slipcote cheese sometimes called slipcoat, is an antique and opaque term used with reference to English soft cheeses. The exact nature of the cheese is unknown but Val Cheke (1959) considered the name self-explanatory: ‘The name Slip-coat described the typical manner in which the cheese coat, formed by surface evaporation, tended to later slip off, especially if the cheese were kept to ripen’. She remarks that in the 20th century a slip coating, sometimes accompanied by off flavours, was considered a defect.