Neal's Yard Dairy Pt. 2

So who or what exactly is Neal's Yard Dairy, and why did I get so excited about going? In the shop I work at we list the cheese, where it's from, and the milk. We then describe the flavors you might get from the cheese. NYD names where the cheese is from, and the milk and rennet, but the first thing they mention is the name of the maker. They've developed this intimate relationship with the cheesemakers in a few ways.

The people at NYD go to the farms to taste and select the cheeses. Then the load them on their vans, and drive them back to London headquarters. They also work with the cheesemakers. Right now there's a young man working on cheese with the help of NYD. In a few years if he ever writes any of his recipes down he could become a cheesemaker of some reckoning. The folks at NYD also have an awesome and intense amount of quality control. Cheeses are tested for nasty bacteria religiously. My sadness at knowing one of my favorite washed rind cheeses wasn't going to be sold for some time was lifted when Lucy told me that they were working with the cheesemaker to get her product 100% again. At the end of the day, yes they are a business, but with such attention to detail, to their farmers, and to the environment (their creamery uses wind power for electricity, and filters their waste water) they're one of the good guys.

This was my favorite cheese that I tasted while abroad. At least my favorite of the cheeses I'd never tried before. Just the right amount of tang. Creamy, crumbly, chalky and just delicious. When I came back to work one of my co-workers told me that he'd met the maker a few weeks prior. I tried to recall where I was that day, why didn't I meet her? Was I hiding? Was she? Unfortunately I was working at the "wrong store" that day. CURSES!


Yes dear reader I developed a small crush on an orange cheese. I couldn't help it. It was sooo good. I even managed to get it on the plane. I think we were over Ireland when I couldn't stand it anymore and ate it. *This cheese would be a ridiculously good match for apple pie, instead of the Cheddar usually used.


What's this? I believe it is yet another soft-ripened unpasteurized cheese that we can't get in the U.S. I have to be honest and tell you that although I ate an immense amount of cheese most of it in a 24 hour period because I'm a little cheese piggy that not once did I feel sick, or ill. Ridiculously full? Yes, but not sick. I do not understand why our laws governing cheese are so stringent, but genetically modified food is ok. Sometimes I think I should just pack up my bags and move to France. And eat cheese. And have a goat named Marie.



This cheese was written about in the second issue of Culture the word on cheese. One of the reasons this cheese is making a comeback is because of Neal's Yard Dairy. When Randolph Hodgson the head cheese, advises you to do something to your cheese like age it for two months before selling it, you listen. If you follow their advice, you end up with a cheese that started it's history as a coal miners lunch staple and ends as something that people will pay handsomely for.



Oh yeah, they make their own cheese at their creamery. NYD does it all.




*I can't believe you don't know about apple pie and Cheddar. In New England you can have your pie either a la mode, or with Cheddar. It's obscene in all the tastiest ways. Lately I've been missing New England a lot and thinking about apple pie and Cheddar isn't helping.