We were delighted this month to welcome several new members & also the pleasure of hosting Selina Prescott, CFWI Chair.
Details were shared of an autumn craft workshop to be held on 12th October, ghost tour of Chester on 25th October, jigsaw race on 18th November, Clean River campaign on 22 September, open house at Whitefriars, Chester in November & December & also requests for help with archiving at Whitefriars. The CFWI Autumn meeting will be held at the Storyhouse Theatre, Chester on Wednesday 13th November. All these events are co-ordinated by CFWI. Further info can be found at hartfordcheshirewi@gmail.com or https://cheshire.thewi.org.uk/
We were treated to both an entertaining & enlightening talk by Nick Birchall from The Cheese Shop, Nantwich. Ladies were astounded to learn Cheshire cheese is the oldest in the world predating the Romans, mainly due to the abundant supply of salt, milk, rennet & forestry (to heat fires) found in Cheshire & was the precursor to all the different cheeses now available today.
Nick gave a very informative talk on the history of cheesemaking which started as a way of preserving produce i.e. milk, (the supply of salt in Cheshire being advantageous),moving on to the Reformation when King Henry VIII abolished the monasteries in England & monks were forced to flee abroad, several of them to Roquefort, France. As cheese needs a specific consistent climate to mature, the monks struck upon the idea to store it in the caves in Roquefort. Within the caves was a natural blue mould, Penicillium Roqueforti which infiltrated the cheese, but as food was scarce they could not afford to be fussy & ate it anyway – et voila blue cheese was invented ! Soon the production of cheese spread across Europe with each country/region having its own specialities.
Having learnt about the history of cheesemaking, Nick then advised ladies on the best way to store cheese. He recommends storing it at the bottom of the fridge either wrapped in its own wax paper wrapping or tightly in clingfilm (not foil!!) to prevent air spoiling it. He also recommends taking the cheese out of the fridge about 30 minutes before eating it to experience optimum taste. There are many different cheeses available nowadays but a few Nick recommended to pair would be Cheshire cheese with apples, Wensleydale with fruit cake & Lincolnshire with plum bread.
The best part of Nicks talk was yet to come ! We were all treated to taste three fantastic artisan cheeses he had brought with him.
A traditional Cheshire cheese made from milk from cows at the Bourne family’s farm in Malpas. From a long established family of cheesemaking dating back to the 17th century, this cheese was truly delightful & highly recommended. All the ladies who tasted it were wondering where the wine was to go with it !!
Crabtree cheese, from Anne Clayton’s farm using milk from her own cattle, again in Malpas. This artisan hand made cheese again was highly recommended & as the name suggests has a tang of crab apples in its taste.
Burts Blue, made by Claire Burt & Tom Partridge at the Bidlea Dairy near Holmes Chapel. This was a very creamy semi soft blue cheese & again enjoyed by all the ladies tasting it.
For further information please visit: https://www.cheeseshopnantwich.co.uk/
Hartford W.I. Cheshire 