Gosh it feels like an age since I last sent out a newsletter, so I figured what better way to spend a wet, chilly, June afternoon in Pangbourne than writing about cheese!
We have had a busy few weeks culminating in attending the Affineur of the Year finals on Tuesday. This competition is run by the Academy of Cheese and is designed to get cheese professionals maturing cheeses that they haven’t made in order to see how the cheeses develop in different conditions. There were 5 cheeses that the entrants could choose between – Shropshire Blue from Cropwell Bishop Creamery, Cheddar from Quickes, Caerphilly from Trethowan Brothers, Baron Bigod from Fen Farm Dairy and Somerset Solstice from White Lake. I’d never really thought about entering but I had my arm twisted and so decided to give it a go… I thought that the Caerphilly would be a good cheese to start with as I’ve never matured a cheese, and I had a couple of ideas of what I would do.
But what is Affinage? I did a quick google and I love this definition by Ari Weinzweig in Zingerman’s Guide to Good Eating, 2003: “the act or process of ageing cheese – Affinage does for cheeses what great coaching does for athletes”
The Caerphilly arrived with us at just 10 days old, so it had been made but was still a very young, fresh cheese. I had decided to try washing it with our local Green Shed Just Dry Cider. This is made in Newbury by a wonderful cider maker, Dave. I thought the apple tones would really complement the earthy Caerphilly tones. I washed the cheese (which involves soaking a cloth in cider and wiping the surface of the cheese) every 2 days for the first couple of weeks, then every 3 days until the cheese had been washed 12 times. I was keeping the cheese in our wine fridge as the temperature and humidity can be closely monitored. In order to stop its rind drying out too much I put a bowl of Dave’s cider in the fridge as well. It was all a bit of an experiment, but I took it along to Marylebone on Tuesday morning to discover what it would taste like. Other people had covered their cheeses in leaves, flowers or dried mushrooms, someone else had washed theirs in beer. When I got to taste it, I was really surprised at how nice it was! (I must admit I was a bit scared that it was going to inedible) We got loads of really good feedback from everyone who tasted it, and one cheesemaker even suggested we should keep doing it and sell it here in the shop as he was very impressed. I’m not sure I can commandeer the wine fridge for my cheese maturation business, but it was lovely to have such positive comments.
I didn’t win the competition (which was not a surprise) but I do have some of the cheese left so if anyone is in the Pangbourne area over the next day or so please feel free to pop in and try it. We’re not selling it so it will only be available in the shop for tasting. The overall winner was Perry from Rennet & Rind. He matured a Quickes cheddar, using high humidity, high temperature, and a spiked roller technique to intensify flavour. Perry has won 3 out of the 4 Affineur of the Year competitions so is a bit of a pro!
