Description
Heckfield Cheese
About Heckfield Cheese
Some cheeses travel hundreds of miles to reach our counter.
Heckfield doesn’t have very far to come at all.
Made by our friends at Village Maid Cheese here in Berkshire, Heckfield is one of our genuinely local cheeses — in fact, I picked up our latest batch from them this morning.
It’s made using milk from Guernsey cows at Heckfield Place, which gives the cheese its beautiful naturally golden colour and wonderfully rich flavour.
Heckfield is a hard cheese, but describing it simply as ‘hard’ doesn’t really do it justice. Village Maid describe its texture as being rather like hard butter, which I think sums it up perfectly: firm and dense when you cut it, but rich and creamy as you eat it.
From Berkshire, With Love
Village Maid Cheese was founded by Anne Wigmore in 1986 after she left her job as a microbiologist at the National Institute for Research in Dairying to become a cheesemaker.
And we’re rather glad she did.
Over the years, Anne and the team have created some of Britain’s best-known artisan cheeses, including Wigmore, Waterloo and Spenwood.
Heckfield is one of the newer additions to the family and is a wonderful showcase for the rich Guernsey milk used to make it.
The cows’ milk naturally contains high levels of beta-carotene, which gives Heckfield its gorgeous deep golden colour — there’s no need to add anything to make it look like that.
It’s simply the milk doing what good milk does.
Heckfield – Jen’s Tasting Notes
The first thing you notice is that colour.
Cut into Heckfield and the paste is a beautiful warm gold, with a firm, dense texture that’s quite unlike most of the other cheeses in our counter.
Then you taste it.
There’s a deep savoury flavour straight away, followed by rich butteriness and a gentle sweetness from the milk. I sometimes think there’s a little of mature Cheddar about it, but Heckfield very definitely has a character of its own.
There’s plenty of umami, a little nuttiness and a lovely tang towards the finish that stops all that richness becoming too heavy.
And then there’s that texture.
Hard butter really is the best description.
Once you’ve tried it, you’ll know exactly what I mean.
How to Serve and Pair Heckfield
- Here’s where I’m going to contradict almost every other page on this website: try Heckfield straight from the fridge. Village Maid actually recommend eating it cold, when you really notice that distinctive firm, hard-butter texture. We’ve tried it. They’re right.
- Classic pairings: We often pair Heckfield with Pinot Noir. The red fruit works beautifully with the savoury, umami flavours without overwhelming the cheese.
- Something a little different: Keep things properly local and open a Berkshire beer. A gently bitter, malty beer works really nicely with Heckfield’s buttery richness.
- On the plate: Heckfield has plenty of flavour of its own, so I keep the accompaniments fairly simple. Neutral crackers, perhaps some apple and a little quince paste are more than enough.
- In the kitchen: Heckfield makes fantastic cheese scones. That buttery richness melts beautifully into the dough and gives you a seriously good scone.
Jen’s note: Our friends at Village Maid always tell us that Heckfield is best eaten straight from the fridge. As a cheesemonger who spends half her life telling people to take their cheese OUT of the fridge before eating it, this goes against almost everything I usually say. But they’re the cheesemakers, so they probably know what they’re talking about. And annoyingly, they’re right!
Buying Heckfield
- Brand or Producer: Village Maid Dairy
- Product name: Heckfield
- Milk: Cow
- Country: England
- Region: Berkshire
- Strength: Strong
- Vegetarian: Yes (vegetarian rennet)
- Suitable for pregnancy: Yes
- Allergens: MILK
Sizes and Prices
- 100g wedge, £3.70
- 500g wedge, £18.50
- Whole wheel (approx. 2kg), available to pre-order
Storage Advice
- Keep refrigerated
- Wrap in waxed paper or cling film
- Remove from the fridge before serving
- Consume within 10 to 14 days of opening
Delivery and Collection
- UK wide courier delivery
- Click and collect from our Pangbourne shop
- Free local delivery available for selected postcodes
Ingredients (Allergens are listed in capitals)
MILK, starter cultures, vegetarian rennet, salt
