Ingredient: Stilton
Category: Dairy- Cheese
Season: All
Stilton is an English cheese.
It is produced in two varieties : the well-known blue and the lesser-known white.
Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin by the European Commission.
Only cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire and made according to a strict code, may be called "Stilton".
Ironically, Stilton cheese cannot legally be made in the village that gave the cheese its name .
Stilton cheese was never made in the village of Stilton . Stilton village is now in Cambridgeshire, in the former county of Huntingdonshire.
There are currently just eight dairies licensed to make Stilton, each being subject to regular audit by an independent inspection agency accredited to European Standard EN 45011.
At present, all but one of the licensed dairies are based in the Vale of Belvoir , which straddles the Nottinghamshire-Leicestershire border.
This area is commonly regarded as the heartland of Stilton production , with dairies located in the town of Melton Mowbray and the villages of Colston Bassett, Cropwell Bishop, Hungarton, Long Clawson and Saxelbye.
The only current dairy producing Stilton elsewhere, at Hartington in Derbyshire , owes this fact to a native of the Vale who bought the dairy over a century ago.
To be called blue Stilton, a cheese must:
Be made only in the three counties from local milk, which is pasteurised before use.
Be made only in a traditional cylindrical shape.
Be allowed to form its own crust or coat.
Be un-pressed.
Have delicate blue veins radiating from the centre.
Have a "taste profile typical of Stilton".
Stilton has a typical fat content of: 35%, and protein content of : 23%.
Danish Blue is made in a similar way to Stilton and also possesses the distinctive blue veins.
Stichelton is a very similar cheese, but is made with un-pasteurised milk.
Stilton consumption
Blue Stilton is often eaten with celery .
It is also commonly added as a flavouring to vegetable soup , most notably to cream of celery or broccoli.
Alternatively it is eaten with various crackers , biscuits and bread.
Traditionally, port is drunk with blue Stilton .
The cheese is traditionally eaten at Christmas .
The rind of the cheese is rarely eaten due to its bitter flavour , and the fact that it may contain anti-moulding agents or have been handled without gloves during its manufacture
White Stilton has not had the Penicillium roqueforti mould introduced into it , which would otherwise lead to the blue veining normally associated with Stilton.
It is often blended with other materials such as dried fruit and has even been used as the flavouring for chocolate.
Huntsman cheese is made with both blue Stilton and Double Gloucester.
A whole Stilton is 9 inches high and 8 inches across (23 x 20 cm) with a crinkly brown rind.
The habit of spooning the cheese out of the centre and then pouring port in, to keep it moist still persists, some say that this ruins the flavour and texture of the cheese, which really ought to be firm and creamy white with a clean network of blue veins.
It is far better to slice Stilton horizontally, then to keep it wrapped, in the fridge.
At full maturity (six months) Stilton should be rich and mellow with a sharp, salty aftertaste.
The young version, white Stilton , has not developed a mould and is mild and crumbly. |