Gloucester cheese
Gloucester | |
---|---|
Gloucester cattle | |
Pasteurised | Traditionally no |
Texture | semi-hard |
Aging time | 36 weeks |
Certification | Single Gloucester: PDO |
Named after | Gloucester |
Related media on Commons |
Gloucester is a traditional, semi-hard
In the United Kingdom today, Double Gloucester is more widely sold. Both types are produced in round shapes, but Double Gloucester rounds are larger. Traditionally whereas the Double Gloucester was a prized cheese comparable in quality to the best Cheddar or Cheshire, and was exported out of the county, Single Gloucester tended to be consumed within Gloucestershire.
Most Double Gloucester sold in UK supermarkets is slab cheese, made in large
Revival of Farmhouse Gloucester
Manufacture of traditional Gloucester cheeses from the Gloucester cow died out in the 1950s along with most of the Gloucester cattle.
Variations
Double Gloucester is often blended with other ingredients. One variety made by blending with
Huntsman cheese, also known as Stilchester, is made with alternating layers of Double Gloucester and Stilton.
Origin of double and single names
The reason for the two types of Gloucester cheese being called 'double' and 'single' is not known. The main theories are:
- because the creamy milk had to be skimmed twice to make the double variety, or
- because cream from the morning milk was added to the evening milk, or
- because a Double Gloucester cheese is typically twice the height.[9][10]
Cheese-rolling
Double Gloucester cheese is also used every spring for the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake, in which competitors chase a cheese down a steep Gloucestershire hillside; the first person to reach the bottom of the 50% gradient, 200 yards (180 m) slope wins the cheese.[11]
References
- ^ a b Pearce, Pam (2 May 2018). "Say cheese - the history of Double Gloucester and Single Gloucester". GloucestershireLive. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Charles Martell & Son - Cheesemakers and Distillers". www.charlesmartell.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - The Food Programme, A Taste of Britain: Revisited". BBC. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Artisan Single and Double Gloucester Cheese". Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ^ "Charles Martell & Son - History of the Company and Farming in Gloucestershire". www.charlesmartell.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
- ISSN 0262-4079.
For cheese manufacturers, from some dying pressure of conscience perhaps, have taken to adding substances to cheese to give some counterfeit of flavour. For example, we now have Cotswold, a cheese with chives in it.
- ISBN 9780890096628,
Background: This is one of several new varieties of English cheese flavoured with various additives. Description: Cotswold is a version of the traditional English cheese Double Gloucester with chives added. It has the smooth, mellow taste of the typical Gloucester with the chives imparting a fragrant, delicate, oniony flavour.
- ^ "Cotswold Cheese". Gourmet-food.com. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2013.
- ^ "Under the Spotlight: Double Gloucester". Belton Farm. 22 January 2019. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ Pearce, Pam (17 May 2017). "The difference between Double Gloucester and Single Gloucester cheese". Gloucestershire Live. Archived from the original on 22 April 2021. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
- ^ "The Official Site of Cheese Rolling". Cheese-rolling.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 March 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013.