Perl Wen: Little Brie From Wales

Cheese Atlas — Sat, 20 Jun 2020 00:23:36 +0000

About Perl Wen

Perl Wen (Welsh for White Pearl) is a soft cheese made by Caws Cenarth Cheese in Wales using a recipe loosely inspired by brie and their original cheese, Caerphilly.

In 1987, the Welsh government instated milk quotas on local farmers. In response to this, Gwynfor and Thelma Adams founded Caws Cenarth to start making cheese with their milk.

How Perl Wen is made

In order to do this, they drew on a six-generation heritage of cheesemaking on their family farm, Glyneithinog. Actually, the farm is located in the picturesque and lush valley of the river Cych.

In very little time, Thelma quickly rose to prominence in the resurgence of Welsh artisan cheesemaking. And Caws Cenarth swiftly acquired a reputation for its creamy, fresh-flavoured Caerphilly.

Nowadays, Gwynfor and Thelma take a back seat in the business, enabling their son Carwyn to pursue his love for making new cheeses.

More than just Caerphilly

In recent years, Carwyn has developed new cheeses, including the Brie-like Perl Wen, Perl Las, a creamy blue, and Golden Cenarth, a washed-rind cheese.

Our featured Perl Wen is a wonderful and unique hybrid between a regular Brie and a Caerphilly. Indeed, it is one of Wales’s most popular soft cheeses. Moreover, this bloomy white cheese gets its soft centre from their farmhouse Caerphilly recipe. In addition to this, the recipe gives it a fresh citrous flavour with a dash of sea salt.

Beneath the white rind, the cheese becomes creamy and buttery in texture as it ripens.

How to serve Perl Wen

Enjoy close to its Best Before Date if you prefer your soft cheeses runny rather than with a young gritty quality.

Ideal in a summer baguette or melted in a Panini with cured ham or bacon. Bake in pastry parcel with a little of your favourite chutney. Very moreish on a cheese board.

This Welsh wonder pairs beautifully with caramelised onions and a crisp Sauvignon Blanc.

Thank you for reading

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Hafod

Cheese Atlas — Sun, 17 May 2020 04:21:30 +0000

Cheddar, done the Welsh way

Hafod is a clothbound cheddar made from raw cow’s milk by the Holden family on their organic farm, Bwlchwernen Fawr. Remarkably, the milk from their own herd of 75 Ayrshire cows is rich and creamy and perfect for cheesemaking.

Indeed, it all starts with the name. Hafod is a Welsh word that means summer pasture. And looking after the pasture is key to producing the highest quality cow’s milk from their herd.

A slow cheddaring process

Unsurprisingly, the cheesemaker uses traditional century-old methods which involve slow cheddaring. For starters, they add a yoghurt culture to the milk and leave the sheets of curd to sit until evening. Come evening, they start milling.

Overall, this slow process produces elastic, silky and smooth curds which have a deep buttery aroma. Afterwards, the cheesemaker salts the curds and packs them into cloth-lined cylinders to be pressed.

The resulting 10kg and 18kg rounds are matured for a minimum of 10 months. At this age, they develop a mouldy rind around a rich and buttery golden pâte. Moreover, the cheese’s aroma is reminiscent of hay and the flavour grassy and nutty, with a hint of onion.

It is quite common for the cheese to contain naturally occurring blue veins which add a bit of character and depth of flavour.

How to pair Hafod

Enjoy this Welsh wonder with a fruity, malty Pale Ale.

The post Hafod appeared first on Cheese Atlas.

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