cheese.ed - learn about Britain's misunderstood masterpieces

For all our talk of being modern, a large part of cheesegeek relies on traditional methods and hand-me-down recipes. This Cheshire fits this bill. Made by the Appleby family since 1952, it’s the last raw milk, clothbound Cheshire made in the UK today. They have managed to achieve that perfect balance of a cheese that’s light yet still full bodied. Moist yet still with a slight crumble. On this occasion, it’s out with the new and in with the old.

Winner of a 3 Star Great Taste Award 2019, Mrs Kirkham's is top of its game for a traditional British Territorial cheese. It’s the last remaining raw milk Lancashire made in Britain, so it really is a slice of history. It is made with a recipe passed down through generations that produces an amazing depth of flavour. It has all the classic milky, lactic yogurt notes, accompanied with the trademark Lancashire crumble. However, the artisan nature of the production brings in a lovely deep buttery angle that you don't usually get with Lancashire.

Made at Curlew Dairy by husband and wife Ben & Sam, Yoredale (formerly Old Roan) represents one of the only truly traditional, raw milk Wensleydale cheeses still made in the UK. As well as being a stonker of a Wensleydale, we were rather captured by the Yoredale's journey. The milk travels a whole 5 metres (or 500cm) from milking parlour to processing room. Then, having been matured for 3-4 months it makes its way to you...via us! Unlike block Wensleydale, the manual, handmade, small batch nature of this traditional clothbound Wensleydale results in so much more complexity. It has the tell tale bite in the centre, but carries an incredible stoney, mineral earthiness closer to the rind, where you also start getting the most wonderful breakdown in the cheese. There are more hidden themes here than The Matrix, and it is a great nod to traditional cheesemaking

Originally produced on their farm in South Wales, raw milk curds are worked ‘Caerphilly’ by hand (we're sorry) to produce the incredibly complex and delicious Gorwydd Caerphilly.

At Trethowan's Dairy, now based on a farm in Somerset, mature their cheese for longer to achieve a sharp and lactic finish. Think velvety rind that breaks down to a young and crumbly core to give off mushroom and earthy vibes. cheesegeek rating - Epic!

Sparkenhoe Red Leicester is a classic territorial cheese, made by Jo and David Clarke and is the only raw milk Red Leicester still made in Leicestershire, to the original recipe from centuries ago. This is what makes this cheese completely unique. It’s the first of it’s kind to be produced on the Sparkenhoe Farm since 1875, and is so far removed from mass-produced Red Leicester you might find in a supermarket. This cheese has an incredible depth of flavour – it’s nutty and buttery but with that slight farmy/meaty/brothy flavour that you wouldn’t find in a mass produced Red Leicester. The vibrant orange/red colour comes from the addition of natural colouring Annatto to the curds during production of the cheese. It is then clothbound, rubbed in lard and then matured on the farm’s beech shelves for 18 months. A winner in cheese toasties!