Our cheese
Inspired by the long forgotten cheddar making techniques of the early 20th century, we have developed a gentle, slower, cooler recipe for Hafod. Under the guidance of Dora Saker’s 1917 book, ‘Practical Cheddar Cheese-making’ and other books from that time, we have been piecing together how cheddar used to be made before the industrialisation of cheese production.
We use a yogurt starter culture, favouring less aggressive strains of bacteria, and adding less than the amount conventionally used, which allows the milk to acidify very slowly. This slow pace gives the curd time to expel moisture through the ‘cheddaring’ process, negating the need to cook the curds at a higher temperature. And with this slow, controlled transformation of the curd, we are able to wait until we have the desired texture before milling, without the risk of over acidification.
At the milling stage, often after the afternoon milking has started, the sheets of curd have a wonderful, silky smooth and slightly elastic quality similar to chamois leather. When salted, the curds are dry and leafy, with a deep, buttery aroma.
We make Hafod every other day using all the farm’s milk – about 2000 litres. This gives us between eighteen and twenty 10kg cheeses per make.
Maturing
On removal from the press, each cheese is covered with lard that gives them protection during the long maturation period, whilst allowing them to breathe and develop the characteristic natural mould rind. Interestingly, we no longer wrap Hafod in cloth at the larding stage. This seems to give the cheese even more opportunity to self regulate - a ‘live’ food responding to its environment. Matured for about a year in our store’s unique environment, each cheese is regularly turned and rubbed. During this time, Hafod develops its complexity and depth of flavour. Each batch is ironed to taste the subtle variations and graded before being selected and sent to customers.