Describing cheeses is dificult! In my struggle to do that, I may be guilty of over-using the term 'distinctive ... but when it comes to Sue Proudfoot's cheeses, that adjective definitely fits the bill! Sue's Keltic Gold has gained her a lot of attention, as a classy 'washed rind' cheese (local cider is used).
Miss Muffet and Keltic Gold are close relations, but use different starter cultures and MM doesn't have the washed rind. The result is a sweet flavoured cheese with a supple texture, definitely 'semi-soft' and somehow not what you think of as English cheese! Michael Raffael, in his recent book, talks about "a springiness and cleanness on the palate, like the best Dutch Edams and Goudas but without the synthetic feel that some of the factory varieties have" (there's the answer to describing cheese - get someone else to do it for you ...).
Vegetarian / Pasteurised
More about Sue and her cheeses
Sue had done a bit of everything - taking free range eggs around Bude in a pushchair, milk churn painting, special needs work, sheep breeding ... then one day about 10 years ago she turned to cheese. And I suppose that's when she found her vocation. Because she's come through the tough learning process as a hugely skilled cheesemaker, good enough to supply Paxton & Whitfied: good enough to supply Fortnum & Mason, and good enough to win Best Modern English Cheese at last years British Cheese Awards (for Cornish Crumbly).
Her four cheeses are closely related, with the recipe varying for each. Trelawney was the orginal - a firm farmhouse cheese that might remind you of Cheshire. Miss Muffet uses the washed rind process which produces a sweet, supple cheese. For Keltic Gold, she takes a Miss Muffet and washes its rind with Countrymans Cider (also from Cornwall) three times a week for five weeks. Tedious, but the result is a real connoisseur's cheese.
And the newest addition is Cornish Crumbly, where the curd is left much more undisturbed (i.e it's not cut or broken up into small pieces) resulting in a chalky texture and lively taste, "a bit like a creamy Lancashire", says Sue.
Originally based on the family farm - Whalesborough Farm - near Bude, success produced a need for more space, so she moved into a new dairy in 2009, but still only a few miles from home.
