Hello Readers!

This week has been incredibly busy for me in the cheese department, which included a visit to Cricketer Farm in Somerset with Emma. “Based on the edge of the Quantock Hills, in Somerset, Cricketer Farm is a master cheesemaker. We have been making award winning cheese since the 1940’s. Our range includes traditional farmhouse cheddars and healthier cheeses, which are made using the finest west country local milk.”I had a lovely day yesterday in the company of Greg Parsons (Managing Director of Cricketer Farm) & Cricketer. We went on a tour of the whole creamery which produces between 6,000-8,000 tons of cheese a year in a variety of different brands & flavours. The picture above greeted Emma & Myself in their office and it was lovely to feel so appreciated. Now having never been to Nether Stowey before we were struck by the clean air & what a lovely part of Somerset it is. We had lunch in the newly opened café which if your near you should visit because it has a lovely deli to buy from & a wide variety of food to fill your stomach on. After lunch we conducted a cheese grading session and then collected a green cool bag with half of their store room! Having said our thank you’s & goodbye’s we headed off on the journey home.

I know that was a short piece about my visit to Cricketers but I really want to talk to you about their lovely cheeses and this week I’m going to start with the Nether Stowey reserve cheddar.

A description of Nether Stowey from Cricketer Farm:

“Our Nether Stowey Reserve takes its name from the village which it is made. Nether Stowey is synonymous with the romantic poet Samuel Coleridge who made the village his home in the 1790’s. Only our very finest cheese is selected for Nether Stowey Reserve Somerset Cheddar, that way we guarantee that each and every cheese has the mature, rounded, authentic flavour which our patrons expect.”

Presented in a wonderful Union Jack emblazed wrapper it really does stand out on the shelf. This tangy & mature cheddar has a lovely creaminess and is one to savour the flavour instead of a punch in mouth affair. The flavour of the cheese means it is extremely versatile from cheeseboard to cheese on toast this will be appreciated. There is something that I have learnt after visiting creamery’s and that is the smell in the air of where its produced falls into the cheese, so when you eat a cheese your brain catapults you back to the moment you were actually there. Nether Stowey has become one of my favourites and having visited Cricketer you can truly appreciate that even though this comes as a block there are people behind its making that are truly passionate for the love & care of this cheese.

I will feature more of Cricketer Farm cheeses over the next few weeks but when you next go shopping have a look for Cricketer farm or Cheeky Moo and buy a packet to try.

Have a good weekend!

Jon