Food File - Down your local
PubChef's regular focus on local produce.
Shepherds Purse Cheeses
Who are they: This family-run company was established in 1989 by Judy Bell, who recognised a niche for sheep milk products for people allergic to normal dairy products. The business, which started in Judy's farmhouse kitchen, now supplies to the likes of Harvey Nichols, Tesco, and British Airways. Based near Thirsk in North Yorkshire, all the cheeses are handmade using locally sourced milk.
The products: Yorkshire Feta, made from 100% ewe's milk, is less salty than Continental varieties. Shepherd's Purse Buffalo Blue is handmade from locally-sourced water buffalo milk (yes, it's true) and is soft and creamy in texture. Mrs Bells Blue is made from 100% ewe's milk and has a won gold medal at the World Cheese Awards and was voted Cheese of the Year by the BBC Good Food magazine. Other products include Shire Blue Organic, Byland Blue and Yorkshire Blue. The latest launch is Katy's White Lavender, a fresh ewe's milk cheese that is marinated with lavender.
Katie Bell, the company's sales and marketing manager, says: "The uses and benefits of lavender have been appreciated for thousands of years and we felt it was the ideal partner for our ewe's milk cheese, which is low in fat, easier to digest than cow's milk products and can be eaten by allergy sufferers and vegetarians." The cheese is ideal for cheeseboards, crumbled in salads, cooked in quiches, or drizzled with balsamic vinegar.
Serving suggestions: Yorkshire Feta, rocket and nectarine salad, beef with Yorkshire Blue and Whisky sauce, Byland Blue soufflé or Buffalo Blue & tomato tart with a pineapple pesto dressing or Mrs Bell's Blue Cheese soup with sweet potato and chilli. All recipes are available at www.shepherdspurse.co.uk
As used by: Rick Stein, Brian Turner, Paul Gayler, Andrew Nutter, Andrew Pern at the Star Inn, Harome, and Phillip Usher, head chef at the Ivy.
Contact information: 01845 587220 or Cheese Cellar 0207 010600
