Bill the Butcher - Renegade Monk 220 G
Title |
Price |
1 x 220g |
£6.50 |
Feltham Farm's smallholding is too small for them to milk their own herd. Instead, they buy in organic cow's milk from Bruton Dairy (who also supply the milk for Godminster cheese).
Renegade Monk is a soft, blue cheese (but not that blue) and the exterior of the cheese is then hand-rubbed with ale every couple of days, to encourage the growth of friendly bacteria and moulds on the surface that soften and sweeten the cheese and deepen the colour of the rind.
The ale they use comes from the Milk Street Brewery in Frome - so, what with the milk coming from Bruton, this is a genuine Somerset cheese
Rubbing the cheeses with alcohol is known as rind-washing, a process developed and used by monasteries across Europe since the Middle Ages - hence the 'Monk' in the cheese's name. The addition of blue (from a mould called Penicillium Roquefortii) and various other techniques they employ makes this cheese something of a hybrid - hence 'Renegade'.
In terms of taste, think of a Cambozola (itself a hybrid between Camembert and Gorgonzola) - but then imagine the outside of a Vacherin or Epoisses. To the uninitiated, it might look slightly alarming - but fear not, its bark is worse than its bite. In fact, it's creamy, yielding and delicious!
Shelf Life: 7 Days
Nut Free