For May, Philippe Trifaut, assistant manager at Paxton & Whitfield’s Bath shop, has selected the delicious, award-winning, Cornish cheese Wild Garlic Yarg (Pasteurised cows’ milk, vegetarian rennet) to enjoy.
The cheese is handmade at Lynher Dairies Cheese Company, Ponsanooth, located near to Truro, Cornwall, where the more well-known Cornish Yarg cheese is also made. The name Yarg comes from its creator - Alan Gray, it is his surname spelt backwards! The dairy is run by Catherine Mead and her family and they make over 200 tonnes of cheese a year.
The milk used to make Wild Garlic Yarg comes from cows that are grass fed on the Mead family’s farm, to produce a rich, creamy milk with a high protein content.
Once made, the cheese is placed in brine for 24 hours, removed and then left to dry for 48 hours. The Wild Garlic leaves are then placed carefully on the outside of the cheese.
The dairy team forage for the garlic leaves from the woods surrounding the farm between mid-March and the end of April each year. Wild Garlic grows abundantly in this part of Cornwall, thriving particularly well in moist, semi-shaded conditions, preferably under trees. The plant comes into growth in the spring, flowers early summer and then dies down by the middle of summer.
This semi-hard cheese is deliciously creamy under the rind and slightly crumbly at the core. The Wild Garlic leaves impart a gentle garlicky flavour and their moisture gives the cheese a slightly firm texture.
Most recently Wild Garlic Yarg has won the following award, a Gold Medal at the 2016 British Cheese Awards.
Philippe says: “This is such an unusual but delicious cheese. With it’s unique flavours I’d accompany it with some of our Original Oaties and either a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or a West Country Cider.”