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Cheeses of the Month - September.
During September we're offering a taste of Spain.  For those of you lucky enough to have escaped the British Summer on holiday, we hope to bring back memories of al fresco dining.  For those who endured our summer, set up a board with our three cheeses, add a wedge of fig & almond wheel, a slice of membrillo, crack open a bottle of sherry and just imagine you were there.
Nevat Can Pujol,  Valdeon Picos Blue  &  Mahon  
Come in during September and we'll encourage you to taste them and take them home with a 10% discount.
Have a browse of our May , June ,July & August cheeses of the month....

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  Nevat Can Pujol  
This cheese is made in the mountains around Barcelona by a man called Joseph.  He was so keen to start cheese making he collected his first four goats in the back of his small car & shared the 650km return trip with them.  The name Nevat means 'snowed' in Catalan, as the cheese resembles a snow capped peak.

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Origin – Barcelona, Spain
Milk – Goat, pasteurised
Style – soft, mould ripened
Appearance – The bright white exterior has a white bloom mould with a chalky interior that turns soft & runny as it ripens

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Can Pujol was established in 1980 producing fresh & curd cheeses.   In 1991 they decided to create a cheese which could be matured and Nevat was born.  Made from their own & neighbouring herd's milk, the curds are hand wrenched in cheesecloth to form a rounded square with a peak in the middle. The rind is treated with penicillium mould, which creates a snowy, bloomy white rind and transforms the curd.  The consistency is slightly creamy, turning runny as it matures.  The taste is smooth, milky and sweet with a slight tang.

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Valdeon Picos Blue (DO)
The maple leaf wrapping around the deep, blue-green veining of Valdeon makes it a striking, rustic feature cheese on any cheeseboard.  Whilst a delicious table cheese on its own, when served with wild mountain honey and the freshest walnuts available it's a truly heavenly cheese experience. 

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Origin – Cantabria, Spain
Milk – Cow & goat, pasteurised
Style –  semi-soft blue
Appearance – Wrapped in maple tree leaves with heavy blue-green veining in an off-white to cream paste 

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Known variously as Valdeon Picos Blue, Picos de Europa or simply Picos Blue.  This deeply veined cheese is usually made from cows milk but often found as a mixed milk cheese with sheep and/or goats milk added. Picos ripens for three months in natural caves, has a creamy soft texture and a strong, pungent, spicy blue flavour. 

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Mahon (DO)  
Quite a rarity for Spain, a cows milk cheese.  Mahon, produced on the Balearic Island of Menorca was originally made from sheep milk.  Cattle were bought onto the island by the British in the eighteenth century and the cheese has been made of cows milk ever since. This is a versatile cheese that can be used as tapas, on a cheeseboard or grated in recipes.

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Origin – Menorca, Spain
Milk –Cow, pasteurised
Style – hard
Appearance - Pale yellow close textured paste with a ridged, orange rind.

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Mahon is a firm, close textured cheese with a few small uneven holes.  The rind is rubbed with paprika and olive oil to give the cheese a striking orange colour and distinctive flavour. Available at various stages of maturity from a very fresh ten day old, right through to aged at more than ten months. Ours is a semicured, which makes it a minimum of two months old. The flavour is slighty salty, supposedly because the cattle are exposed to the sea air, and there is a delicate lemon flavour and decent, sharpish tang.

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