TALKING CHEESE: CLAIRE BURT - CHEESEMAKER

The Mighty Cheeseboard recently caught up with Claire Burt - who makes the excellent Burt's Blue (Mighty Cheeseboards review of Burts Blue) - here's what she had to tell us:

Hi Claire, thanks for taking time to answer a few questions for the Mighty Cheeseboard. 

Can you tell us a bit about how you got into the world of cheese making?

Burt's Cheese started out life in January 2009 as a ‘hobby’ on the kitchen table. I was working for an Irish Dairy co-operative and during me career there studied at Reaseheath College and also gained experience working with other cheese & food companies.

In between starting a family, I decided to leave my career at Dairygold Food Ingredients and set up Burt’s Cheese and with help from the local authorities, such 'Made in Cheshire', Business Link and Environmental Health I first made at home and began supplying individually made cheeses to her local farm shop and deli.

In 2010, I proudly won the Specialist Cheese-Makers Class for Blue Cheese at the International Cheese Show in nantwich and decided to turn the hobby into a business and scale-up production and by the end of 2010 Burt's Cheese moved into premises, situated in Altrincham.

Today Burt's Blue Cheese is an award winning Cheese (International Cheese Show - Gold 2010, Food North West Heart Award in 2011, British cheese bronze 2012, Local Business Accelerators 2012 and most recently OFM best producer 2013) produced using local pasteurized milk, each cheese is hand crafted, either as a 'mini' round 180g, individually wrapped or as a 'larger' wheel typically 1kg. It is listed in Farm Shops around Cheshire, specialists Cheese Shops, and distributed by a local specialist Wholesaler to some of the top restaurants in the NorthWest and we are now developing sales outside the northwest.

Burt’s Cheese continues to grow and has recently moved to new premises end of last year and developing another cheese with more in the pipe line, we have doubles the workforce in taking someone on and we try and focus on producing high quality handcrafted cheeses using only the best local ingredients.

What have been your highs and lows so far in your career as a cheesemaker?

There have been many highs and lows, and we still have highs and lows, I think winning Observer Food Monthly was definite high, it's like a big pat on the back for all the hard work and it was a great night out in London! There have been plenty of lows as a small business everything is very real and it's not just been about the cheese-making, starting a business is hard and it's still has it's challenges.

Other than your own, what cheeses would make it onto your cheeseboard of choice?

Rachel stunning cheese, saint vernier, it's just beautiful and feels very indulgent, wyfe of Bath, love the complexity of the flavours 

Burts Blue has won many awards and now with the addition of Drunken Burt, you seem to be impressing a lot of food critics & cheese fans. Is there anyone who has surprised you who has said they have enjoyed your cheese?  

To be honest it makes me very happy when a customers emails, tweets that they like Burt's Cheese I just want to make good cheese that people enjoy, of the high profile customers, I feel very proud that Tom Kerrridge originally took Burt's Blue and now has Drunken Burt on his cheese board at the hand and flowers and then when I looked at the judges for the 2013 OFM awards I still struggle to think, they voted for Burt's Cheese.   

What 3 words would you choose to describe Burts Blue to someone who has never tasted it?

That's hard ... Modern British Blue or 

Approachable, buttery notes, (slightly) salty (almost 3?!)

Can you recommend a good wine you would choose to pair up with a good wedge of Burts Blue?

A sweet Greek wine called Samos pairs really well.

You added Drunken Burt to your cheese production last year, do you have any other variations/new cheeses in development?

Yes we're are playing with wrapping a washed cheese in vine leaves, going to start tasting it the markets and get some feedback but feedback so far is good.

  

Finally, if you could choose any celebrity to promote your cheese, who would you pick and why?

Just finished watching Breaking Bad, it would have to be Walter White, he's good at sales!

TALKING CHEESE: THE OLD CHEESE SHOP HARTINGTON

 

Our new feature "Talking Cheese" starts with an interview with Claire Milner from the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington, Derbyshire.

Hi Claire, thanks for agreeing to talk to The Mighty Cheeseboard, how long have you been running the Old Cheese Shop in Hartington for?
Exactly 3 years. We bought the shop at auction when Long Clawson shut their dairy in the village. The shop had been their factory outlet and has been established for over 30 years.

What made you decide to make the leap from cheese fan to cheese shop owner?

Love cheese - what more can I say! And we couldn't see such a fabulous little shop close. It has such a history to it.

What Cheeses are your biggest sellers in the shop?

Definitely all the blue cheeses. We sell tonnes and tonnes of stilton.

What would you put as your own personal favourites?

Again blue cheeses but you can't beat a good extra mature cheddar either. Quickes is up there amongst the best!

I notice that aswell as running the cheese shop you are also involved with making cheese as part of the creamery - how did that come about & are you enjoying getting involved and the process of cheese making?

Two ex employees from Long Clawsons (who are well known in the stilton industry) approached us in the shop to ask if we would sell their cheese if they could get a factory up and running again in the village. We were so excited and keen to help that we joined forces with them. It has taken us a long time but finally we made our first cheeses in mid October. They will be ready soon which will be great for Derbyshire people as there is no real cheese making going on in the County on a large scale and we should hopefully be accredited to make Hartington Stilton again in the new year. We will then be the only stilton producer in Derbyshire and only the 6th stilton producer in the Country.To see the whole process from start to finish and actually be hands on has been a great learning curve and has only fuelled our passion more for cheese and everything it stands for!

What cheeses are you currently making? (We'd love to sample some for review sometime)

Our first cheese will be a crumbly white cheese called Peakland White and for Christmas we will be doing a cranberry and orange version. The blue cheeses will start rolling out in January hopefully.

In a few words sum up what cheese means to you?

Gosh that is a tough question. I am just so passionate about good quality food and sourcing (and now making) local cheeses it is hard to put it into a few words. I think PASSION is just the key to everything.

Thank you Claire.

So if you ever find yourself in Hartington or nearby - please make sure you make the effort to visit Claire at the Old Cheese Shop and get buying some of the fantastic cheeses that they offer. However if you cant get to Hartington then you can always visit thier website (www.hartingtoncheeseshop.co.uk) where you can purouse the cheeses from the comfort of your own home and order online, so there's no excuse - support the independent cheese makers and cheeseshops!!!