A hard, granular cheese with a deep, fruity flavour and a mellow aftertaste.

The lovely Mizen Peninsula is located at the southern-most tip of Ireland and is home to Bill Hogan and Sean Ferry. Together they make three different cheeses: Desmond, Mizen and Gabriel. All are made during the summer months using the milk supplied by the small herds which graze the rolling hills between Mount Gabriel and the sea. The fields of this area contain a broad mixture of wild and cultivated grasses, heathers and a multitude of other plants carpeted over rich peaty soil set amongst protruding boulders and fresh running streams.

Bill Hogan was taught his cheese making by the late Josef Dubach in Costa Rica. Josef was a Swiss cheese-maker and was sent by the Swiss Development Corporation to poorer countries to teach them the art of cheese-making. The aim was to help raise standards of living in the same way that cheese had done in the Swiss valleys. Bill translated Josef's book, 'Traditional Cheese-making' and as payment he spent the summer at Josef's farm in Switzerland. Afterwards Bill started cheese-making in Ireland using the skills he had acquired.

Bill and Sean buy their milk from seven neighbouring farms. They do not have their own cows since they only make cheese for four months of the year. They believe this is the only time the that milk is good enough for cheese-making. The grass is at its best and the stage of lactation in the cows cycle is also favourable.

As in Switzerland the cheese is made in a copper bath. Bill believes that the copper reacts with the acidified curds resulting in a livelier and deeper flavour in the final product. He says that the more popular stainless steel baths have a deadening effect on the flavour. Another unusual feature of the dairy is that all the walls are painted in bright turquoise from top to bottom, not because it is Bill's favourite colour but because he is sure it repels the flies.

Gabriel has a granular texture similar to Parmesan. The flavour is deep and fruity. After pressing, the cheeses are smeared with a bacterial culture to give a thin speckled golden crust. They are then matured for many months or years. Our Gabriel is between one and two years of age. It can be grated and used as one would use a Parmesan. Gabriel also makes an excellent fondue because of its 'thermophilic' qualities - that is, when it melts it forms strings. A true fondue is made using 'thermophilic' cheese - Gabriel, Desmond, Gruyère, Emmental and Appenzeller are all examples.

Each cheese is made from unpasteurised milk and measures approximately 35cm in diameter, 10cm in height, weighs 6kg and has a fat content of 48%. Cheeses can also be made in huge rounds weighing some 25 to 45kg.