Hard Cheese beats Alex James entrants
An English hard cheese was named top cheese at this year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival. Doddington’s cheese beat off competition from eight other finalists, including entrants from Little Wallop cheese producer Alex James of Blur.
The Finalist cheeses, which were shortlisted from hundreds of entrants, included:
Best smoked – won by Crabtree, made by Anne Connolly, of Larkton Hall Farm, Malpas
Handmade cheeses made without preservatives or additives – won by Baltic, which had been bathed in successive washes of Baltic beer from Liverpool
English hard cheese – won by Doddington, of Northumberland
Blue cheese – won by Stitchelton, of Nottingham
Cheshire Cheese – won by John Bourne’s unpasteurised Lancashire, Caerphilly, Wensleydale – won by Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire
Blue Cheeses from North Wales or Wales – won by Gorau Glas, of Anglesey
Soft Cow’s milk cheese from North Wales or Wales – won by Crabtree
Soft fresh Goat’s milk cheese – won by Tovey, of Cumbria
Mould ripened or semi-hard Goat’s cheese – won by Allerdale, of Cumbria
Best new British cheese – won by Baltic
Alex James’s cheese was shortlisted in the soft fresh Goat’s cheese and best New British cheese categories. The cheeses were judged on appearance, texture and taste.
One of the judges Dr Stephen Gunn, who also gave a seminar on each cheese, said: “This show is about local and seasonal cheese. What we’ve got here in Chester would stand up against any cheese in the UK. Doddington’s hard cheese is well rounded. All of these cheeses are available to buy from The Cheese Shop and The Cheese Shop is the only place in the North of England that sells Alex James’s cheese.”
Other judges included Carole Faulkner, owner of The Cheese Shop in Northgate Street and Nick Birchall, also of The Cheese Shop. Corks Out also provided wine to accompany the cheeses.
For more information about other events happening over the Chester Food & Drink Festival please visit www.chesterfoodanddrink.com
Chester’s Food and Drink Festival is organised on behalf of Chester City Council with support from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), Cheshire County Council, Made in Cheshire and North West Fine Foods and Visit Chester & Cheshire, the tourism board for Cheshire and Warrington.
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