GREAT Britain…

Our hotel circa 1880

October 28, 1891 – That date will always have significance for my family, for that is the date that my great grandparents  packed all of their belongings into seven steamer trunks and left the only home they had ever known. Their home up to that point was a small village in the Southwest Region of England in Cornwall where they ran a small hotel. 5,260 miles later, they made their new home in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

Part of your heart never leaves an area, and it called to us (their grand and great grandchildren) until we could finally return if only to visit and drink in the English countryside, as well as their food and their hospitality.

I knew that this story would come up one day in my blog, but I was not sure how and when until a dear friend, Barbara Hill, gave me this tankard (shown below)…and then the story revealed itself…So come along dear reader, as we board this train and explore a few cheeses of Great Britain...and the pubs that they have a connection with… 

Our first stop is Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, (or just simply “The Cheshire”) a pub found at 145 Fleet Street in London. The term “Pub” is short for a “Public House”, which was a term that was coined in the 17th century to describe a licensed place of business for consumption of alcoholic drinks on the premises. This term was needed to differentiate themselves from “Private Houses” (which could include house taverns, alehouses, and Inns). 

The Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese was rebuilt in 1667 after the great fire of London in 1666. There are records showing that a pub had occupied this space since 1538. Today, it still stands as one of the oldest pubs in all of London, as well as a noted hangout for literary giants such as Charles Dickens, Alfred Lord Tennyson, and even Mark Twain. While the source of the name has been lost to time, many feel that it was a nod to the famous cheese by the same name as a cheese that would have been served there.

Cheshire Cheese is one of Britain’s oldest cheeses and was first mentioned (along with Shropshire Cheese) in a circa 1580 cookbook called Health Improvement by Thomas Muffet. Cheshire is much like Cheddar in the fact that they are both semi-hard cheeses, both made from cow’s milk, and both originated in England, but that is where the similarities end. Cheshire Cheese is from the county of Cheshire, where the land has a high amount of salinity unlike anywhere else in the world. It is said that this not only adds to the flavor of the cheese, but to its aging as well. It is said to have a “Hint-of-Salt-Marsh” flavor, while others claim is has a “Sea-Spray-Freshness”…either way, it’s the salt finish that they are referring to.

For this selection, I chose Belton Farms Cheshire, not because it was a 2019 Gold Medal Winner at the International Cheese Awards (as well as the British Cheese Awards), but because it has a light and crumbly texture with subtle hints of fresh citrus. I also like the fact that their milk is sourced locally within 25 miles of the plant, as well as their connection with Red Tractor Certified Standards, which helps the full traceability of products, from farm to pack. I was happy to know that they not only produce 6.3 oz. exact weight packages, but produce it in bulk wheels as well…a win for both customer and cheesemonger!

Time to board our train again….Next stop the Bell Inn found in the town of Stilton.

Since the year 1658, The Great North Road was the main traveling route between London, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. This 409 mile long road was used for passenger travel as well as the mail and goods, so naturally, carriages traveling this route stopped in many small towns and at many small inns. One such town, Stilton (about 74 miles North from London) became quite famous for a cheese that was being sold at The Bell Inn. The cheese we now know as Stilton was originally called Quimby, or Lady Beaumont’s Cheese. Passengers along the route heard about the cheese, and soon the town name (and the Bell Inn) became synonymous with the now famous Blue Cheese. By the 1750’s, the cheese was known as Stilton, and while many may debate who originally invented the cheese, no one will doubt its birth from this region.

Today only six producers of Stilton are left: Colston Bassett Dairy, Cropwell Bishop Creamery, Hartington Creamery, Long Clawson Dairy, Tuxford & Tebbutt Creamery, and Webster's Dairy. These are produced in the counties of Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire.

Stilton is produced quite differently than any other blue cheese out there. In 1936 the Stilton Cheesemaker’s Association was formed to protect the production and methods tied in with this important PDO cheese. These unique methods include a slow draining of the whey from the curds, the curds are milled, and the wheels are sealed for 5 weeks before the cheese “roundel” is pinned or pricked to allow air to reach the center of the wheels before the blue cheese mold can come to life.

I enjoyed this Stilton with a glass of Port and called it a night before reaching our final destination by morning…All Aboard!!

354 miles later, our train stops at Lizard Point, Cornwall. This is the point from where today’s post started. Our family hotel and pub ~ The Caerthillian Hotel.

As we step through the doors (now home to the most southerly pub in the country), we are reminded by the words left by a patron in 1879: 

Stranger when you pass this way, 

Do not hesitate to stay,

in this place where we have found,

Creature comforts do abound

We are home.

Such a special time…such a special place. 

Time to drink in the flavors of this region and enjoy a Cornish Cream Tea. Not familiar with this term?...Let me read you a passage from a travel guide in 1925 that goes on to explain a Cornish Cream Tea:

“I must take time to tell you what this entails. A Cornish cream tea has not it’s like anywhere else in the world. Besides the inevitable tea, of which not less than three cups should be indulged in, there is sort of baking powder biscuit, halved and buttered or not as you chose, jam which may be strawberry, blackberry, currant, or plum, and Cornish clotted cream. The later must on no account be confused with Devonshire cream, at least not in the hearing of any Cornish housewife: and it is indeed more delicious, being less pasty, more golden, and more “thick and thin” like a perfect timed Camembert cheese. There is something in the absurd simplicity of spreading the bread with successive layers of jam and cream, in the evanescence of each delectable but perishable mouthful, which leads you on from one bite to another with insidious ease. On any afternoon, when the sun is warm and the rucksack a burden, the garden breezy and the handmaiden fair, it is a simple matter to spend an hour over your cream tea.”

So there we were enjoying Cornish cream teas outdoors, looking over the green fields toward the ocean enjoying this local tradition and delicacy, as Mr. Lugg passed by walking his cows to the next pasture. Time seems to have stopped in this sleepy village. 

Although not a cheese, Clotted Cream was one of my most vivid memories from this trip. 

Clotted cream is silky smooth, indulgently creamy and deliciously thick. Perfect spread thickly over a warm scone with a dollop of strawberry jam. The essential ingredient to a traditional English cream tea. 

So which goes first?....The preserves or the clotted cream? Every Brit (even the Queen) has their thought on the matter (you can read the debate here).

So there you have it my friends…Three unique cheese (or dairy) items and the pubs that helped them become what they are today.

My many, many thanks to my friend Debbie Peterson who works for Coombe Castle International. When I couldn’t find the samples of the Cheshire and Clotted Cream, she came to my rescue. 

Coombe Castle International has a wonderful story. Founded in 1980, specializing in cream based products, they created The Devon Cream Company which proudly produces a full lineup of spoonable creams. This became popular in domestic consumption, but internationally as well. As they exported these creams, they started exporting other British cheese brands as well. Their export efforts by helping to bring British cheeses and creams all around the globe are commendable and have been recognized four times with The Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Tradein 2001, 2007, 2013, and 2018, the highest UK awards for British Businesses. 

With a full heart and stomach, time to curl up with a good book and head for home, as tomorrow is a new day and a new adventure awaits me.

Until next week…Cheers!!

Trevor