Save our Cheese

Neals Yard Dairy at Spa Terminus
(Pre-lockdown)

To a good cheesemaker and cheesemonger, every cheese is precious, not just for how much money can be made out of it but for the effort that has gone into selecting the milk, making the cheese, maturing it and getting it to the customer at its best.  Right now, in the midst of Covid 19, small-scale British cheesemakers are fighting for their livelihoods.  The reasons for this are well explained by Jason Hinds of Neals Yard Dairy in this extract from their latest blogpost:

Not everyone benefited from the pandemic-fuelled sweep that made March a record month for supermarket sales. In fact, as the aisles were cleared of packets and cans, it became clear that the panic buying (and the big retailers’ response to it) would come at a huge cost to some producers. “The soft cheeses, the blue cheeses, even some of the specialist hard cheeses were all cleared to create space for commodities,” Jason explains. “What cheese was sold was cheap, freezable and grateable.” Orders were cancelled, not to be repeated in the foreseeable future, and cheese rejected or sent back to producers. Add to that the restaurant closures and the shutting or markedly reduced capacity of markets and you have “a double whammy” for producers who depend on supermarkets and restaurants as well as specialist suppliers like Neal’s Yard Dairy for income. 

Some cheesemakers are more resilient than others, at least in the short-term, Jason Hinds explains:

“The gravity of this situation depends on the type of cheese,” Jason explains. “Producers who make blue and soft cheeses suffer the most – particularly as those are the most likely to make their way into restaurants.” While the producers of hard, mature cheeses at least have the option of keeping their stock for a few weeks longer, those that make highly perishable cheeses had no choice but to say goodbye to thousands of pounds and gallons of milk. “In a normal week, Joe Bennett who makes Innes Log and Innes Brick at Highfields Farm Dairy could make 1,400 cheeses. Last week he made 22. He’s pouring milk down the drain,” Jason continues. For Joe and other producers like him, the next month will prove “the most pivotal in their histories, as they face the prospect of throwing more cheese and milk away if they can’t quickly find homes.”

You can read the full blog post here

https://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/blogs/news/safeguarding-the-future-of-british-farmhouse-cheese

While Neals Yard Dairy, which is where I buy most of my cheese and other dairy goods, are supporting these producers by taking, selling and delivering as many short-life cheeses as they possibly can, I thought a list of cheesemongers and small shops keeping farmhouse cheese around the country might be helpful for now and into the future.  A lot of them are open and are delivering during the pandemic.  I've put links on each so you can easily check and keep up to date during this ever-changing situation.  The list is, of course, not comprehensive but it’s a start and it can be added to.

Where to buy British and Irish Farmhouse Cheeses now:

Some small-scale cheesemakers are now selling direct, including makers of:

Stichelton - Stichelton Dairy, Welbeck Estate, Worksop, Nottingham 

Kirkham's Lancashire - Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire, Goosnargh, Preston, Lancs

Baron Bigod - Fen Farm Dairy, Bungay, Suffolk

Lincolnshire Poacher - Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese, Alford, Lincolnshire

Westcombe Cheddar, Duckett's Caerphilly & Ricotta,  - Westcombe Dairy, Evercreech, Somerset

Kappacasein - Kappacasein Dairy, Spa Terminus, Bermondsey, London

LONDON

Neals Yard Dairy
Kappacasein Dairy

London Cheesemonger

Mons Cheesemongers

Paxton & Whitfield

Leila’s Shop

General Store

Jones of Brockley

La Fromagerie

Giddy Grocer

Blackwoods Cheese 

Gorwydd Caerphilly stall, Borough Market 

Natoora - recently added Neals Yard Dairy cheeses to their deliveries

OUTSIDE LONDON

Welbeck Farm Shop, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottingham

Jericho Cheese Company, Oxford 

The Courtyard Dairy, Austwick, Nr Settle, N. Yorks

The Cambridge Cheese Company, Cambridge 

The Little Deli, Hitchen, Herts

The Fine Cheese Company, Bath

Landrace Bakery, Bath 

The Farm, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Chorlton Cheesemongers, Chorlton, Manchester

Cartmel Cheeses, Cartmel, Cumbria 

The Cheese Society, Lincoln

Cheese Please, Lewes, East Sussex
Thecheesegeek.com

And, if you can only go to supermarkets at this time, why not ask 'where's the British Farmhouse Cheese?'.  I hope to see more shops join this list.

Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes and the Fight for Real Cheese

Reinventing the Wheel
by Bronwen and Francis Percival

I confess as a cheese appreciator I had been looking forward to this book, but Reinventing the Wheel is not just for cheese lovers.  It's a book for anyone who cares about the food they eat and the welfare of those who produce it.  It tackles the wisdom of mega-dairies and industrialisation and the tension between modernity and tradition.  Across 12 chapters, Bronwen and Francis Percival examine the culinary history, terroir, microbiology, sociology and politics of cheesemaking.

We journey through 2,000 years of cheesemaking starting with the "feral", "primal" Salers cheese production on a farm in France's Auvergne region and the effect of the arrival of American factory cheese on British cheese production at the end of the 19th century.  There are stories from dairy farmers forced towards consolidation, volume and efficiency for survival; Cheesemakers weighed down by legislation and bureaucracy, and other who have already fought the system and won with the help of microbiologists.  We take in Microbes and Risks along the way.

Reinventing the Wheel examines what has been lost as cheese production has 'progressed' in tandem with intensive farming and industrialisation.  It's a tale of much loss but with reason for optimism for the future if we are prepared to learn from, rather than reject, the methods of the past. Bronwen and Francis Percival's book is a paean to artisanal cheeses.  Cheeses that once all had a sense of place thanks to the healthy microbial communities specific to their geographic location, animal husbandry and production practices that contribute to their flavour and to their safety.  This book reveals the truth about our current dairy industry and how science is revealing the positives of microbial activity.  It's a beacon of light for those farmers and cheesemakers who want to seize on scientific facts to fight back against industrial homogeneity and rescue traditional cheesemaking.

Reinventing the Wheel is a learned, fact-filled call to arms to scientists, health officials and legislators to work alongside dairy farmers and cheesemakers to enable them to produce cheese which is not only full of character but full of healthy bacteria. To work with good microbes that have a positive effect on our immune system rather than wiping out the good along with the bad.

The book is aimed at the consumer too as, the Percivals believe, a lack of understanding of the cheesemaking process threatens the integrity of cheese.  Labelling for instance is often misleading as "The label on the cheese is not there to help".  In a world where "the word 'Artisan' can be, and is, used to describe just about anything short of a Dairylea cheese slice" the consumer needs to inform herself.  We need a book like this which makes us think more deeply about our food, makes us demand real food.

Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes and the fight for Real Cheese
by Bronwen and Francis Percival
Bloomsbury Publishing

Turin Time

Time for Dinner in Turin

I live in a city of around 8 million people and, yet, when I need to breathe some distant air I'm far more likely to choose another city than that beach holiday or country house hotel break.  Venice, Florence, Paris, yes please.  I like the hustle and bustle of cities, but I like a sense of lives being lived too.  Some places can be just too set in aspic and a bit of grit in the oyster is not a bad thing.  So, to Turin - an industrial city with a baroque heart.

Alpine view, Turin

I was there in 2004 when Turin was preparing to host the 2006 Winter Olympics.  The spectacularly beautiful Alpine range filling the skyline to the north was at odds with our evening taxi drive from the airport.  The City was grimy, noisy and confusing thanks to the construction of stadia and a new Metro system which was part of the Olympic package.  Next day we discovered the almost 10 miles of baroque colonnades and over 40 museums offered an escape from the cacophony.  And then there was the food.  Piedmont, of which Turin is the capital, is after all where 'Slow Food' was born and we were there primarily for the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto.

Open door in Turin

On returning to Turin this Autumn that Metro proved invaluable and there were signs that more tourists  - though, thankfully, not too many on our visit - were now enjoying those collonaded walks, museums and cafe's.  Turin's Olympian effort has paid off in terms of attracting visitors.  But there are also signs that not everyone has benefited.  Homelessness is more visible and there is a legacy of crumbling Olympic structures with migrants and refugees occupying the former athletes' village, not altogether comfortably.

Piazza Reale, Turin

For 300 years Turin was the capital of Savoy and became the first capital of a unified Italy in 1861.  But a mere 3 years later the seat of power was relocated to Florence then centrally located Rome.  Turin turned to industrialisation and the automotive industry became vitally important.  There were many companies but it's Fiat we associate with Turin thanks to the construction of its Lingotto car factory opened in 1923.  These days Fiat is less important to Turin's economy. The hugely successful Fiat 500, in its new guise, is manufactured not in Italy but in Mexico and Poland, though their luxury brand Maserati is locally made.  The Lingotto 'Centre' is now in commercial use.

With 8 Royal Palaces amongst those 40+ museums, colonnaded streets, tree-lined avenues, elegant architecture and good food, Turin is no longer just an industrial city but a centre for culture and tourism too.  So, what to see and do?

Walk the Colonnades and tree-lined avenues; the City is built on a grid system, so you're unlikely to get lost.  A walk up the Via Roma from Metro Porta Nuova is a grand central start taking in four of the main Piazzas and the ritziest of shops.

Pasta e Ceci
at Caffe Platti, Turin

There are so many cafes and bars in Turin that frequent stops are inevitable for coffee (this is the home of Lavazza) a Bicerin, the local chocolate/coffee/cream indulgence, or an aperitivo.  The grandest and most recommended of the old guard are Caffe Torino and Caffe San Carlo where the price of a coffee is low despite the splendour of the rooms and the locations.  Historic Caffe al Bicerin at Piazza della Consolata 5 is considered the best place to order a Bicerin.  Piedmont grows very fine hazelnuts, many of which go into the hazelnut and chocolate spread called Gianduja and into filled Giandujotto chocolates.  The chocolate making industry goes back hundreds of years in Turin and bean-to-bar maker Guido Gobino is considered one of the best here.  If your taste runs more to Nutella, you may be interested to know Turin is its home.

Papardelle Funghi
at Caffe Platti, Turin

We had fond memories of the belle époque Caffe Platti at Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle II, 72 and were so happy to find it again.  I read that it had closed in 2015 but if this is so then the new owners have done a fine job of making it feel like it never went away.  Plates of Paccheri Rigati Pasta with chickpeas (Pasta e Ceci) scented with rosemary was wonderful, and local Porcini came in the form of Papardelle Funghi.  We noticed restaurant Sotto la Mole (at the foot of the Mole Antonelliana) was still going strong.  The memory of a plate of truffled cheese agnolotti still lingers in my mind but we were a little early for the white truffle season and we ran out of time to visit this time round.

If it's Michelin stars you're looking for, head for Del Cambio where Matteo Baronetto is serving up one star food overlooking unified Italy's first Parliament building in Piazza Carignano.  Expect glittering chandeliers, red velvet, crisp linen and baroque mirrors along with traditional Piemontese dishes.  The restaurant has been feeding the great and the good since 1757 - from Cavour, Casanova, Balzac, Nietzsche and Verdi to Maria Callas, Audrey Hepburn and the Agnelli (Fiat) family, of course.

Veal braised in Ruchè wine
at Consorzio

For a much more recent addition to Turin dining, book Consorzio at Via Monte di Pieta, 23.  It describes itself as "Well-rooted in the Piemonte area with an eye on faraway regions ..".  The sourcing of ingredients here is exemplary, the handling deft and the service without fuss.  The Steak tartare Piemontese style was served starkly as a disk of raw beef with salt, pepper and good olive oil; Agnolotti Gobbo pasta was stuffed with three different kinds of meat with enough fattiness to make them luscious, rich little morsels; Veal braised in Ruchè wine, a Piemontese red wine, was deep and succulent; and then came the best Panna Cotta ever, so light on gelatin that it barely held, yet every one emerging from the kitchen wobbled to its table intact.  Wines are mostly Natural and a bottle of Barbera d'Asti Trenchiro Terra del Noche sated well our increased liking for the Barbera grape.  Consorzio is one of those rare places where you feel there is a real meeting of minds and appetites in the kitchen and out front.

Banco Vini e Alimenti, Turin

We also liked Consorzio's bar, Banco Vini e Alimenti a short walk away.  With a narrow frontage at via dei Merchant 13/f, it's easy to miss.  It is quietly friendly, keeps a great range of natural wines and serves up simple dishes like farinata fritta and Alice fritte and larger ones like roasted hake with crispy prosciutto or spaghettoni all vongole.  It's small and can get busy but there's a deli counter at the back which means you can pick up some slices of mortadella, a piece of cheese and a bottle of wine to take out.

Porcini Seller at Mercato Porta Palazzo, Turin

Shop the Markets.  There are 42 open-air markets in Turin.  Mercato Porta Palazzo at Piazza della Repubblica is the biggest and is open Monday-Saturday.  There are scores of stalls surrounded by buildings housing fish, meat and cheese halls, but the north-eastern corner was where we found the 'farmers market' - where the best stuff was.  But it was the outdoor market in Piazza Madama Christina we fell for, where there were the most signs stating "nostrano (ours/home grown) and where we watched one smallholder clean and place his haul of porcini like each was a precious gem.  What we saw on the market stalls was reflected in the restaurant dishes - seasonality is alive and well in Turin.

We stopped for coffee, several times, at Orso Laboratorio at Via Berthollet 30g.  And, joyfully, right next door - through a connecting door in fact - we found Mara dei Boschi Laboratorio del Gelato which is very good indeed.  The memory of the Nocciola and, also, the Fichi gelato will stay with me for some time.

For taking in those Alpine views you couldn't head higher than the Mole Antonelliana on Via Montebello.  This unmissable building, standing at more than 167 metres, was originally conceived as a synagogue until the architect's desire to go upwards went too far and the money ran out.  It's now home to the Museo Nazionale de Cinema.

Rooftop Test Track at Lingotto Centre, Turin

It's nowhere near as tall, but the view from the Lingotto Centre on Via Nizza (Metro: Lingotto) would be my choice.  The old factory was redesigned in the 1980's by Renzo Piano and now includes an hotel, conference centre, theatre, and shopping mall.  I love the industrial architecture but it's the rooftop test track that is the draw, along with the 360 degree view complete with that Alpine horizon to the north.  As everyone will tell you, scenes from the original 1969 The Italian Job were filmed here.  If you stay in either of the hotels in the Lingotto building you can ask for a key to access the rooftop but, as part of your entrance charge, you can also gain access when visiting the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli - Canaletto, Canova and Matisse are represented in the gallery's permanent collection. For real petrolheads, the Museo dell' Automobile is nearby.

Natura Morta (1957) by Giorgio Morandi
at the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM)

There must be a museum to suit everyone in Turin but I would head for the Museo d'Arte Orientale (MAO), and the Museo Egizio which has one of the largest collections of Egyptian antiquities in the world.  Also, the Museo d'Arte Contemporanea at Castello di Rivoli - out of town but there is a free shuttle bus.  I have to admit to being a bit underwhelmed by Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM) but they do have some admirable Morandi works.  I wish I had visited the Museo della Frutta!

Cheese 2017 in Bra

Our visit was timed to coincide with the International Cheese festival which is held bi-annually in the lovely small town of Bra, around 50km south-east of Turin.  So, along with what seemed like half of Turin, we took the train to this highly regarded Slow Food event which this year, bravely, was all about raw milk.  Neals Yard Dairy explain the importance of this event best.

Apart from tasting and learning more about cheese, it's a chance to get up close to the Slow Food movement whose HQ is in Bra.  Here the association plans and promotes their worldwide projects. Their philosophy "envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet".

Roast Goose Leg
at Boccon di Vino, Bra

In the HQ's courtyard sits the cooperative Osteria Boccon di Vino (Via Mendicita, 14) where we lunched very happily on plates of pasta: Tajarin with shavings of black truffle, Agnolotti del plin al burro e rosmarino; Melting roast goose leg and slow-cooked veal in red wine; and, inevitably, Panna Cotta to finish.  Oh, and more delicious local Barbera wine.  Despite having to queue, this was a lovely relaxing place to lunch with great staff and very good food.

For coffee we took the recommendation to visit Bottega delle Delizie at Via Polenzo, 6, Bra. Specialising in sourcing and serving up northern European style roasts, this is not coffee in Italy as I know it and it's all the better for that.  The coffee we drank had been roasted locally but they also had guest coffees from Five Elephants and Paolo told us they were expecting some Nomad Coffee from Barcelona soon.  Really good coffee served with genuine charm and enthusiasm.  I loved this place.

So, what is Turin Time - or Piemontese Time?  For me it has to be autumn, when the hazelnuts have been harvested, the grape harvest is well under way, the porcini are in the kitchen and there's the promise of truffles arriving.

Border Crossing
Italy-France

If you have the time, going to Turin by train is the scenic option!

Cheesemongers of London - Sorting your Cardo from your Coolea

Oak bowl by Robert Thompson
The 'Mouseman" of Kilburn

It's not difficult to buy cheese in London.  It's not difficult to buy good cheese in London.  But it wasn't always so and you still need to sort your Cardo from your Coolea.

Cardo: a washed-rind goat's cheese made by Mary Holbrook in Somerset;

The supple, glossy paste is typically chalkier, curdier at core; 

floral flavours are cut with a vegetal bitterness. The rind is savoury and rich; 

texture is toothsome, sometimes with pleasant crystalline crunch.  

Cardoon stamen infusion.  Source: Neal's Yard Dairy

In the Victorian era, cheesemongers were as common on the London high street as butchers, bakers, and greengrocers.  Two World Wars and the rush for mass production to feed a post-war population brought cheesemaking to a rubbery, tasteless low.  Patrick Rance wrote of the depths most British cheese had sunk to by 1982 in his The Great British Cheese Book.  "Good cheese has been almost killed by lack of understanding and care among politicians, bureaucrats, dairymen and retailers.  It can only be raised back to health by a professional, indeed a vocational, attitude in those who wish to put things right and make their living by doing so."  From his little cheese shop in Streatley, Berkshire, which he set up in 1954 (closed in 1990), his words were a rallying call to those who cared about our cheesemaking history.

Patrick Rance's book appeared 3 years after the formation of Neal's Yard Dairy, where in 1979 a small group of enthusiasts began making yogurt and soft cheeses at their Covent Garden base.  The early results weren't always a success so they bought in the best cheeses they could get from wholesalers to re-sell alongside their experimental cheeses.  Then cheesemaker Hilary Charnley sent them a 'Devon Garland', a Caerphilly-style cheese, to try.  Its flavour and character were so different from what they had been buying that Randolph Hodgson, who by then owned Neal's Yard Dairy, drove down to Devon to see why.  What he found was a small-scale, independent, traditional cheesemaker of a kind that had all but disappeared.  Her introductions to a few other artisan cheesemakers nearby made it feasible for Hodgson to make regular visits to the producers, select the cheeses he wanted, transport them back to London, mature them and sell them to appreciative customers.  Hodgson's subsequent formation of the Specialist Cheesemakers Association proved vital in successfully countering Whitehall and EU misinformation about safety in cheese production, and halting the mass Americanisation of our farmhouse cheese production.

I worked for a short while at Neal's Yard Dairy and I can't recommend enough this champion (saviour, in fact) of British farmhouse cheeses. Thanks to that education, I know a little bit about what it takes to care for the lovingly produced cow's, ewe's and goat's milk cheeses in all their hard, semi-hard, soft, washed and blue glory.  So I think, a few recommendations for my fellow cheese-lovers in London, whether you live here or are just visiting, is long overdue.  This list is not definitive but is based on my own experience.  To buy the best cheeses that have been carefully selected, knowledgeably handled and offered in peak condition, you have to find who truly knows their Cardo from their Coolea.

Neal's Yard Dairy

First up has to be Neal's Yard Dairy.  Their focus continues to be on supporting the makers of farm cheese and produce in the British Isles, with a particular passion for unpasteurised and raw milk cheeses. They still, as they have done since the early 1980's, make regular buying trips to the makers.  These days, maturing is carried out in south London railway arches.  Their tiny Covent Garden shop is only a few paces from the original premises used back at the birth of the business, but there is a larger shop alongside Borough Market.  This is the shop that will open your eyes to how good British dairy produce can be.  They also run a great series of Cheese Tasting Classes. Most good cheese shops and many restaurants in the UK, and beyond, source their British cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy.
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATIONS: 17 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden WC2 & 6 Park Street, (Borough Market) SE1
They also open Saturday 9-2pm at Spa Terminus, Bermondsey SE16.  On-line ordering too.

Gour Noir Raw Goat's milk cheese
at Mons Cheesemongers

The British arm of the French company Mons Cheesemongers was set up in 2006 by two ex-Neal's Yard Dairy staff.  In France, Hubert Mons had started his business by sourcing artisanal cheeses for his market stall in the Auvergne region of France in the early 1960's.  From maturing rooms in St Haon le Chatel in the Cote Roannaise comes traditionally made French and Swiss cheeses to feed an appreciate London market. A number of good cheese shops and restaurants in the UK buy their French cheeses from Mons Cheesemongers.
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATIONS: Borough Market, SE1; Brockley Market on Saturdays; Spa Terminus, Bermondsey SE1 on Saturdays.  New shop soon to open in East Dulwich.

London Cheesemongers
Pavilion Road, Chelsea

If you were in any doubt of the good done by Neal's Yard Dairy to the cheese world, you just have to look at the people who have set up these independent businesses (not to mention those who have gone on to make cheese).  Jared Wybrow of London Cheesemongers is another of the alumni. Late last year he added to his London market stall portfolio with a shop in Chelsea.  Jared's many years spent at Neal's Yard Dairy, where he ran their 'Markets', is clear to see in the attention to detail in this exemplary cheesemonger.  Here the focus is on sourcing a small but perfectly formed selection of British, French and Italian cheeses and other dairy produce for a West London clientele. The upstairs room at Pavilion Road hosts events and offers cheese lunches on Saturdays providing an opportunity to get to know the cheeses and take a break from shopping.
LOCATIONS: Shop at 251 Pavilion Road SW1.  Saturdays at Hildreth Street Market, Balham SW12; Sundays Herne Hill Farmer's Market SE24,

Cheese by Patricia Michelson

Patricia Michelson opened her shop, La Fromagerie, in Highbury Park in 1992 and a second in Marylebone in 2002.  Both feature maturing cellars and walk-in cheese rooms.  Patricia's knowledge and passion for cheese is well known and I remember my own excitement at discovering her little cheese cave in the original Highbury shop at a time when it was not so easy to buy good French cheeses in London.  Both of the shops also offer a range of foods and feature cafes and while the Marylebone premises can feel cramped, the walk-in cheese room can feel like a calm oasis amongst the bustle.  Michelson's book Cheese, published in 2010, covers 450 varieties from around the world, the importance of terroir and information on storing, cutting and serving them. La Fromagerie also has a wide-ranging Events schedule.
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATIONS: Shops at Higbury N5 and Marylebone W1

KaseSwiss cheeses

KaseSwiss, although primarily a wholesaler of cheeses, qualifies for my favourites list as it opens for retail each Saturday at Spa Terminus in Bermondsey SE16.  Owner Rachael Sills founded Kaseswiss in 2005 after 10 years with Neal's Yard Dairy and focusses on selecting and showcasing traditional artisan made cheeses from Switzerland.  She also sells a select range of hand-made unpasteurised milk, small-batch Dutch cheeses for sister company Boerenkaas,
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATION: Arch 5, Voyager Estate South, Bermondsey SE16 4RP (Saturdays 9am - 2pm)


MAKERS & MONGERS:
I must mention a couple of small London Cheesemongers who sell only cheeses they make themselves.  And what cheeses they are:

Bermondsey Hard Pressed
Kappacasein

When William Oglethorpe began making cheese in his railway arch in south London in 2008 it seemed an unlikely location for a dairy but it provides a perfect space and maturing conditions for the cheeses he produces at Kappacasein Dairy.  Collecting raw organic cow's milk during the morning's milking from a farm in Kent and starting the cheese-making process within 2 hours of collection is a vital part of the cheesemaking approach here.  Making the curd in a 600L copper vat with minimum interventions adds to Kappacasein's commitment to bringing out the best qualities of the milk used.  What comes out of the arch is Bermondsey Hard Pressed, a traditional Alpage Gruyere type; Bermondsey Frier, made to an Italian Formaggio Cotto recipe; a cow's milk Ricotta; and a traditional Pot Set Yoghurt.
LOCATION: Arch 1, Voyager Estate South, Bermondsey SE16 4RP (Saturdays 9am - 2pm).  You will also find Kappacasein at Borough Market where you can enjoy the best cheese toastie in London.

A matured Edmund Tew cheese from
Blackwoods Cheese Company

Blackwoods Cheese Company was founded in summer 2013 to make raw milk soft cow's cheeses using as little intervention as possible.  Collecting their milk supplies from a trusted Kent farm as milking was taking place then transporting it back to their Brockley cheesemaking base. Last year, helped by Crowdfunding, they relocated their base to nearby Chiddingstone, Kent to be closer to the source of their milk.   Cheeses are currently Graceburn, a Persian Feta style cheese; Blackwood's Cow's Curd, a fresh lactic cheese; Edmund Tew (the first in their convict series - see website!), a small lactic cow's cheese that develops a Geotrichum rind and a savoury malty flavour; and William Heaps, a fresh, lactic cow's cheese.  It's useful to know that Blackwood's is also a supplier of Whey.
LOCATIONS: Brockley Market and Borough Market and various shops in London.


Other Cheesemongers in London of note:
Paxton & Whitfield
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATIONS: Shops at 93 Jermyn Street W1; 22 Cale Street, SW3; and a small number of stores outside London

Androuet 
RETAIL & WHOLESALE
LOCATION: Shop at 10a Lamb Street E1 (Old Spitalfields Market).

Coolea: A pasteurised cow's milk hard cheese made by Dick Willems in County Cork; 

The flavours are sweet and rich with hints of hazelnut, butterscotch and honey.

Smooth and close in texture, reminiscent of Dutch Gouda.    Animal Rennet. 

Source: Neal's Yard Dairy

I wonder what Patrick Rance would make of things now?

The Quality Chop House Shop

The Quality Chop House Shop 1

From its new incarnation towards the end of 2012, The Quality Chop House (QCH) has had a 'shop' incorporated into the wine bar side of the business.  Lack of space restricted this to the opportunity to buy kitchen-made produce such as pork pie, sausage roll or sandwich, and pick up a bottle of wine.  The ambition to offer more has now been realised with the acquisition of a shop next door to the restaurant.  Opening without fanfare on the run-up to Christmas, I noticed its lights spilling out welcomingly onto the Farringdon Road pavement.

The Quality Chop House Shop 2

Now, not only can you buy those wonderful pies or a hot sausage roll without weaving through a sea of diners, but there's all manner of other good things coming out of one of my favourite London restaurant kitchens.  It starts with the butchery occupying one half of the shop where Oliver Seabright, formerly at The Ginger Pig and Barbecoa, is in charge.  Right now, alongside the sides of British beef, pork, lamb, veal and venison, butchered how you want it, are game birds such as woodcock, snipe, widgeon, pheasant and mallard. There may even be a hare or two.  Having their own butcher, of course, means head chef Sean Searley has a ready source of quality meats for the restaurant, they can offer a butchery service and add value by producing cooked meats, pies and pates for the shop.  Other good things coming out of the kitchen might include tubs of smoked cod roe, remoulade or mayonnaise.  There could also be a treacle tart being sold by the slice, a tray of chocolate brownies or custard tarts on the counter.  QCH jams, chutneys, pickles and marmalades have shelf space alongside a small selection of the wines available.

The Quality Chop House Shop 3

Bread comes from Elliot's Bakery producing one of the very best sourdoughs in the capital.  Until recently, to get my hands on a loaf, I had to go to Elliot's Cafe on Stoney Street, Borough Market, and ask one of the staff to fetch one from the kitchen.  In the new QCH shop you'll find British cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy and Blackwoods Cheese Company, British, Italian and Basque charcuterie, Hanson & Lydersen smoked salmon and Nardin smoked anchovies alongside the staples of milk and eggs.  There'll be a few seasonal fruits and vegetables too as well as some lovely little treats like chocolate from The Pump Street Bakery and, maybe, a bag of honeycomb or marshmallows.

The Quality Chop House Shop
Vegetable crisps

The shop is still evolving so it's well worth keeping an eye on it.  Now if they could only fit in a fish counter and spare me some of that fabulous fish they manage to get for the restaurant ….

The Quality Chop House Shop
90 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3EA
Open 7 days a week

Brockley Market - Lucky Lewisham

Van Dough
 at Brockley Market

For my last blogpost of 2013 it seemed fitting to finish on a market, the lifeblood of London food.  London Farmers' Markets (LFM) now have 20 market sites covering areas from Balham to Wimbledon. LFM's principle of "We grow it. We sell it." is laudable but its rules and regulations can mean some good "local" producers don't quite qualify.  I shop at one or two LFM markets but they don't satisfy all my needs.  Some very good producers and traders who do not fit neatly into LFM's strict criteria find a home for their goods at Brockley Market in SE24.  That's not to say Brockley doesn't have high standards of its own, they're just different and, in fact, some of their stallholders also trade at LFM.

Brockley Market offers a cracking list of traders in a compact area where stalls are ranged around the car park to Lewisham College.  The estimable BBC Radio 4 Food & Farming Awards described Brockley as "a market that serves a community without pretence or artifice, a model to be followed". Brockley Market is doing a great job of finding, hosting and presenting some of the best food and drink producers and suppliers.  Some of what's on offer is very locally produced and some not, but Brockley Market has most of the food bases well covered.  With a central area devoted to seating, it's a family-friendly place to shop and eat.  This adds to the relaxed and welcoming feel of the market.

So who's there?  To mention a few, there are two excellent Organic fruit and veg stalls in the form of Wild Country Organics from Cambridgeshire and Kent-based Perry Court Organics; meats by my three favourites, Jacob's Ladder Farms, representing a small cooperative of Sussex farmers rearing animals on organic and biodynamic principles, The Butchery, the Bermondsey-based whole carcass butchery owned by Nathan and Ruth Mills and poultry from Fosse Meadows Farms in Leicestershire; East Sussex-based Hook & Son for raw milk; Hartland Pies who I know also make the excellent pies sold by The Butchery using The Butchery's meats; Flavours of Spain with a good range of Spanish ingredients; Blackwoods Cheese Company selling a small selection of Neal's Yard cheeses alongside their own Lewisham-made fresh cheeses.  Food vans include Van Dough selling freshly-made pizzas baked in a wood-fired oven mounted in the back of a 1970s Citroen Hy van; Mother Flipper offering burgers; and Good & Proper serving tea with, that irresistible pairing, crumpets.  Coffee is represented by Dark  Fluid.

Blackwoods Cheese Company has quickly become a favourite of mine for their lovely marinated raw cows milk Graceburn.  The fledgling cheese-maker is already getting noticed, being stocked by both Neal's Yard Dairy and the recently-opened shop attached to the Quality Chop House restaurant on Farringdon Road.  Look out for a Blackwoods washed-rind cheese coming soon, I'm expecting it to be pretty special.

You really get a sense of passion from walking around and from looking at the Brockley Market website.  It's a market I want to go to more and if I lived closer I'm sure I'd be shopping there every week.  Luckily, I can shop on Saturdays at some of the same traders in Spa Terminus/Druid Street, Bermondsey.  From talking to those traders, I know that they love trading at such a well-run and well-supported market as Brockley.  I can see how hard the organisers work at getting the best and Lewisham is lucky to have it.

Happy food shopping in 2014.

Brockley Market
Lewisham College Car Park
Lewisham Way
SE4 1UT
Saturdays 10-2pm
The market is a stone's-throw from St John's train station (7 minutes from London Bridge)

Pumpkin Soup - Bocuse via Hopkinson

Pumpkin Soup

Squash and pumpkins come in all sizes, from 'Baby Bear' and 'Jack be Little', both around 10-18 cm in diameter, to the monstrous 'Atlantic Giant' which has been grown to over 300kg.  They come in all shapes and colours too - the muted flesh coloured butternut; steel blue teardrop-shaped 'Blue Ballet'; dark green 'Table Queen' shaped like an acorn; fiery round 'Rouge vif d-Etampes'; dusky orange-brown 'Moschata Muscade' tasting faintly of nutmeg; the blue-black of the well-named 'Ironbark'; and the  extravagantly top-knotted yellow/green/orange/white 'Turk's Turban'.

Although the French and Americans prize them, until fairly recently in the UK we mostly stuck to growing summer squashes.  The simple reason for this is although pumpkins are easy to grow, a dry, warm period is needed to harden the skins for keeping through winter.  A warm dry autumn here is not something we can take for granted but this year has been exceptional and harvests have been good.

'Uchiki Kuri' Pumpkin Squash

Personally I have no need for enormous pumpkins so I tend to stick to growing 'Butternut' or 'Uchiki Kuri', each of which grows to around half a kilo to a kilo in weight.  The flesh of both is deliciously sweet but the 'Uchiki Kuri' has a lovely chestnut flavour and a vibrant orange colour which just makes you want to tuck in.

Pumpkin soup straight from the oven

This adapted recipe comes from Simon Hopkinson's book The Vegetarian Option.  Based on a classic Paul Bocuse recipe, Simon Hopkinson has paired back the original reducing the dish to its essence of pumpkin, cream and cheese.  My adaptation is slight.  Apart from reducing the quantities to work for a smaller pumpkin, I added some fried sage leaves at the end.  They work but are they necessary?  Frankly, no but if you want an extra something, sage makes a good partner for pumpkin.  Like Hopkinson, I think the word 'soup' doesn't really describe this dish well.  It's more of a creamed pumpkin.  Whatever you want to call it, it is rich and absolutely delicious.

I used an 'Uchiki Kuri' weighing barely 500g here which was enough to serve two people but 'Jack be Little' would be a good choice if you wanted to serve individual ones.  It also has the advantage of a softer, edible, skin.

Pumpkin Soup (Bocuse via Hopkinson)
(Recipe Serves 2 but can be easily scaled up)

1 pumpkin weighting 500g (1lb) or 2 smaller pumpkins
150ml  (¼ pint) double cream
1 small garlic clove, flattened and peeled.
Salt and pepper
50g (2oz) Gruyere or Beaufort cheese, grated
A few sage leaves, fried until crisp (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C (fan 180C)/Gas 6.
Heat the cream with the garlic, salt and pepper until it barely simmers.  Take off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.
Slice off the top of the pumpkin a quarter of the way down to make a lid and keep to one side.
Scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane.
Strain the infused cream into the cavity and discard the garlic.  Add the cheese. Top with the lid.
Bake in a roasting tin in the oven for about 1 hour until the flesh of the pumpkin is tender when pierced with a fork.  The skin should be lightly browned - turn the heat down slightly if it is becoming burnt.  Lift off the lid and add the crisped sage leaves for decoration (if using).

Serve with a crunchy salad.