Neal’s Yard Dairy, choice cheese retailer
Sunday, October 16, 2011 at 3:03PM 
It is strange the things you miss while travelling. As I got ready to depart Lima for London, after three months on the road in South America, I found myself looking forward to a proper cup of tea, fresh milk and cheddar cheese.
My Dad, Chef Has, would think it blasphemy that my idea of a proper cuppa these days is not the carefully prepared pots of loose leaf tea he reared me on: cups and pot warmed with boiling water, a spoon for each person and one for the pot, drawn for no less than five minutes, milk first and NO strainer: “I’m not scared of bits!” (I never got more than a 6/10 despite my studiousness). No, give me a builder’s any day, lovingly prepared with PG tips. Yes, Dad: tea-bags.
He does, however, approve of my taste in British cheese and, more specifically, my cheese retailer of choice, Neal's Yard Dairy.
I was lucky enough to discover this prime providore the very week I moved back to the UK four years ago. Foodie friends had told me that Borough Markets should be top of my agenda and so I headed there on my first Friday in The Big Smoke. (I had been advised that Saturday’s should be avoided because of the crowds. Sound advice; I later made the mistake of going on a Saturday and left in an emotional state bordering on suicidal.)
I was blown away by the quality and range of the produce on offer and spent a long time walking back and forth trying to take decisive action but failing miserably. In the process I stumbled across Neal’s Yard Dairy and what can I say? A love affair was born.
It was late on Friday afternoon. Like the crowd spilling out of The Market Porter onto the sidewalk outside, the shop was buzzing despite the hour. There were at least 10 staff on and still a queue and yet they were as attentive as ever. OK, so I had told them that I was writing something – my DSLR and lens changes would have been a bit of a giveaway – but I have never had anything other than friendly, knowledgeable and obliging service in this place.
They really know how to sell cheese! They allow you to try anything and everything, and generously, knowing full well that the cheese sells itself. Hell, even if it didn’t, after all their time and attention you couldn’t possibly leave without buying something. So I said to my server "I'm in your hands, I will try a range of cheeses at your suggestion and take home a sizeable chunk of the three I like best."
We started with a mild goat’s cheese called Stawley, a smooth, but firm cheese made from unpasteurised goat’s milk. I liked the slightly smoky aftertaste that lingered in my mouth, but I prefer a goat’s cheese with more oomph and found that it lacked substance. My server got this in one and moved me onto the Tymsboro; richer, creamier and much more my style; good and goaty. I would have been happy to stop right there but I was yet to try her favourite, Old Ford, and I had to agree it was rather special.
Like the Tymsboro, this cheese is made by Mary Holbrook at Sleight Farm in Bath. Unlike the Tymsboro it is a hard, mature cheese, firm but yielding in texture. It was not as goaty as I usually like, but it has a buttery, nutty flavour, similar to my favourite Spanish goat’s cheese, Majorero. It won me over.
On to the cheddar’s, Westcombe and Keen’s, and a “cheddar-style” cheese called Lincolnshire Poacher.
“What makes it cheddar-style rather than cheddar?”
Cheddar takes its name from the town where it originated. It has no Protected Denomination of Origen in the EU, but at Neal’s Yard they are a traditional bunch and my server told me that “only cheese made in Somerset can be given that name.”
Simon and Tim Jones, the poacher’s makers, liken it to a West Country cheddar, but highlight that there are several key differences that give it its own unique flavour and texture:
“It is matured for 14-24 months and although the taste varies with the season it usually has a distinctive fruity, nutty taste with a clean, sweet finish.”
On this occasion I wouldn't describe the finish as clean and sweet. Like a good mature cheddar, the aftertaste was sharp and tangy. Back home it had me reaching for my glass of red. My friend Jill, who was helping me with my “research” called it edgy;
“You can imagine it strutting down the catwalk in Gautier with Christian Louboutin shoes, can’t you?”
Well, that depends, Jill. Depends quite how imaginative you are, how much you have had to drink and whether you are able to get your hands on any hallucinogenic substances.
I wasn’t blown away by the washed rind cheeses that I tried that day and steered clear of the stinking bishop. Last time I was at Neal’s Yard with my Dad we were doing the usual – buying something in return for tasting everything – totally impractical for a day which still involved much walking and drinking. Dad went for the stinkiest cheese on the menu. A few hours and a few pints later we were on the tube home sitting next to a man with the worst BO that had ever invaded my nostrils. When we got off we were pontificating on the wonders of good bodily hygiene when we realised the man was following us... “Hold on, Dad; it’s you!”
I digress.
Next: the blues. The first and probably my favourite was the Colton Bassett stilton; rich and creamy with deep and gritty veins. The Stichelton, saltier and spicy, came close but in the end I went for the Devon’s Blue, not because I liked it better than the others, but because it was like no cheese I had ever tasted before.
With that first mouthful I was so overwhelmed by its intensity that I thought it tasted almost alcoholic, like cognac, and that it could certainly stand up to one. When I got it home and spent more time assessing it (research!) I got used to the strength and found that there was something else, but what was it?
“That’s it, porcini mushrooms! It tastes just like them.”
Jill looked at me doubtfully when I suggested it, but after encouraging her to have another taste she exclaimed,
“My God, Vix, you’ve hit the nail on the head. That’s it, exactly!”
So I had three cheeses in the bag, which was all I had planned for, but I couldn’t help feeling that my selection was somewhat skewed, as is my taste, towards the more robust end of the spectrum. Once again I called upon my server’s endless source of wisdom:
“What would you recommend as something milder to contrast with the rest of the choices?”
The Gorwydd Caerphilly. After all those heavy cheeses, it tasted a little on the bland side. Still, I took her advice and I was glad I did because when I got it home I found that the taster I’d had in the shop, cut from the centre, was only half the story. While the middle is mild and delicate with a gummy, springy texture, there is more depth towards the rind where it becomes “oozy” and creamy, with more flavour imparted from “the musty earthiness of the rind itself”.
All I needed now was a bit of quince paste (I tried the English, which was fabulous, with a slightly rough texture and not too sweet), a crusty baguette, some crackers and something to drink with it, and voila:
My week of extreme willpower out the window in one fell swoop. In the name of research...
Neal's Yard Dairy, Borough Markets - 6 Park Street, London, SE1 9AB; +44 (0)20 7367 0799
Neal's Yard Dairy, Covent Garden - 17 Shorts Gardens, London, WC2H 9AT; +44 (0)20 7240 5700
Vix
Since I wrote this post I have been to the Covent Garden outlet of Neal’s Yard. The store is much smaller, but they still manage to cram in a great selection of cheese.
I realised I had not tried any sheep’s cheeses on my last visit. I am a big fan of manchego, but until last night hadn’t tried many other styles of sheep’s milk cheese. Neal’s Yard carries a broad array, as diverse as they are delicious.
The Berkswell is a manchego style cheese that, like manchego, can vary a lot in terms of texture and flavour depending on its age. I must have tried it when it was reasonably young because the texture was moist and relatively soft. The flavour was deep and long-longlasting, with a fruitiness that might have become more citrusy with age.
I also tried the Beenleigh and Crozier blues, but I didn’t find them to be remarkably different to their cow’s milk counterparts, at least not for the better. I expected more of the sheepy quality that made the other cheeses stand out. I am a fan of the Colton Bassett Stilton and Stichelton, which are both salty, rich and creamy; I found the sheep’s blues to be more grainy in texture and less lively.
My favourite was the Wigmore, which has a smooth and creamy texture with a mild rind that is only ever so slightly bitter, so not overpowering like they sometimes can be. Neal’s Yard describes the flavour as gentle and caramelly; I'd say caramelly yes, but I did not find it to be gentle. Indeed what I liked about it was that in my eye it was full and buttery with a sheepy quality, albeit subtle.
I left the store with a rather sizeable chunk of the Wigmore and slab of Damson Paste, an English variation on the Spanish membrillo (quince paste), which I have to say in my view trumps it.
I have just eaten said purchase for dinner.
All to myself.
Selfish and very naughty but ... in the name of research.
Reader Comments (7)
YOUR DAD continues to buy stinky cheese. His favourite in the local Balmain Sydney supermarket is called Stormy. But by and large and sadly Australian cheeses don't have ooomph. Oz can take on the Europeans when it comes to wine, but with cheese they are way off.
Hi Ma, yes I remember Stormy, it is certainly one of the better Aussie cheeses. I think Dad takes a love of stinky cheese too far - it is fine to buy cheeses that are supposed to be stinky, but keeping old cheese that is well past its best for weeks until it stinks is ill advised as well you know :)
iIl advised is the putting it on top of the fridge to 'warm up'. But as cheese is eaten after dinner - and after dinner in the brown household is about 11 o'clock - the cheese is so 'warmed up' I'm not sure it can be called cheese anymore but cheesy - spread (not to mention - stinky cheesy spread!)
I request that we go here when I am over here.
ps. wish i had some of what Jill's has!
Hi Cha - you will see that it is scheduled in on one of the early (and compulsory) agenda items on the list I sent you :)
Milk L A S T ! ! !
Oh dear, is that where I have been going wrong all this time? I always do milk last for myself so I can see how much I need, but I thought you were a traditionalist! Ah well...
Hi Halley, yes indeed it is. You should get down there if you are based in London.