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Bath Cheese 

Region of production: South-West England, Bath (Somerset).

Unpasteurized, soft cow; milk cheese. Dimensions: 8cm square, 2cm deep. Weight: 250g. Colour: cream, with white mould surface. Flavour and texture: mild, with slight acid favour, mellowing with age, creamy texture.

Bath cheese is mentioned in several late-Victorian texts. Law's Grocer's Manual (c. l895) said it was 'a noted kind of soft creamy cheese'. Conditions imposed upon farm cheese-makers during the first half of this century were unfavourable for the soft, moist category of cheese to which this belongs. It was not made for many years until the current maker revived it in the 1980s.

Unpasteurized milk from one herd of Friesian cattle is used. Starter is added to milk at about 32°C, then animal rennet, and it is allowed to coagulate. The curd is cut to encourage whey separation to begin, and the curds and when ladled into moulds placed on rush mats. The cheeses stand overnight. The surface is dry-salted, after which the cheese is left to dry 2 days at about l5°C. It is ripened in cooler conditions for 3¼ weeks. The cheese is made all year but is best in the autumn.