Stilton

Rightfully known as the 'King of English Cheeses', Blue Stilton takes its name from a village just south of Peterborough which was a coaching stop on the Great North Road. Recent research has revealed that a cheese called "Stilton" was made in the village in the early part of the 18th century.

 

A recipe from that time published in a newsletter suggests that this was a hard pressed, cooked, cream cheese that would have been kept for some time before being eaten. Daniel Defoe referred to the cheese as the "English Parmesan". The cheese was sold from The Bell Inn in the village and its fame spread up and down the Great North Road. The landlord of the Inn - Cooper Thornhill - was an entrepreneur and trader and sold large amounts of Stilton into the London market. Faced with growing demand he set up an agreement with a renowned cheesemaker by the name of Frances Pawlett in the village of Wymondham - not far from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire - to supply a somewhat different cheese which was also called Stilton.

 

This we believe was the forerunner of today's Blue Stilton. Production of cheese ceased in the village during the course of the 18th century and most was then subsequently made in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and then Derbyshire. How the cheese evolved from its original style to the cheese made by Frances Pawlett remains unknown.

 

For more information please go to www.stiltoncheese.com