Best East Midlands Natural Rind Cheese Types
Shropshire Blue is a British blue cheese produced in Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk and is best described as a cross between Cheshire and Stilton. Shropshire Blue ages from 10 to 12 weeks and develops a natural rind that hides a creamy and smooth texture of the carrot-colored body with blue veining throughout.
The orange color comes from annatto. The aromas are strong and rich, while the flavors are intense, sharp, tangy, creamy, and full. It's recommended to pair it with a glass of Pinot Noir or Riesling.
Pair with
THE BEST Shropshire Blue Cheeses
Colston Bassett & District Dairy
Colston Bassett Shropshire Blue
International Cheese Awards - Gold 2024
Lincolnshire poacher is an English hard cheese made with raw milk from Holstein cows. This cylindrical cheese is usually matured for 14 to 16 months. Its texture is open and smooth, while the flavors are strong, rich, fruity, sweet, and nutty.
It is recommended to pair it with beer or full-bodied reds and whites.
Cote Hill Blue is an English cheese hailing from Lincolnshire. The cheese is made from raw cow's milk. Underneath its natural rind, the texture is soft and creamy (sometimes even runny), with blue veins running throughout the paste. The aromas are strong, while the flavors are salty, sharp, smooth, peppery, and buttery.
It's recommended to use Cote Hill Blue in various dishes such as lasagne or baked potatoes. The cheese has also won many awards, including Super Gold at the 2014 World Cheese Awards.
Dovedale is a cylindrical, blue veined soft cheese made from cow's full fat milk from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, with a smooth texture and clean, distinctive flavor. It is ready for consumption after three to four weeks of ripening and is known as the mildest of British blue cheeses.
Dovedale goes well with figs and pancetta and baked in a tart, or used in Yorkshire pudding. Instead of being dry salted like most British cheeses, it is soaked in brine to add the sodium.
Red Windsor is a traditional cheese produced by Long Clawson dairy in the Vale of Belvoir, Leicestershire. This cheddar cheese is made from cow's milk and it's laced with Bordeaux wine or a combination of brandy and port, resulting in a visually attractive marbled look, as well as a nice mix of flavors – there's the booziness and fruitiness of port and brandy and a creaminess typical of cheddar.
The rind is natural, and the texture is firm, creamy, and crumbly. It is recommended to pair Red Windsor with port and grapes.
Pair with
Stichelton is an English blue cheese produced in Nottinghamshire by Joe Schneider. The cheese is made from raw cow's milk and animal rennet, in the same manner as the traditional Blue Stilton. Due to the fact that Stilton is protected, the cheesemakers decided to name their cheese Stichelton, which is derived from the old English stichl, meaning a style, and tun, meaning village.
This village-style cheese is semi-soft and creamy in texture, while the flavors are buttery, nutty, sweet and spicy, with rich aromas and notes of caramel and apples.
Pair with
Huntsman is an unusual English cheese produced by Long Clawson Dairy Limited. It consists of two classic cheeses – Double Gloucester and Stilton – both of them made from pasteurized cow's milk. The layering is done by hand, and there are versions that come in 5 layers (3 Double Gloucester, 2 Stilton) or 3 layers (2 Double Gloucester and 1 Stilton).
The cheese is assembled like a layer cake, and Stilton is always on the inside, while Double Gloucester is on the exterior. Huntsman looks incredible on a cheese platter, and the contrasting textures and flavors create a delicious blend. Dense, yet creamy, salty and sharp, yet nutty, Huntsman is great when melted over steaks and hamburgers, but it can also be sliced and used in salads.
Pair with
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.