the cheese scene...

It just keeps getting better - the cheese scene in Cumbria that is. We've got Thornby Moor who hand-make one of the county's favourite farmhouse cheeses in both smoked and unsmoked form. If it's goats cheese or blue cheese you are after then try Wardhall Dairy, they create a really fantastic selection, with some wonderful soft, fresh cheeses too.

Then we've got the Lake District Cheese Company who cater for those that want a cheddar cheese, and the Cumberland Dairy who have Blengdale Blue and Keldthwaite Gold, both of which are used in numerous recipes by local chefs. More famous for his wild boar, Peter Gott from Sillfield Farm also makes cheese, you can get this in his new farm shop at Endmoor, online from his website or by visiting him at Borough Market in London. Peter uses a Westmorland recipe from the 1920's when cheese was made at Sillfield, he creates Westmorland original and Westmoreland mature and also adds herbs and spices to create a variety called Cheese Wonders. His son Martin is another cheese maker, at the Holker Farm dairy, using milk sheep from the Lacaune breed of sheep. This cheese is available in only a few locations, including Neales Yard in London, the Holker food hall, Artisan in Booths, Kendal and at Low Sizergh Barn farm shop.

One cheese that you'll have a really hard time getting hold of, unless you travel to Wasdale, is a cheese called Lingmell, made in Murt. This is from a tiny dairy that produces limited quantities of handmade cheeses. This particular one is made from unpasturised Cumbrian ewe's milk. Murt is situated between Nether Wasdale and Wastwater, the latter being famous for providing Britain's favourite view, and being home to its smallest church, highest mountain and deepest lake. So it's well worth the trip to get your hands on some of this delicious cheese. I found some in the great Bridge End Farm shop at Santon Bridge.

Content and photography supplied by www.artisan-food.com, funded by Distinctly Cumbrian.