ago the Keen family might have thrown in the towel. Pasteurised factory cheese was on every side. "No-one's making unpasteurised cheddar any more" seemed to be the consensus, and the options seemed to be either give in (and pasteurise) ... or give up.
The Keen family had been making cheese at Moorhayes Farm near Wincanton since 1899, so this was a truly depressing prospect. And that was when brothers George (pictured) and Stephen met Randolph Hodgson of Neals Yard Dairy. Hodgson - a key figure, along with James Aldridge - in the artisan cheese revival, encouraged them to identify what was unique about their product, and to have faith in it. In retrospect, this advice was spot on.
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 What they needed to do was let the public know about Keen's Cheddar and its distinctive qualities. The problem was that people just thought that cheddar was, well, just cheddar. There was an educational job to be done.
Out of this grew the idea for the Slow Food Presidium for Artisan Somerset Cheddar. Slow Food - originally from Italy - is the international movement dedicated to the pleasures of food and the authenticity of the best artisan produce. Slow Food brings together gastronomy, green thinking, biodiversity and politics, but preservation of traditional foods is at its core. A 'Presidium' identifies and protects the key techniques involved in an important artisan product - in this case, the ultra-traditional cheddar made by just three Somerset dairies: Keens, Westcombe and Montgomerys.
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 So what makes Artisan Somerset Cheddar different? Well, it has to be made in Somerset, with unpasteurised (or 'raw') milk from the farm's own cows. The cheese is made in open vats, using traditional 'starters' (the bacteria which start the milk's transformation) are used, and calf rennet. Then, the 'cheddaring' process itself has to be used. You can see James Keen doing this in the photo: stacking the curd in blocks, turning, cutting and re-stacking - this is key to the cheese's eventual texture. Finally, the cheeses are cloth bound and matured on wooden shelves for at least 11 months.
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 Today George and Stephen have been joined by their sons (Nicholas and James respectively). The ethos at Moorhayes Farm is simple: "We just make cheddar how our grandparents made it".
In some ways they're the very opposite of a dairy like Whitelake, whose Pete Humphries I desribed as a 'restless innovator' in the last newsletter. For his part, George is delighted to see the upsurge in new and different cheeses, and knows that this is all good. He doesn't for a moment look down on other makers with other ways of working.
It's just not for him.
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Two New Cheddar Cheese Recipes!
Annie's been busy in the kitchen again and has come up with two new recipes. Both used Keen's Cheddar when we tried them out, but you could happily use any of the other quality mature cheddars we sell (Westcombe, Montgomerys, Quickes).
Choose from Butternut Squash, Bacon and Cheddar Soup, or a Cheddar & Herb Focaccia. If you can't choose - have them together. We did: delicious!
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 Fruitcake Cheesecakes
People always used to tell me that somewhere ('In The North', allegedly) people eat cheese with fruitcake. Not just on the same day, mind. What they were saying was that these two items were eaten ... together. It sounded unlikely, but they were adamant.
So ... to keep these people quiet we've know created two wedding / celebration cakes which are designed to bring the two together. With a depressing lack of imagination I've called these fruitcake/cheesecake 1 and fruitcake/cheesecake 2 (yes! - so boring).*
Another thing people used to tell me was that I "hadn't thought it through". Only time will tell whether that's the case here!
* Actually I think it might be 'cheesecake/fruitcake'. Now, boring and confusing - that takes some doing. Anyway, if you have a better idea for names, please let me know.
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