We’ve all seen the news and the impact of Brexit in a number of areas already, but so far it hasn’t been felt at Froth & Rind yet, although there are signs that it is starting. In the past week or two, the French cheeses we bring in have been increasingly hard to come by, and while nobody has confirmed that Brexit is the cause, it’s quite a coincidence. We’ll be keeping an eye on the situation but if it doesn’t improve we’re looking at British equivalents of some of your favourite French cheeses. We’ve compiled a bit of a list below:
The beautiful and unusual Langres is one of our favourite cheeses, with it’s wrinkly orange rind, lovely fudgey texture and strong but not overpowering flavours make it something special. A British equivalent is Edmund Tew, by Blackwoods Cheese Company, which we stock on occasion. Wrinkly, rind, fudgey texture, with a little creaminess, it ticks almost all the boxes.
Morbier is a French classic and easily recognisable with its layer of vegetable ash through the middle. Recently Kingstone Dairy have started producing Ashcombe in the style of Morbier, along with the ash layer through the middle.
Another French classic, Roquefort is a sharp and salty sheep’s milk blue cheese, and one of France’s oldest cheeses. It’s hard to replace but Lanark Blue, from Errington Cheese in Scotland is a delicious alternative. A little lighter and a little creamier, it may appeal to more people than Roquefort.
We are lucky to have lots of British alternatives to Camembert de Normandie. Tunworth is a prime example, but there are several British versions of Camembert.
Reblochon is a cheese that we’ve seen grow in popularity recently, with more and more enquiries about it in Froth & Rind. There are two great British cheeses that can replace Reblochon - Baronet and Rollright. Both are washed rind cheeses with lovely creamy textures.
It’s hard to beat a good aged Comté and part of us doesn’t even want to try, but if we have to try then we’d go with Cornish Kern. From the makers of Cornish Yarg, Kern is made in the Alpine style with those lovely light sweetness coming through with a hint of caramel.
Look out for these cheeses and more making an appearance soon if the difficulties continue.
