Caerphilly and Neal's Yard in London

We arrived in London tired from New York, and our friends Hayley & Dave welcomed us with a selection of cheeses from the Borough Market.  Including an Italian cheese soaked in red wine, a nice French traditional mixed rind white mould cheese, and most excitingly for us, some Caerphilly.  Neither of us had tried Caerphilly before, and didn't really have a high expectation, as from photos it appears quite acidic and dry in the centre.  

Cheese #10 - Gorwydd Caerphilly.

This particular cheese is made from unpasteurised cow's milk by Trethowan's Dairy Ltd in Wales.  We thought this was a very nice cheese.  The centre is clean, acidic, but not overly acidic, and the salt was a little stronger than expected which seemed to help balance it all out.  It is a little crumbly in the centre, i.e. the texture we associate with a quite low pH cheese, but this does become creamy and moist in the mouth.  Closer to the rind the cheese has a creamier texture and a little more flavour.  This was delicious on a cracker, with some New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc!  A pretty good start to being in London. 

Neal's Yard Dairy

A few days later, we were very lucky to be able to visit the Neal's Yard Dairy railway arch maturing facility in Bermondsey, thanks to David Lockwood from Neal's Yard, who we met at the cheese show in Madison, Wisconsin.  It was very interesting to see so many UK & Irish cheeses being cared for - and interesting to try some of the more modern but local cheeses we had not heard of before.  We have also visited both of the Neal's Yard shops (Borough Market and Covent Garden) and were impressed with the way the cheese in these shops is the "hero" and not all crammed into some glass chillers.  

   

Gorwydd Caerphilly