Stichelton

Type: Blue
Milk: Raw cow's milk
Rennet: Animal
Location: Welbeck, Nottinghamshire

Although known as the ultimately traditional British blue cheese, since the 1990s Stilton has exclusively been a pasteurised cheese. In fact, the use of pasteurised milk was enshrined in the recipe protection and trademark. However, it wasn’t always the case, and in 2006 cheesemaker Joe Schneider and Neal’s Yard Dairy founder Randolph Hodgson set out to recreate a traditional British blue cheese made from raw milk. After a yearlong search to find the right milk source, they chose a farm on the Welbeck Estate near Sherwood Forest.

Stichelton is made using morning milk from the herd and over the course of 24 hours is acidified, coagulated and drained. A key feature of the make is that the curds are hand ladled to the trolleys where they drain and acidify overnight. This allows the cheesemaker to use small quantities only of rennet and creates a melt in the mouth texture in the mature cheese.

The result is a cheese with biscuit, yeasty notes, a green apple acidity when young and when aged, mellows to buttery, meaty, rich and soluble.