The Taste of Britain. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

The Taste of Britain - Hugh  Fearnley-Whittingstall


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breaking. Clotted cream has been used in the cookery of its region of origin (in breads, cakes, pastries, with fish, or as other regions might use cream); it is more generally thought of as a delicacy in its own right.

      Clotting cream was also a very good way to turn milk into a flavourous butter. The heat-treatment required to make scalded cream and transforming the result into butter are 2 consecutive steps in preserving and adding value to a local raw material. ‘This cream was stirred by hand, the maid putting her arm into the pot and stirring it until the butter came. In hot weather when the hand was too warm, a bottle was sometimes used’ (Fussell, 1966). The existence of this butter was acknowledged by the author of the General View of the Agriculture of the County of Devon (1813) and, a century later, White (1932) writes about a Devonshire farmer’s wife demonstrating making butter by beating clotted cream with her hand. There is a view current that this form of butter-making is now more known in Cornwall than Devon. Small amounts are still produced in the West Country for local consumption. No other region of Britain has developed clotted cream, or butter made from it, as a speciality. Awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

      TECHNIQUE:

      Clotted cream requires long slow heating at a moderate temperature. The craft method is as follows: both unpasteurized and pasteurized milk are used. Traditionalists prefer the excellent flavour of unpasteurized milk from Channel Island cattle which has a high butterfat content. The cream is separated from the milk and kept overnight; it may be ripened if desired. The cream, contained in enamel pans, is placed in a bain-marie and heated gently for about 2 hours. This process is crucial; the time and temperature must be correct; only experience will teach the right combination. The temperature of the bain-marie is maintained at below boiling, about 82°C. Once the correct golden, honeycomb crust has formed, the pans are removed from the heat. Industrial methods work on the same principle, but heating takes place either in an oven or in steam cabinets.

      Before the advent of milk separators, cream would be clotted on the whole milk. First, the cream would be allowed to rise naturally on the pan of milk saved from one of the day’s milkings. If the morning milk, it would be left until late in the afternoon; if the evening’s, then left overnight. The pan was placed carefully over the fire and it was scalded, as described above. In small farmhouses, the pan would be placed over the kitchen hearth; in larger households, the dairy might have a special stove constructed from a stone slab pierced with holes big enough to accommodate the pans safely. A charcoal brazier could be placed beneath each pan. These pans were of brass or of earthenware. Once the cream was scalded and had clotted, it was skimmed off the milk and stored in flat dishes. Brears (1998) provides illustrations.

      Clotted-cream butter is made on a small scale by craft producers. Instead of stirring the cream by hand, as was done in the past, an electric whisk is now used. The cream is whipped until crumbly and worked by hand to squeeze out as much moisture as possible. It is washed in cold water, then beaten with a boiled cloth on a wooden platter. It is pressed by hand into a mould to make round pats.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, DEVON AND CORNWALL.

      Cornish Yarg Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      PRESSED COW’S MILK CHEESE, WITH NETTLE LEAVES AS A WRAPPING, MADE IN 2 SIZES, 15CM DIAMETER AND 25CM; BOTH ROUGHLY 7CM HIGH. WEIGHT: 1KG AND 3KG. FORM: A TRUCKLE AND A FLAT WHEEL. COLOUR: ALMOST WHITE CURD, WITH A POWDERY GREY RIND THAT SHOWS A PATTERN DERIVED FROM THE NETTLE LEAVES IN WHICH IT IS WRAPPED. FLAVOUR AND TEXTURE: A YOUNG YARG CHEESE HAS A FRESH, LEMONY FLAVOUR AND A MOIST, CRUMBLY CURD; IT SOFTENS AS IT MATURES, DEVELOPING A DEEPER FLAVOUR.

      HISTORY:

      The use of leaves of common plants such as nettles as substrata for draining cheeses, or wrappings for the finished product, has a long history, though now unusual. ‘Nettle Cheese’ was mentioned in the seventeenth century by Gervase Markham, who considered that a new milk cheese ripened on nettles was ‘the finest of all summer cheeses which can be eaten’.

      Although Cornwall was never famous for cheese in the way of counties to the east, some was made. A recipe ‘to make our good Cornish cheese’ was published in Farmhouse Fare, a collection of recipes from farmers’ wives all over the country. The details suggest that modern Cornish Yarg is not dissimilar. It was developed in the 1970s by Alan and Jennie Gray (‘Yarg’ is simply ‘Gray’ spelt backwards). It has been awarded a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO).

      TECHNIQUE:

      Milk from designated herds of local Friesian cattle is used; the milk is pasteurized. Starter is added, and the milk left for about an hour, before renneting with vegetarian rennet. It is then left for another hour. The curd is cut by hand, drained gradually and the mass stirred, recut and turned until considered dry enough. It is milled through a peg mill into pieces of about 50mm then filled into moulds. It is left under medium pressure for about 18 hours, after which it is unmoulded. Brining is for 6 hours. The cheeses are wrapped in nettle leaves; these encourage the growth of penicillium moulds essential for ripening. The cheeses are stacked in controlled humidity and temperature for 3 weeks, turned daily.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, CORNWALL.

      Curworthy Cheese

      DESCRIPTION:

      PRESSED, PASTEURIZED AND UNPASTEURIZED COW’S MILK CHEESE. THERE ARE 3 CHEESES IN THIS GROUP, CURWORTHY, DEVON OKE (THE LARGEST) AND BELSTONE. DIMENSIONS: 10CM DIAMETER, 4.5CM DEEP (450G, CURWORTHY ONLY); 12CM DIAMETER, 5CM DEEP (1.1KG, CURWORTHY AND BELSTONE); 15CM DIAMETER, 6CM DEEP (2.3KG, CURWORTHY AND BELSTONE); 16CM DIAMETER, 10CM DEEP (4.7KG, DEVON OKE). COLOUR: BUTTERY YELLOW, DARKER TOWARDS THE EDGES, WITH A FEW SMALL HOLES. TEXTURE AND FLAVOUR: SMOOTH, SWEET, WITH OVERTONES OF DRIED GRASS AND SHARP AFTERNOTE.

      HISTORY:

      The Curworthy recipe was devised in the early 1980s using old instructions for ‘quick’ cheeses from the South West combined with local expertise. Sources included Gervase Markham’s Country Contentments (1620), Baxter’s Library of Agriculture (1846) and Dorothy Hartley’s recipe for slipcoat or slipcote (1954). Slipcoat is a term which was used quite widely in England until the beginning of the last century meaning either a cheese which burst its coat and was eaten young because it would never mature properly (usually referring to a Stilton), or a creamy, light-textured cheese to be eaten young, made with only a light, brief pressing -a category to which Curworthy belongs. The initial development was carried out by the Farmer’s Weekly (the main trade journal for the farming community), Wanda and David Morton (farm managers working for the magazine) and the staff of the local Agricultural Development and Advisory Service. Curworthy is an emergent product; it began initially as an experiment in diversification. Having proved successful, the farm and recipe were acquired by the current makers in 1987 and output has increased steadily.

      TECHNIQUE:

      The same method is employed for all 3 cheeses. Animal rennet is used for Curworthy and Devon Oke, both of which can be of pasteurized or unpasteurized milk; Belstone is always made from unpasteurized, using vegetable rennet. Milk from a designated herd of Friesian cattle is used. The milk is pasteurized if required and then brought to the temperature necessary for cheese-making; starter and rennet are added. The curd is cut 2 ways, stirred and scalded to about 38°C, then drained and piled at one end of the vat, before being filled into the mould. It is pressed for about 2.5 hours, after which the cheese is removed and brined. Maturing varies with size, but is a minimum of 6 weeks for the smallest Curworthy and up to 6 months for Devon Oke.

      REGION OF PRODUCTION:

      SOUTH WEST ENGLAND, OKEHAMPTON (DEVON).

      


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