You might like your cheeses to be from France or Italy because yes, they’re pretty amazing, but did you know that you can get some of the finest cheese around without having to go very far at all?
Leicester can keep its red and Gloucestershire its cheese rolling competitions, because up here we’ve got cheese so good that you’re going to have nightmares for weeks…
Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese
Sealed with butter and made with unpasteurised milk, Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese is a multi-award winner and is now pretty famous the world over. As Lancashire’s last remaining producer that uses only raw cow’s milk, giving the cheese a buttery, yoghurt-y flavour with a light texture that literally melts in the mouth.
Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire Cheese, Mill Ln, Preston PR3 2FL
www.mrskirkhamscheese.co.uk
Black Bob Extra Mature Cheddar
One of the Cheshire Cheese Company’s best-selling creations, this tangy extra-mature cheddar will blow anything else you’ve ever tried out of the water. Coming packed in a black wax coating, once inside you’re greeted by a creamy and extremely strong cheddar that’s perfect on a cheese board or melted on anything. I particularly enjoy Black Bob with some Branston Pickle on a slab of Warburton’s Toastie after a night out. Perfect.
Cheshire Cheese Company, Hawkshead Quarry Farm, Leek Old Road, Sutton, SK11 0JB
www.cheshirecheesecompany.co.uk
Dewlay Nicky Nook
From the pastures of Garstang comes a relatively new cheese – Nicky Nook. With a smooth texture and that characteristic blue taste, it’s perfect on any cheese board complete with a hefty pile of grapes and the obligatory bottle of port. Made by the same people responsible for the famous Garstang Blue, Nicky Nook is a little creamer than its crumbly cousin and thus even more suitable for a melting onto everything you eat.
Dewlay Cheesemakers, Garstang By-Pass Road, Garstang, Preston PR3 0PR
www.dewlay.com
Leagram’s Organic Creamy Lancashire
This particular cheese has won several awards including Gold at the Global Cheese Awards, British Cheese Awards and Nantwich International Cheese Awards. It’s very creamy but full of flavour can be used as a cooking cheese, on crackers, sandwiches or just enjoyed on its own. Bob Kitching the creator sadly passed away in 2013, but his daughter is keeping the legacy alive to this day.
Leagram Organic Dairy, Moss Ln, Chipping, Preston PR3 2TR
www.thesheepmilkcompany.co.uk
Gin and Lemon Cheshire Cheese
Winner of the International Cheese Awards Bronze 2017 and Bronze winner at the Royal Cheshire County Show, this cheese has actual gin and lemons in it mixed with a creamy cheese – resulting in one of the most unique (but also tasty) cheeses you’ll ever try. I’ve always thought it would be good incorporated into a cheesecake perhaps? Although I’m not sure where I’d even start!
Cheshire Cheese Company, Hawkshead Quarry Farm, Leek Old Road, Sutton, SK11 0JB
www.cheshirecheesecompany.co.uk
Shorrocks Lancashire Bomb
Named so for its peculiar black wax exterior fastened with a knot on top, the Shorrocks have been producing cheese for years and this one is certainly their most popular. Once you’ve got through the wax you’re met an exquisite light and creamy cheese that is brilliant with some figs on a cracker after a particularly large Sunday Roast dinner. They also offer a wide-range of flavoured ‘bombs’ including Green olive, Spiced Apple & Port and a rather excellent Hot Chilli Bomb. Try them all!
Shorrocks Cheese, Newhouse Farm, Ford Lane, Goosnargh, PR3 2FD
www.lancashirebombs.co.uk
Butlers Farmhouse Cheeses Blacksticks Blue
Why buy blue cheese made in France when you can merely go to Preston? Blacksticks Blue is a more orange colour than the blue cheeses we’re used to, but that doesn’t take away from the flavour. The farm where this cheese is made was bought in 1932, again not quite the history that blue cheeses like Roquefort supposedly have, but still a lengthy one for cheese making in Lancashire.
El Gringo Chilli, Lime and Tequila Cheddar
Hailing from the Cheshire Cheese Company at Hawkshead Quarry Farm in Macclesfield, this cheese has been the star of many shows – even go far as to winning Gold at the Royal Cheshire County Show. Blended with fiery green Jalapeno chilli, a splash of lime and a glug of tequila – it’s like Friday night in a cheese! It’s also brilliant in burritos!
Cheshire Cheese Company, Hawkshead Quarry Farm, Leek Old Road, Sutton, SK11 0JB
www.cheshirecheesecompany.co.uk
Smelly Ha’peth from The Saddleworth Cheese Company
Hailing from the lovely village of Saddleworth in Oldham, the Smelly Ha’peth cheese is the flagship of Sean Wilson’s Saddleworth Cheese Company. You may remember him as Martin Platt in Corrie but now he’s making massive waves with his range of brilliant cheeses – and Smelly Ha’peth is certainly a winner. It’s a medium soft cheese that has a mild, sweet nuttiness to it and that characteristic blue tang. It’s sort of like a Gorgonzola but 10x better.
