Welsh Cheese: Types and Names of Cheeses From Wales
Welsh cheese is cheese made in Wales, and the best-known Welsh cheese is Caerphilly. It is a white, crumbly cow's milk cheese with a mild taste and a tang of lemon.
Cattle were the basis of Celtic wealth, so butter and cheese in Wales were generally made from cows' milk. Wales also makes goat's milk cheese, such as Yr Afr, and sheep's milk cheese, such as Brefu Bach.
Salt was an important ingredient in early Welsh cheeses. These cheeses sat in brine (salty water) while they were being made.
Main types of Welsh cheese
Hard Welsh cheeses
Caerphilly and Traditional Welsh Caerphilly are hard cow's milk Welsh cheeses with a mild, lemony taste. Other hard Welsh cheeses include Penbryn, which tastes buttery, fruity and nutty.
Tyn Grug is made from raw cow's milk and has a nutty, savory flavor with a hint of spice. Hafod is golden yellow with an earthy, nutty flavor.
Semi-soft Welsh cheeses
Among the semi-soft Welsh cheeses, Golden Cenarth is pale yellow with a mild yet pungent flavor. Makers often wash it in brine, which helps develop its smell.
Perl Wen is creamy white with a fresh, citrusy taste. Harlech Truckle is Welsh Cheddar mixed with horseradish and parsley and sealed in wax.
Soft Welsh cheeses
The soft Welsh cheeses include Yr Afr, made from raw goat's milk with a mold-ripened rind. Brefu Bach is a golden yellow sheep's milk cheese with a mild, slightly tangy and sweet flavor.
History of Caerphilly cheese in Wales
According to Wikipedia's article on Welsh cuisine, Caerphilly got its name in 1831, but people made it long before that. It started as a way to store extra milk until farmers could take it to market. The cheese was moist and did not keep for long.
After World War II, milk rationing stopped Caerphilly production in Wales, but England kept making it. English makers produced it quickly and sold it young, which gave a drier cheese.
In the 1960s, Welsh farms rarely made their own cheese. Caerphilly production returned to Wales in the 1970s, and Welsh makers have started a variety of new cheeses in the decades since.
By the 1990s and 2000s, farm-made Welsh cheese had started to appear in supermarkets.
Glamorgan sausage, a Welsh dish made with Caerphilly
The Glamorgan sausage is a Welsh vegetarian sausage made with cheese, usually Caerphilly but sometimes Cheddar, plus leek or spring onion. The mix is coated in breadcrumbs and rolled into a sausage shape before cooking.
The dish goes back to at least the early 19th century. At that time, the sausages would have contained pork fat.
Welsh Cheeses
Welsh Cheese Questions
What is the most famous Welsh cheese?
Caerphilly is the best-known Welsh cheese. It is a white, crumbly cow's milk cheese from the area around the town of Caerphilly, about 8 miles north of Cardiff. Farms first made it to feed local coal miners. It has a mild taste with a tang of lemon and can ripen in as little as two weeks.
What is a mild Welsh cheese?
Caerphilly is a mild Welsh cheese with a tang of lemon. Traditional Welsh Caerphilly tastes mild and slightly lemony when young, and its flavor gets fuller but stays mild as it ages. Brefu Bach, a soft sheep's milk cheese, is mild and slightly tangy with a hint of sweetness. Golden Cenarth has a mild yet pungent flavor.
What cheese is used for Welsh rarebit?
Welsh rarebit needs a harder cheese, such as Cheddar or something similar. The soil in Wales is acid and rich in peat, so milk from Welsh cattle made a soft cheese that did not roast well. For that reason, Welsh people traded for harder cheeses such as Cheddar to make roasted cheese.
Is Welsh rarebit just cheese on toast?
Welsh rarebit is seasoned melted cheese poured over bread and then toasted. It was also called Welsh rabbit, a name recorded as early as 1725. People made an early version of the dish in medieval times, and by the middle of the 15th century it was seen as a national dish of Wales.