Moist and supple texture with a light, citrus flavour.

 

Yarg Cornish Cheese is made at Pengreep Farm near Truro in West Cornwall. Alan Gray created the original recipe and in 1984 he then moved to Netherton Farm, near Liskeard to make cheese with the Horrell Family. The Mead family joined forces with the Horrells and started to make Yarg Cornish Cheese at Pengreep in 2001 and then, when the Horrells retired from farming and cheese making, the Meads took on the entire cheese making production. Yarg Cornish Cheese is made from milk of the Ayrshire, Jersey and Friesian cross herd at Pengreep and that of 10 other surrounding farms in the parish.

Yarg is somewhere between a cheddar and a Caerphilly was with a distinctive nettle-leaf coating. A Cornish-sounding name was given to the cheese - 'Yarg'. This is in fact the original makers' name 'Gray' spelt backwards but it possessed the Cornish feel that was needed.

All of the milk from the farm is pasteurised. This is a necessity when taking milk from such a large herd since contact with the animals cannot be as closely monitored as with a small herd and the risk of undetected problems is increased. Pasteurising also makes the final cheese more predictable and reliable and although, perhaps not as exciting as matured unpasteurised cheese this process is essential when contact time with each cheese is limited.

Cornish Yarg is a moist cheese which tastes fresh and creamy with a gentle tang. The cheeses are matured for a minimum of three weeks but maturation can take up to two months. During this time the crumbly paste becomes softer at the edges and this texture then advances towards the centre. The flavour becomes less tangy and more musty with age.

The nettles are edible but most people tend to discard them. They are picked locally and are frozen until needed. This is not only convenient but essential since the freezing takes away the sting and causes the leaves to become limp and easier to apply. The leaves are dipped into a sterilizing solution and are then applied using a brush. It is believed that nettle leaves were used originally because they prevented the cheese from drying out too quickly and protected it from flies. Nettles also grew in abundance and cost nothing.

Each cheese is approximately 25cm in diameter, 7cm thick, weighs 3kg and has a fat content of 45%. Smaller 1kg cheeses are also made but only the larger cutting Cornish Yarg is stocked at the Teddington Cheese.