Alan Davidson

Yarg

Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

yarg a full-cream cow’s milk cheese first produced in 1983 in Cornwall by a couple called Gray; hence the name, which is Gray spelt backwards. Maggie Black (1989) states that it is based on a Cornish prototype of the 15th century.

A wheel of Yarg, in its wrapping of (edible) nettle leaves, usually measures about 25 cm (10") across and 7 or 8 cm (3") high. After being mould ripened for three weeks, it has a white and downy rind over a creamy surface area containing a moist, crumbly interior. Fat content 30 per cent, moisture content 40 per cent: so midway between the cheeses called semi-soft and those called semi-hard.