Stilton

Stilton blue cheese is one of seventeen PDO (protected designation of origin) English cheeses claimed by the European Union.  Stilton was first legally protected by England in 1966 and it remains the only English cheese that is trademarked.  It must legally come from one of three counties in England: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, or Nottinghamshire.  Moreover the dairy district for Stilton, the Vale de Belvoir, lies within a further well delimited "tri-county" area.  Oddly enough, the village of Stilton lies outside of this area and cannot legally produce Stilton cheese today.

Only five dairies make Stilton today.  That number has varied in recent times and has greatly diminished overall in the last two hundred years.  Written records of Stilton cheese date from 1730 and it is believed that while the village of Stilton in Huntingdon county must have produced the cheese at sometime, there is no record of it in existence.  At its website, the village, of course, promotes the connection even to the point of hosting an annual Stilton cheese rolling competition.

Stilton Blue is a pasteurized cow's milk cheese using only milk from local dairy farms.  Curds are formed into the cylindrical shape (never pressed) and rotated to naturally drain the young cheese.  After six weeks of aging, stainless steel needles puncture the naturally formed crust and inject Peniccillium Roqueforti into the core of the cheese starting the blue-green mold to radiate outward from the center.  The cheese then continues to age another three weeks minimally before it is ready to market.  All of the steps delineated above must be followed in order to produce this legally defined product.

The classic beverage complement to Stilton is port or sherry but English ale would have to be wholly appropriate.  Fresh fruit, walnuts, crackers, biscuits, and breads would also complement this centerpiece cheese and let us close with a quote from the great writer, Daniel Defoe, from 1724: "We passed Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is called our English Parmesan, and is brought to the table with mites or maggots around it, so thick that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you eat the cheese.".   M-m-m.  Pass the Port, please.

If you want to learn more about blue cheese we blogged about Bleu d"Auvergne back on November 1st of '11 and if you like what we're doing here, please become a "follower" of this site.

On Thursday March 7th from 5 to 7pm, Gail Avera of Atlanta Beverage will present an array of new wines to this venue and on Saturday March 9th from 3 to 5pm, David Hobbs of Prime Wines offers more new stuff here at ol' V&C.  Between the two, on Friday the 10th, we will have our regular weekly tasting which ain't no slouch either.  Please join us for these events. 



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