York Cheese

York cheese an ancient and once well-known English variety. Similar cheeses are made in Cambridge and Bath, both taking the names of the places where they were made. The cheeses are now almost extinct although the Cambridge variety survived into the 20th century. Generically, these are slipcote cheeses.

The cheeses were all renetted soft cheeses with a creamy texture, with a short shelf life. They were rectangular in shape and, in their most comely form, dramatically striped. A slice of curd, coloured orange by annatto, is sandwiched between two uncoloured slices to produce this effect. York was often in the past flavoured with herbs. Bath cheese has been revived in a slightly modified form, with a white mould exterior.