Stilton

What is Stilton Cheese?

Stilton comes from three English counties: Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. It takes its name from the village of Stilton, now in Cambridgeshire, where the cheese was sold rather than made. Frances Pawlett, a cheesemaker of Wymondham in Leicestershire, is traditionally credited with setting the modern shape and style in the 1720s, though other names have been put forward. William Stukeley mentioned the cheese in 1722, and Richard Bradley printed a recipe in 1726.

Cooper Thornhill, who owned the Bell Inn on the Great North Road at Stilton, is said to have come across the blue cheese at a small farm near Melton Mowbray in 1730 and arranged exclusive marketing rights for the inn. The road carried stagecoaches between London and northern England, so the name spread quickly. Daniel Defoe passed through in 1724 and wrote about the cheese being brought to table with mites around it, thick enough that a spoon came with it.

The Stilton Cheesemakers' Association formed in 1936 to lobby for protection. A certification trade mark followed in 1966, the only one held by a British cheese, and PDO status arrived in 1996. Stilton was originally made from raw milk; production switched to pasteurised milk in the late 1980s after a health scare, and raw milk cheese can no longer be sold under the name. By September 2016 six licensed dairies remained, three in Leicestershire, two in Nottinghamshire and one in Derbyshire, four of them in the Vale of Belvoir.

Blue Stilton must be cylindrical and unpressed, form its own crust, carry blue veins radiating from the centre, and contain at least 48 percent milk fat in the dry matter. Stainless steel needles pierce the crust so air reaches the core and the veining develops. Ripening takes nine to twelve weeks. Finished cheese runs about 35 percent fat and 23 percent protein.

Blue Stilton is often eaten with celery or pears, or with crackers, biscuits and bread. It flavours cream of celery and broccoli soups, melts into a sauce for steak, and crumbles over salad. Barley wine or port is the traditional pairing, and sweet sherry or Madeira suit it as well. White Stilton has no Penicillium roqueforti and no veining; crumbly and open textured, it is widely blended with apricot, ginger, citrus or vine fruits for dessert cheeses. Stilton is eaten at Christmas.