Irish farmhouse cheeses are unique in their connection between producer and pasture, and with Bord Bia estimating there are over 200 different farmhouse cheeses in the country, there is plenty to choose from for your cheeseboard this Christmas.
Agriland spoke to the head of events at Blas na hÉireann, Fallon Moore about four Irish farmhouse cheeses which have been awarded gold in this year’s awards and would make the perfect cheeseboard this Christmas.
All cheeses highlighted below performed best in their category and were blind tested in a sensory analysis by a judging panel of chefs, restaurateurs, academics, journalists, authors, food champions, caterers and enthusiastic home cooks.
All winners are real “crowd pleasers” having convinced the panel of judges who scored each product, without discussion, on a scale from 0-12 on appearance, texture, aroma and flavour, which were all equally important.
St Tola Karst
Gold winner in the goats cheese category
St Tola Goat Cheese is known as one of the premium artisan products in Ireland and has been handmade on the 65ac farm in Inagh just south of the Burren in Co. Clare since 1978.
Named after the unique landscape in the Burren, St Tola Karst is a soft, ashed cheese made from its own raw milk, and has a moussey texture and a rich delicious flavour.
The cheeses were originally made by Meg and Derrick Gordon who retired in the late 1990s. The business was then taken over by their neighbour Siobhan Ni Ghairbhith in 1999.
While Siobhan has taken the business from a local industry to an internationally recognised brand, its cheese is still handmade in small batches by Inagh Farmhouse Cheese ltd.
St Tola Goat Cheese can be found all around Ireland and in the UK in shops and online. You can find out where St Tola is available in your county using the filter option on its website.
Cashel Blue
Gold winner in the blue cheese category
Named after its local historic site, The Rock of Cashel in Co. Tipperary, Cashel Blue was established in 1984, and is the original Irish farmhouse cow’s milk blue cheese.
Created by Jane and Louis Grubb in the early 1980s, Cashel Blue is still made by hand today by the second generation of Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers on the 200ac Beechmount Farm.
“Characterful but not strong”, its youngest Cashel Blue at 6-10 weeks of age is pleasant, firm and creamy-edged with an established blue character offset by a “mouth-watering tanginess”.
By three months of maturation, Cashel Blue will have broken down to a richer, fuller and rounder yet not strong flavour. From three months, a gentle touch of spice may become apparent.
Cashel Farmhouse Cheesemakers currently delivers only to Ireland and Northern Ireland. A map of cheese mongers and cheese counters that stock its cheeses is available online.
Durrus Óg
Gold winner in the soft and semi-soft category
Durrus Cheese is made by mother and daughter Jeffa Gill and Sarah Hennessy, and a small team of dairy staff in the valley of Coomkeen just outside Durrus village in west Cork.
Durrus Óg is a soft, young cheese with a thin pinkish rind that was created in 2008 while making changes to the sizes and maturity of its classic Durrus cheese.
Durrus Óg is ideal on a cheeseboard. It also melts incredibly well in cooking and offers a great alternative to French Reblochon in dishes such as tartiflette, pasta dishes, and baked tartlets.
Its cheeses have been made from milk sourced from Corney and John Buckley’s herd of Friesian cows for over three decades, and from Noel Dukelow’s herd on the shores of Dunmanus Bay.
Now in its fifth decade of producing farmhouse cheeses, Durrus Cheese is still handmade on the farm. Its cheese is available in cheese mongers and selected SuperValu and Dunnes stores.
Knockanore Allenwood cheese
Gold winner in the hard cheese (added flavour) category
Knockanore Cheese is a hard-pressed, mature farmhouse cheese handmade in cheddar style on the Lonergan family farm in Co. Waterford, using raw milk from their pedigree herd of Friesian cows.
The raw milk adopts the flavours of the local pasture on which the cows graze, producing a cheddar cheese with a complex creamy flavour, earthy tones and a nutty aroma.
The Signature Tastes Allenwood Smoked Cheddar has a balanced smoked flavour with a creamy aftertaste. It was naturally smoked by the Lonergan family in Knockanore where they have been farming for over 60 years.
Knockanore Cheese was founded by Eamonn Lonergan in 1987, and the family has been producing handmade quality cheddar cheese for nearly 40 years now.
Its cheeses can be found across Ireland in selected Dunnes and SuperValu stores as well as online. A map of independent outlets selling its cheeses can be found on its website.
Any leftovers?
Another Irish farmhouse cheese which scooped three gold awards at Blas na hÉireann 2024 for its cream cheese is Killowen Farm in Co. Wexford. The Proper Dairy Company in Co. Tipperary also won gold for its halloumi made from cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk.
The cream cheese as well as the halloumi are must haves in the fridge over Christmas, Moore said, adding that they serve well for unexpected guests and are ideal for Christmas dinner leftover recipes and baking.
Leftover roasted vegetables pan fried with halloumi for example make the perfect quick lunch, while the cream cheese comes in handy to use up all those leftover herbs, served with nice brown bread or toast, Moore said.
The St Tola goats cheese also makes a lovely topping for carrot cake. So consumers might choose to put some of the cheese aside beforehand, she said, adding that Cashel Blue also lifts up leftover mushrooms on toast for lunch.
While Durrus, St Tola, Knockanore and Cashel Blue have been established winners at Blas na hÉireann, performing consistently strong, Moore highlighted first-time winner The Lost Valley Dairy which won silver for its Carraignamuc.
Emphasising the difficulty of getting to the final stage, Moore recommends consumers to look for the Blas symbol on packs, saying “anything from the finalist up is showing that it’s gone through a really rigorous tasting process”.
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