For March Frances Sterry, manager of Paxton & Whitfield’s Cale Street shop, has selected the award-winning Irish farmhouse cheese Coolea (Pasteurised cows’ milk, traditional rennet) to help celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday 17 March 2018.
This Gouda style cheese is handmade on the mountain farm of Dick and Sinead Willems located in the Coolea Hills near Cork in the Republic of Ireland. It is a washed curd cheese. The curds are cut into small pea sized pieces and then washed to remove some of the lactose. This reduces the acidity to create a sweeter, nuttier, piquant cheese that has a lingering flavour of toffee.
Frances says: “Coolea is a wonderful example of the exceptional cheeses being produced in the Republic of Ireland at the moment. I like to pair Coolea with apple flavours, the gentle sharpness of the fruit tends to complement the sweet toffee flavours of the cheese. I would suggest either our No 93 Ale Chutney or our Quince and Apple Confit A fruity white wine also pairs particularly well with gouda styles. With its Sauvignon grape, our specially selected Grand Mayne from the Côte de Duras is a great choice.”