A really unique sheeps milk cheese: hard with a dense, compressed texture and a very distinctive, earthy taste. If you want to try something new and full of character, this might be the one! Tala was originally made by Hans and Heather White near Launceston. When they decided to give up, Tala was in danger of becoming an orphan, which is when the Minsons, of Menallack Farm near Penryn, took it over (see below).
Please note that ewes' milk cheese is seasonal, so Tala isn't quite as available as ost of our other cheeses. If in doubt, contact us to see what the situation is.
Vegetarian
More about Menallack Farm and its cheeses
John was a telecom engineer who lived all over (La Paz, the Yemen ...) before retiring to Cornwall with his wife Caryl in the 1980s. Inspired by a cheesmaker they'd met in Wales, Caryl started making cheese at Menallack, originally using milk from their own herd. At that time there were only three cheesemakers in Cornwall! Until her death in 2007, Caryl was the driving force at Menallack, and became an inpsiration to others wanting to tread a similar path.
Today Menallack is run by John with the help of right-hand-woman Jess (though he'd put it the other way around!). When you arrive at the farm there's a shop to your left, the cheese room itself to the right, and in the middle is the generous granite farmhouse. All in all seven people work here turning out - wait for it - sixteen different cheeses. That's the amazing thing! Unlike other makers who concentrate on one type of cheese, perhaps with a couple of variations, Menallack make hard cheese, soft cheese, blue cheese, flavoured cheeses, and use every sort of milk you can think of. Alright, not beaver. But everything else!
Click on the small picture to see the view from Menallack Farm!
