Good Morning Readers,

This morning I bring you Loosehanger Oak Smoked cheese, which is produced In Wiltshire, Salisbury with the official New Forest Marque. Loosehanger are artisan cheese makers that have a range of award-winning soft, pressed and blue cheeses made with Ayrshire cows milk and goats milk. The quote from their website states that “We handmake a range of cheeses from both Ayrshire cows milk and goats milk from the Willowbrook goats. The pure Ayrshire cows milk is sourced from a closed herd owned and managed by the Ody family, at Upper Wooton, Basingstoke. The cows graze on the herb-rich Hampshire Downs and are fed farm-grown cereals. Woodgarston farm is traditionally managed by Bob & Russell who breed replacements from within the herd and won the cup for outstanding stockmanship in 2004. This is the best milk we have ever tasted and it’s fantastic for cheese making. From this excellent raw material the cheeses are handcrafted and matured in the time-honoured way. ” This means the cheese they produce is of a rather tasty background.

In this post I’m going to talk directly about the oak smoked cheese which I have had before but most recently at the Romsey food festival. The cheese itself is creamy and is gently smoke through “cold smoking” over seasoned oak by Fjordling Smokehouse, Salisbury. This produces the most delicious, subtle, smoky aftertaste. Because of the rather lovely flavour it won a Gold Medal at the 2004 British Cheese Awards. The flavour complements cooking brilliantly and why not use it to stuff a chicken breast and wrap some lovely bacon around the outside for a deliciously creative meal. The cheese also adds a depth of flavour through smoking to any cheese board. A red wine would complement the smoky notes with deep fruit/ oak fleck notes from the wine.

If you would like to buy any then run along to the next Hampshire Farmers Market or buy it directly through http://www.cheeseproducer.com/page/buy_by_email.

Have a lovely weekend!

Jon