FERNDALE CHEESES
Our cheese is made using fresh whole raw milk – it gives the cheese a more distinctive, unique flavour; by using unpasteurised milk we are making better use of the natural flavours and properties of the milk
| All the milk which goes into the cheese comes from one nearby farm – Abbey Farm in Binham
– so that we can be sure that the milk is of a consistent top standard and the cows are kept to excellent welfare standards. We are proud that our cheese helps support a well-run Norfolk dairy farm through increasingly uncertain times in the dairy industry. If you visit the picturesque village of Binham, it is easy to spot the cows – they graze the land surrounding the 11th century priory.
All cheeses are made by hand using traditional methods – Norfolk Dapple, Carrow and Ruby are cloth-wrapped for protection after being made. This ensures the cheeses develop a distinctive dappled rind and firm texture with delicate flavour notes in the body of the cheese. While they mature, our Norfolk Tawny cheeses are turned by hand every single day, and roughly once a week are given a wash in a strong ale. We have experimented with many different ales for this in the past, and only a handful of beers create the correct rind, needing to be strong, full-bodied, and thick to produce the correct surface. We are lucky to have some excellent microbreweries in the region who can provide us with the right ales for the job. The cheese is non-alcoholic though!
We currently produce:
Norfolk Dapple
The original, usually aged 4-6 months in our ageing room Norfolk Tawny Award winning semi-soft raw milk cheese, the surface of which is beer-washed with a strong Norfolk ale. Smoked Dapple Smoked for at least 12 hours on the farm Ruby Dapple* Marbled with port and typically aged for around 9 months Norfolk Carrow* Flavoured with mustard seeds Smoked Dapple Dumplings* A popular special, just for shows and events. Cheese is double-smoked with garlic. Mature Norfolk Dapple* Sealed in a distinctive red wax, these small truckles of Dapple are aged for much longer than usual and boast a much stronger flavour. Look out for these from around May 2016 onwards…. *Cheeses marked with a star are subject to availability. Norfolk Dapple, Norfolk Tawny and Smoked Dapple are available all through the year. |
Call Ferndale Farm on
01263 577 640
to find out where you can sample our Norfolk Dapple cheeses.