Cheese Wire title graphic
 Issue no 7 - June/July 1999

 

 

 

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Welcome to the 7th issue of 'The Teddington Cheese Wire' - an issue full of good news. June and July are promising to be very exciting months for us. We have just won the ISI interforum E-commerce award for the London area, an initiative organised by the Department of Trade and Industry - more details inside. July will also see the opening of our second shop in Kew. We will have so much more room to mature our cheeses - our little shop in Teddington will not have to bulge quite so much at the seams!

In this issue we feature the fabulous cheese 'Cashel Blue' and suggest using it for our recipe 'Cabbage salad with blue cheese', perfect for al fresco dining. We revive the old practice of taking 'beaver' and have put together our own 'beaver' for you to try.

Those customers who are regularly trying our 'Cheese of the Week' will be becoming increasingly knowledgeable about cheese. Another eight types have been selected and are being prepared in our maturing room. These include Golden Silence, Somerset Cumin and Idiazabal from Spain.

We would like to apologise for omitting the Caption competition from our last issue. We are pleased to announce that it is back and everybody has the chance to win our Temptation Cheese Board.

Drawing of a mouse on a cheese wire


Inside

Features
The ISI/Interforum E-Commerce Awards

Time for Beaver

Update on 'The Kew Cheese'

Cheese Focus
Cashel Blue

Recipe
Cabbage Salad with Blue Cheese

Farm Focus
Breeds of Milking Cow


Photograph of a Yorkshire man enjoyign a pint and a chunk of cheese


see caption competition right.

What would you say to this man?


Imagine that you are greeted by the man on the left enjoying his Lancashire cheese. What would you say in reply? All entries must be received by 15th July '99 (please include your name, address and telephone number). The winner will receive the Temptation Cheeseboard.
Stop Press - Competition now over - see issue 8 for details of winner



ISI/Interforum graphic

The Teddington Cheese win the ISI/Interforum E-commerce award for the London Area

"Over the past two years everyone at the Teddington Cheese has been working hard, building up a popular mail order service for its British and continental farm-house cheeses.

Alongside the traditional methods of sending out letters and catalogues using the Royal Mail, we have tried to embrace new forms of communication - the internet and e-commerce.

Cheese is a great passion of ours. When customers visit our shop they are able to see, smell and taste all these fabulous cheeses. We have been trying very hard to convey the excitement of this world of cheese to our mail order customers through our colourful brochures and our internet site. There is such a difference between traditional farm house cheeses and the mass produced pre-packed examples found on supermarket shelves, and we urge people to try the real thing. We are proud of the fact that customers order again and again and we love to hear their comments, praise and suggestions.

I was delighted to have received this award, presented by Ken Livingstone, on behalf of everyone at The Teddington Cheese, especially after all the hard work everyone has put in. The internet created many challenges and we have tried to do the best we could with our limited financial resources.

We relied heavily, as we do with our shop, on the word of mouth to gain more customers.The £5000 prize will help us to put into action the many improvements to the site we have only been able to dream of. The valuable publicity the awards itself will generate will bring many more people into contact with the Teddington Cheese. This award has generated a great deal of excitement and we are looking forward to building on this success."


Doug Thring

About the Award

The ISI/InterForum E-Commerce Awards have been set up to recognise and reward best practice in the use of electronic trading amongst UK companies with fewer than 250 employees.

'The recently published Competitiveness White Paper, "Our Competitive Future: Building the Knowledge Driven Economy" has established a strong agenda for the development of e-commerce in the UK and for help targeted at small and medium businesses.

The government recognises that business competitiveness is increasingly dependent on the appropriate use of information and communications technologies. Electronic communication with suppliers and customers helps a business deliver faster response times, control costs, grow new markets and enhance quality of service.

The ISI/InterForum E-Commerce Awards recognises success in electronic trading. These awards are being jointly run by the DTI and InterForum, with the support and help of a number of key business sponsors.'

extracts of message from
DAVID BAXTER
Director
Information Society Initiative
Department of Trade and Industry

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Cheese Focus Cheese Focus Cheese Focus

Photograph of a Cashel Blue cheese

 

Cashel Blue
Co. Tipperary, Ireland

Jane and Louis Grubb started making Cashel Blue in the 1980's and since then it has earned an enviable international reputation as Ireland's most famous blue cheese. It takes its name from the Rock of Cashel, a bold outcrop overlooking the Tipperary plains.

Cashel Blue is made from the milk of Jane and Louis' own herd of 110 Fresian cows. It is made in a similar way to Roquefort although it is softer, more moist and less salty. The milk is pasteurised, cooled and then inoculated with Penicillin roquefortii and left at 32°C to allow the acidity to rise. Rennet is then added and it is left to set for an hour. The curd is then cut and left for another hour before being removed from the vat in scrim cloth (raw Irish linen), drained and tipped straight into the moulds. For the next two or three days it is left to drain and turned from time to time until dry enough for salting and piercing. The cheese is placed on a turn table and rotated whilst being pierced with long stainless steel needles. This allows air to enter the cheese and leads to the development of the blue mould. Before wrapping in distinctive gold foil, the cheeses are washed to remove the blue mould from the outside.

When young the cheese is firm and relatively moist with a fresh and slightly sharp flavour. With ageing it evolves a melt-in-the-mouth creaminess and a rounder, mellower flavour. Cashel Blue can be matured for up to six months. All the milk used for the cheese is now pasteurised. The very best cheese is made from April to October when the cows are out to pasture, but Cashel Blue is still excellent throughout the year.

Each cheese is 12cm in diameter, 12cm in height, weighs 1.5kg and has a fat content of 54%. Cashel Blue is excellent on the cheese-board and is a favourite for cooking since it melts smoothly and retains its depth of flavour.
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Breeds of milking cow.

Over many thousands of years cross-breeding has produced many different types of cow. The animals are generally bred for either milk or beef, rarely both. The migration of man has led to the spread of these breeds through out the world, although a few countries have retained their traditonal breeds. For example, the rare Red Poll of Wales is used to make Llanboidy cheese and the rare Gloucester is used to make limited amounts of Stinking Bishop.

Drawing of an Ayrshire cow

Ayrshire - Originally bred in Scotland this hardy cow now represents 10% of the English herd. Excellent milk exceeded in richness only by Jerseys and Guernseys.

Drawing of a Dairy Shorthorn cow

Dairy Shorthorn - This breed represents only 2-3% of the British herd.

Drawing of a Jersey cow

Jersey - Once called the 'Alderney', the Jersey produces almost as much milk as the larger Guernsey, with a high butterfat content.

Drawing of a Fresian cow

Fresian - The Fresian represents 80% of Britain's milk production and is found all over Western Europe and the USA. It has one of the highest milk yields of all cows.

Drawing of a Normandy cow

Normandy - Thought to have been bred by the Vikings who, after invading France, crossed their own animals with the local breeds. France's most popular cow.

Drawing of a Guernsey cow

Guernsey - This cow can produce 3500 litres of golden-yellow milk per year. Breton monks living on Guernsey during the Middle Ages are thought to have bred this gentle cow.

Drawing of a Braunvieh cow

Braunvieh - The most popular breed in Switzerland is also known as the Swiss Brown. It has also become popular in America.

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TIME FOR 'BEAVER'

In the 18th century workers had very long hard days but were allowed to stop for breakfast, elevenses, dinner and fourses. Elevenses, often consisting of bread and cheese, was also called 'beaver'. Eton college used to have 'Beaver Days', when extra bread, cheese and beer was issued for the boys to entertain visitors in Hall.

At The Teddington Cheese we have put together a 'beaver' which will help you get through the working day. It includes:

- 6oz Applebys Red Cheshire - to be eaten like a piece of cake
- a jar of cows' milk Boilíe
- a packet of Cottage Delight Oatcakes on which to spread the Boilíe
- a bottle of Crones Organic apple juice with which to wash it all down (contains no alcohol so you can continue to work afterwards)

Your 'beaver' bag
only £8.50

Please allow 24 hours for delivery (normal delivery rules apply).

SORRY OFFER NOW OVER

 

Cabbage salad with blue cheese

serves 6-8

ingredients:

1/2 hard white or red cabbage
4 parsley sprigs
225g crisp apples
100g small carrots
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme
salt and black pepper to taste
pinch of curry powder
225g Cashel Blue
65ml yogurt
65ml mayonnaise

1. Shred the cabbage very finely and soak in cold water for 2 hours, changing the water every 30 minutes. Then drain and dry well.
2. Finely chop the parsley.
3. Peel and core the apples, top and tail the carrots and coarsely grate both.
4. Combine the apples, carrots and parsley with the cabbage and then add the thyme, seasoning and curry powder and mix well.
5. Cut the Cashel Blue into small cubes and fold them into the salad.
6. Mix together the yogurt and mayonnaise and then pour over the salad.
7. Toss salad shortly before serving.


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Progress at The Kew Cheese

In our last issue of 'The Teddington Cheese Wire' we announced the planned opening of our second shop, The Kew Cheese, at 277 Sandycombe Road, Kew. Work at the Kew Cheese is progressing well. The shop walls and ceiling are being plastered, the electrical wiring is just about complete and the water is now connected. The cellar floor has been tiled, cheese maturing room ordered and Doug has almost decided whether to install 14 inch or 18 inch globe lamp-shades. Weighing scales have been chosen, paper bags are at the printers and sign writers are at the ready. Stainless steel cheese shelves are being welded in Teddington, wooden cabinets made in Twickenham, front doors crafted in Fulwell and aprons emboidered in Hounslow. We will soon be there!
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