The cheeses that I love: Tracey Johnson

What are the favourite cheeses of Canada-based expert Tracey Johnson of cheeseneeds.com? Read on to find out.

Chällerhocker, Casieri Tufertschwill

If I could only eat one cheese for the rest of my life it would be this one. Walter Rass works single-handedly to create this masterpiece of an Alpine washed-rind cheese and it’s a solid favourite among mongers and consumers alike. It starts grassy and fresh with a shift to brothy umami and condensed milk creaminess for the finish. It’s a tough cheese to find where I live, but it’s well worth the extra effort. See also Wallykase, Walter’s new appenzeller style cheese which is utterly fabulous as well.

Rachel, White Lake Cheese

I recently spoke to Roger Longman about his process for this beautiful goats’ milk cheese because it has none of the lipase tang that some goat cheeses can include (which can make them less popular with the masses). It’s bright, fresh and sweet with a caramel nuttiness that really astounds me. I keep going back for more.

Shropshire Knight, The Rennet Works

This blue cheese is a relative newcomer but will knock your socks off! Matthew Lloyd is a multi-award winning cheesemaker. This blue cow’s milk cheese is exceptional at a very early age. It took gold at the recent British and Irish Cheese awards and made it all the way to the final super jury. Also named the best blue overall. It’s creamy without compromising the structure, good blue veining is consistent throughout and the salt level is spot on.

Hornbacher, Michael Spycher

This cheese consistently blows my mind. It tastes just like a baked potato! There is a roasted nut flavour to begin with and a hint of wild onion on the finish. Another reason I can’t wait to head back to Switzerland at my earliest opportunity.
A perfect example of an Alpine style cheese and World Cheese Award winner, for a reason.

Baron Bigod, Fen Farm Dairy

This cheese was my Eleanor. I searched high and low for it. You don’t realise just how good you have it here in the UK when it comes to excellent quality cheese and available expertise. I finally found some this past weekend and it immediately went to the top of my list in terms of bloomy rinded cheeses. Easily rivalling the old masters from France, Baron Bigod is fresh and zesty with a very subtle rind with notes of vegetable and mushroom, there is almost a petrichor to it which blows my mind.

Five Brothers, Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese

I first tried this Ontario made cheese a couple of years ago and I keep going back to it. An excellent example of consistently delivering great flavour. I’ve never had an ordinary bite, it’s always extraordinary. A washed-rind cow’s milk cheese that’s somewhere between Gouda and Appenzeller with all the best parts of both. It starts creamy and rich and ends on a sweet buttery finish. I especially love the more open texture as it really enhances the mouthfeel.

Clothbound Cheddar, Quicke’s

There’s a Quicke’s cheddar to suit every palate, from mild and buttery, to intense and earthy, to sharp and vivacious. Cheddar is a British staple and they do it so well. The family have been farming this land since Henry VIII bestowed it upon them, with cheese only a recent addition to the farm operation (1970s). Over 500 years of animal husbandry and soil conservation have gone into this cheese and it shows.

Lincolnshire Poacher, Lincolnshire Poacher Cheese

Simon Jones takes milk from his family farm and transforms it patiently into a masterpiece of a cheese. Another Alpine style cheese, the curd is cooked to drive out more whey which leads to a sweet fruity finish. Try it at 15 months and at three years and you will get an instant education on the changes that ageing cheese can make. Both are good, but so very different.

Humboldt Fog, Cypress Grove Cheese

This Californian bloomy rind cheese is best known for its visually distinctive layer of ash through the centre, when actually the paste is the real star. The minerality is perfectly balanced between the chalky centre and gooey creamline just peeking out under the rind. A gateway bloomy for those who are nervous of ‘mouldy cheese’.

Rockweed, Lakin’s Gorges Cheese

This World Cheese Award winner is a briny bloomy rind cheese with a layer of powdered seaweed that balances the creaminess of the paste with earthy notes on the rind. Best enjoyed oozy and decadent at room temperature with crusty bread and a glass of Sauternes.

Photo credit: Jeff Gruending, precision FX, Canada