What is Durham Blue?:
Durham Blue is a handmade soft blue cheese made with pasteurized milk and vegetarian rennet. The cheeses are not pressed but drain under their own weight overnight then pierced by hand to encourage the blue mold to grow during the maturing period.
What Makes Durham Blue Special?:
Durham Blue won the Tesco Cheese Challenge in 2008 for best blue cheese.
"The cheese is soft and creamy but with a lovely blue sharpness coming through. Durham Blue is tremendously versatile. It sits beautifully on a cheeseboard but can also be used in any recipe that calls for a blue cheese," said the Tesco judges "Durham Blue is made from local Durham milk with care and love and attention to detail."
In 2009 Durham Blue looks set to be a medal winner in British Cheese Awards and is a finalist in the Country Living Magazine and Waitrose Made in Britain Awards.
"The cheese is soft and creamy but with a lovely blue sharpness coming through. Durham Blue is tremendously versatile. It sits beautifully on a cheeseboard but can also be used in any recipe that calls for a blue cheese," said the Tesco judges "Durham Blue is made from local Durham milk with care and love and attention to detail."
In 2009 Durham Blue looks set to be a medal winner in British Cheese Awards and is a finalist in the Country Living Magazine and Waitrose Made in Britain Awards.
When was the Durham Cow Cheese Company Formed?:
The Durham Cow Cheese company was formed by Julia Carmiss (with lots of support from husband Barry) in 2007. Julia had become more and more disillusioned with her banking career and, having become interested in cheese making 18 months earlier, decided it was time to give her dream a go. She set up a small cheese making production unit at her home in Newton Henry, Co. Durham and began perfecting her cheese making eventually producing the now award winning Durham Blue.
Where is the Cheese Made?:
The name of the cheese is a giveaway. The cheese is currently made in at Julia's home in Newton Henry, County Durham. Julia hand makes the cheese in her kitchen using local milk. The cheese is then matured - thanks to Barry’s DIY skill and his conversion of the garage into a chiller unit – in the garage. Happily the local Environmental Officers have been very supportive in the venture as Julia conforms strictly to all the rules and regulations, carefully balancing using her kitchen for domestic purposes and for her cheese making.
Why the name Durham Cow?:
The Durham Cow Cheese Company derived its name from the legend of the Durham Cow. Legend has it that on 995AD a roaming cow is said to have led Lindesfarne monks to the final resting place of St Cuthbert, the site where Durham Cathedral stands today.
