Cheshire

Cheshire is one of Britain’s oldest cheeses. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, as often claimed, but is referred to by the 12th-century chroniclers Gerald of Wales and William of Malmesbury, as well as being encountered on the quays of Antwerp by the 15th-century cheese expert Pantaleone da Confienza (Naso, 1990).

Good Cheshire must (unlike cheddar) be made in its region of origin; this is around Chester, the county town of Cheshire. The flavour of the cheese depends on the salty marl and sandstone grazing land along the River Dee and its tributaries, as well, no doubt, on the cattle; those same cattle which, in Charles Kingsley’s sad poem, Mary was invited to call home across the sands of Dee.