The Unfortunate History Of Stilton Cheese

[Esjayell]

The Unfortunate History Of Stilton Cheese

There are two versions of Stilton Cheese, the Blue Vein, which we all know, has Penicellium roqueforti added to create the smell and taste, whilst the veins are created by piercing the crust with stainless steel needles allowing air into the core, and the White which does not. I am going to concentrate solely on the blue version. There is some doubt as to who originally created the blue version, the consensus of opinion seems to favour Frances Pawlett (or Paulet) a cheesemaker of Wymondham, Leics., as the person who set the style and shape in the 1720s. The Stilton Cheesemakers Association credits Cooper Thornhill owner of The Bell Inn on the Great North Road in the village of Stilton as the first person to market Blue Stilton Cheese. In 1730 he discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a farm in Melton Mowbray, Leics., possibly Wymondham. He fell in love with the cheese and made a business arrangement that granted The Bell Inn which stood on the main Stage Coach route between London and Northern England, exclusive marketing rights to Blue Stilton.

The Bell Inn, STILTON. Where it all began.

In 1936 The Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association was formed to lobby for regulation to protect the quality and origin of the cheese. In 1966 Stilton was granted legal protection via a certification Trade Mark, the only British cheese to receive this status.

For cheese to use the name ‘Stilton’ it must be made in one of these three counties, Leicestershire, Derbyshire or Nottinghamshire and use pasteurised local milk. Manufacturers of Stilton in these counties received PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status under European Law in 1996.

Stilton Cheese cannot be produced in the village of Stilton, from where it gets its name, as it is in the historic county of Huntingdonshire and the administrative county of Cambridgeshire. The Original Cheese Company applied to Defra to amend the Stilton PDO to include the village, the application was rejected in 2013.

Finally, the first recorded recipe for a (white) Stilton cheese was published in 1726 by Richard Bradley, who became the first Professor of Botany at Cambridge University in 1724 (an unsalaried position), is a little off-putting: Take ten gallons of morning milk and five gallons of sweet cream and beat them together, then put in as much boiling spring water as will make it warmer than milk from the cow, when this is done put in runnet (rennet?) made strong with large mace...and so it continues. The full recipe, for those who wish to try it at home in readiness for Christmas, may be found on page 118 of ‘A General Treatise of Husbandry & Gardening.’ I assume that most people wouldn’t have a copy to hand in their bookcases and as most, if not all libraries are closed here is a link to the recipe.

Esjayell

All pictures are via Google Images

[Holly Goodhead]

Thank you Esjayell for all that great info, and Bob said he loves Stilton Cheese with cream crackers.

Not really tried it myself, but may be this Christmas.
Holly

[Dongo]

Originally Posted by Holly Goodhead

Thank you Esjayell for all that great info, and Bob said he loves Stilton Cheese with cream crackers.

Not really tried it myself, but may be this Christmas.
Holly

Stilton cheese is even better with cream crackers and a glass of port or Maderia.