Bodnant Rolls Out Smoked Cheese

Abermwg, a hand-tended cheese made from cow’s milk, is cold-smoked over beech and oak chips at Chirk Trout Farm and Food Smokery.

Chris Morton, managing director of Bodnant Welsh Food Centre said, “This is another successful story for our on-site dairy, and a great way to start 2015. Feedback from our customers who have been sampling the cheese has been very positive and so we are now going into full production. We’ve got more innovations in the coming months, so we will be keeping the dairy very busy.”

Debbie Leviseur, cheese sales and marketing manager at Bodnant Welsh Food said, “We could see that there was room in the market for an artisan smoked cheese – the Aberwen is perfect because it is firm and creamy and so it takes up the smoking flavours easily.

“The name was a simple choice – our cheeses are all called Aber, which means river mouth in Welsh as we overlook the River Conwy estuary, and Mwg is smoke in Welsh.

“We have had samples on sale here at Bodnant Farm Shop plus it’s been on offer in our tea-rooms and Hayloft restaurant. We have also made it available to some of the independent delicatessens, farm shops and restaurants that we supply around Wales and other parts of the UK. Their feedback has helped us to develop the cheese and we are now making more and more as it gets better known.

“Here at Bodnant our aim is to promote Welsh food and so I wanted a Welsh smokery to produce the new cheese, rather than adding flavourings. Initially I contacted the fish farm to sell our present range of cheese, as it has a farm shop, then realised that it would be the perfect place for making the new smoked cheese.”

Richard Simpson, owner of Chirk Trout Farm and Food Smokery said, “We supply many restaurants, butchers and food companies – for example, our smoked fish is served up on the Orient Express – and we started the smokery side a few years back.

“The Abermwg is a lovely cheese, and takes to the smoking process really well. It goes into our smokebox over a fire fed by a blend of mainly oak, ash and beech chips, from up the valley in Glyn Ceiriog, for the best flavour.

“The warm, smoky air gently dries and preserves the food. This takes two to three days and is where the skill and experience comes in as conditions outside – wind, temperature or sunshine – have to be taken into account

“We only use traditional methods to ensure the best results and the real taste of properly smoked foods, rather than the artificial smoked flavours used in processed foods.”