Description
Cornish Yarg Cheese
About Cornish Yarg
There aren’t many cheeses you can identify quite as quickly as Cornish Yarg. Each wheel is wrapped in nettle leaves, painstakingly arranged across the surface by hand, creating that beautiful green-grey rind.
And before you ask — yes, you can eat the nettles. And no, they won’t sting you!
Yarg is made at Lynher Dairies in Cornwall from cow’s milk and has become one of the most recognisable modern British cheeses. Underneath those nettles you’ll find a pale, creamy cheese with a fresh, gentle flavour and just enough character from the rind to keep things interesting.
The Story Behind Yarg
The modern story of Yarg began when Alan and Jenny Gray started making a nettle-wrapped cheese in Cornwall using a recipe they had discovered.
And the name?
Yarg is simply Gray backwards.
I absolutely love this because it sounds as though there ought to be some ancient Cornish meaning behind it. There isn’t. Someone turned a surname around and accidentally created one of the best cheese names in Britain.
Although Yarg itself is relatively modern, using leaves to wrap and mature cheese certainly isn’t. The nettles create a distinctive surface on which the rind develops as the cheese matures, gradually changing from fresh green leaves to the beautiful mottled covering you see on the finished cheese.
Today, Cornish Yarg is made by the team at Lynher Dairies and those nettles are still a hugely important part of its identity.
Cornish Yarg – Jen’s Tasting Notes
Cut through that wonderfully rustic rind and you’ll find a pale, creamy centre with a texture that manages to be both slightly crumbly and beautifully creamy.
The flavour is fresh and milky at first, with a gentle lactic tang and a lovely buttery richness. As you get closer to the rind, things become a little more earthy and mushroomy, giving you a completely different flavour from the centre.
And I always eat the nettles.
By the time Yarg reaches us, they’re very different from the things you spend your summer avoiding in the garden. The rind is completely edible and brings another layer of flavour to the cheese, so at least try a little before deciding whether it’s for you.
It’s gentle enough to be a real crowd-pleaser, but there’s plenty going on if you stop and pay attention to it.
How to Serve and Pair Cornish Yarg
- Make sure you take it out of the fridge a good hour before you want to eat it so it can come up to room temperature.
- Classic pairings: We’re in Cornwall, so cider seems only right. A good dry Cornish cider has enough fruit and acidity to work beautifully with Yarg’s creamy, earthy flavours.
- Something a little different: A crisp white wine works really well too. I’d go for Sauvignon Blanc or an unoaked Chardonnay — something fresh enough to lift the cheese without overwhelming it.
- On the plate: Keep things fairly simple. Grapes or figs add a little sweetness, while a handful of toasted hazelnuts or walnuts gives you some lovely crunch.
- In the kitchen: I love a little grated Yarg in an omelette, particularly with mushrooms. The cheese melts beautifully and those earthy flavours work really well together.
Jen’s note: The nettles used to wrap Yarg are foraged from the Cornish countryside and frozen before being carefully painted onto each cheese by hand. There’s a small team responsible for applying them, and each person has their own slightly different style. Once you know that, you start looking at the nettles on every wheel. Or maybe that’s just me…
Buying Cornish Yarg
- Brand or Producer: Lynher Dairy
- Product name: Cornish Yarg
- Milk: Cow
- Country: England
- Region: Cornwall
- Strength: Medium
- Vegetarian: Yes
- Suitable for pregnancy: Yes
- Allergens: MILK
Sizes and Prices
- 100g wedge, £3.30
- 500g wedge, £16.50
- Whole wheel (approx. 1kg, 1.8kg or 3.8kg), 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, salt, nettle leaves, starter cultures, vegetarian rennet, calcium chloride, penicillium candidum
