AN aged raw sheep’s milk, Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado from the Portuguese maker Quinto do Pomar, has been crowned world champion at the 2024 World Cheese Awards. The washed rind cheese from Serra da Gardunha is a soft, buttery ivory-coloured cheese with a mild flavour. It is made with vegetarian rennet that comes from a…
ONE of Somerset’s finest traditional unpasteurised farmhouse Cheddar makers, Keen’s, based at Moorhayes Farm near Wincanton, has been named as the first People’s Cheese Champion, after three rounds of public voting in a new award organised by campaigning group The Real Cheese Project. Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar was one of four finalists, voted in the…
A LOT of Hollywood and television stars seem to be drawn to the world of spirits – Ryan Reynolds, Brad Pitt and Emma Watson all have their own gin brands, and Outlander star Sam Heughan has a malt whisky. Now former Top Gear presenter James May has launched his own gin, made in Wiltshire, where…
THE spectacular late 19th century Grand Hall at Battersea Arts Centre provided an atmospheric and spacious setting for this year’s Golden Fork Awards, the climax of the Guild of Fine Food’s Great Taste Awards. And there was a great success for the West Country with the New Forest-based Lyburn Cheese winning the Golden Fork for…
LANGHAM Wine Estate this year celebrates 15 years of the vineyard at Crawthorne Farm, near Dorchester. The anniversary was marked with a party for friends of the winery and vineyard, and the release of an outstanding new still wine. Managing director Justin Langham said: “I take immense pride in evolving what was once my father’s…
YOU probably know that rice is grown in Europe – mainly in Italy. Carnaroli, arborio and vialone are three varieties of rice which are used for risotto and are readily available in good food shops and supermarkets. You might think that was “European rice” – but in fact European rice is something different, grown in…
PEOPLE who love goat’s milk cheese will need no introduction to Tor, one of the many fine cheeses made by Roger Longman of White Lake Cheese, based at Bagborough close to the Royal Bath & West showground near Shepton Mallet. Already a three-star Great Taste Award-winner, the ash-covered, pyramid-shaped Tor has just won the Best…
THE highlight of this year’s inaugural Bath & West Food and Drink Festival, at the show ground near Shepton Mallet over the weekend 23rd and 24th March, will be the British Cheese Awards. About 600 British cheeses will be judged on Friday 22nd, in the 20th annual edition of the awards, one of the largest…
THE south west’s farmers, producers and food purveyors will be celebrated at a major new event in the regional food calendar, the Bath & West Food and Drink Festival at the Royal Bath and West Showground near Shepton Mallet on 23rd and 24th March. On Friday 22nd, the site will also host the British Cheese…
THE recent second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a sombre reminder of the trauma and horror that Urkainians have endured – and the continuing need to support the refugees who are living in this area. If most of us didn’t know much about Ukraine’s distinctive culture and history before the Russian onslaught,…