Supplier Spotlight - Times Past Cheeses

Times Past Cheeses

Times Past Cheese Dairy are one of the only remaining cheese dairy in the Cheddar Valley who are still making unpasteurised, rinded, traditional Cheddar Cheese in the time honoured way, all the year round.

They sell via their cheese via the shop located in the main high street in Cheddar Gorge or via their website: http://www.timespastcheesedairy.co.uk/

We chose to make a day trip to the famous cheddar gorge, to take in the beautiful sites created by Mother Nature. Of course I mean the sheer rock faces on either side of the gorge, but also to observe the way man combines with Mother Nature in creating a fermented block of milk proteins, which we typically call raw cheese. Having driven through the gorge and been impressed by the natural rock formations, we drove through the small main street of Cheddar town. This is where Times Past have their main shop. Actually their dairy is in the nearby village of Draycott, but they retail from the Cheddar valley. Although there is plenty of 'cheese' presence within the town I was a little disappointed to see how commercial the cheese industry has become within the town, the original source of cheddar cheese perhaps the most famous type of cheese in the Western world.

It was great to see that Times Past allowed you to sample every variety of cheese on offer prior to purchasing. With so many to choose from it is a good thing. Draycott blue, mustard and ale, smoked, garlic with peppers and Mexican were some of the cheeses worth trying. After making a quick inquiry I was able to speak with Janice Webber the co-owner of the cheese dairy. Janice was very friendly and very willing to talk about the production of their cheese.

All of the milk used to make their cheeses is sourced locally, within a 20 mile radius of the dairy. This comes from Somerset based farms and to be honest the farming standards in Somerset are generally very high. The greater majority of cattle in the UK are now pasture fed during the summer months and Times Past draws from farms who grass feed through the summer. This is important as it affects the nutrition quality of the resulting milk and therefore any dairy products made from that milk. Although their milk does not carry an organic label it was still apparent that integrity and pride in their finished product certainly helps to maintain the quality of the cheese. Now most of the cheese sold by Times Past is made from pasteurised milk. The cheddar is made as normal then grated, herbs or other added ingredients used to flavour the cheese and then it is pressed again to form it into a large block ready for packaging as retail. As it comes from local quality milk this will still have a reasonable standard of nutrition associated with it and would certainly map to the 'good' on our rating system. But the real reason we travelled to the shop was to talk about their unpasteurised mature cheddar cheese made in the old fashioned way!

Times Past receive locally sourced unpasteurised milk to make their crowning cheese. The milk is first separated into curds and whey. The curds are then cut and stacked, turning regularly to allow the remaining moisture to drain away, a process known a 'cheddaring' which is essential to develop the right characterisitics in the cheese. Usually the curds are then placed into moulds for a further few days. Then they are wrapped in a traditional cheese cloth to seal the cheese from the outside air. This is essential to ensure the cheese does not 'go off' before it is eaten. Janice informed me this will only happen if air gets beyond the outer rind. The cheese 'truckles' as they are called (see picture below) are then turned upside down almost daily initially but then about every couple of weeks after this whilst they are matured for flavour. Times Past mature their unpasteurised cheese for 12 months each. They have found many consumers prefer the stronger, richer flavour from a mature cheese.

Later in the day I was fascinated to learn during a tour of the Gough caves within the mountains of the cheddar gorge the secret behind the success of cheddar cheese. It turns out in the 1800's when they were diggin out the mountains and discovering the caverns contained within they used the cool damp conditions within the caves to store the cheese. This apparently provided virtually ideal conditions for maturing the cheese and helped develop the great taste that made cheddar such a reknowned source! Unfortunately the rats worked this out too and so in order to have more sanitary conditions they built cheese storage rooms that sought to mimic the caves environment. So the cheddar gorge is a beautiful, natural terrain that made a beautiful natural cheddar so good it became famous.

So next time you enjoy the taste of a truly traditional piece of cheddar (unpasteurised of course) as you appreciate the sensation on your palate rest assured that a year's worth of time, effort and skill have been the provider for such a moment. A labour of love.