Banbury cheese facts for kids
Banbury cheese was a special type of cheese made in the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. It was once very famous across the country. People even considered it one of Banbury's most important products.
However, by the 1700s, fewer and fewer people made this cheese. Eventually, it was completely forgotten. Today, Banbury cheese is mostly known because it was mentioned in a play by William Shakespeare. He used it as a funny insult in his play The Merry Wives of Windsor (1597).
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History of Banbury Cheese
The first time we see Banbury cheese mentioned in history was in 1430. Fourteen of these cheeses were sent to John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford. They were part of supplies for France.
In 1586, a writer named William Camden said the cheese made Banbury famous. The first cookbook to mention Banbury cheese was The Good Huswifes Handmaide for the Kitchin (1594). It was written by Thomas Dawson. This book included a recipe for a "tarte of Cheese" using Banbury cheese.
A Famous Cheese
Banbury cheese was very popular in its time. Important people received it as a gift. These included Thomas Cromwell in 1533 and 1538. Sir Joseph Williamson got some in 1677. Even Horace Walpole received it in 1768.
Barnaby Googe wrote a guide about farming in 1614. He said Banbury cheese was the third best in England. Robert Burton praised it even more in his book Anatomy of Melancholy (1621). He wrote, "Of all cheeses, I take that kind which we call Banbury Cheese to be the best." The Victoria County History also noted that in the 1500s, "the name of Banbury at once brought to the mind of the hearer the famous cheeses."
How It Was Made
Historically, Banbury was known for three main things: its ale (a type of beer), its cheese, and its cakes. Banbury ale was popular long ago but became less known. Banbury cakes are still popular today.
Making Banbury cheese was mostly a cottage industry. This means people made it in their homes, not in big factories. The main areas for cheese-making were the nearby villages of Grimsbury and Nethercote, Oxfordshire. Some cheese-makers also lived in Banbury itself and other villages in Oxfordshire. Records from 1600 show that 21 homes in the village of Cropredy made cheese. Cropredy is about four miles north of Banbury.
A cheese fair was traditionally held in Banbury. This fair took place on the first Thursday after Old Michaelmas (a special day in the calendar).
The Decline of the Cheese
The production of Banbury cheese started to slow down in the 1700s. Writers like Edward Chamberlayne (1700), Daniel Defoe (1727), and Richard Pococke (1756) were among the last to write about it.
By the 1800s, the cheese was almost gone. Alfred Beesley wrote in his History of Banbury (1841): "the oft-recorded fame of the town for Cheese has departed from it." He also said that no one knew how to make the real "Banbury Cheese" anymore.
A special type of Banbury cheese, called "latter-made" cheese, was the last to disappear. By 1840, fewer people made this cheese. In 1848, for the first time, no "latter-made" cheese was sold at the Banbury fair.
Some historians think that new land laws in the late 1700s caused the decline. These laws changed how land was owned. New landowners might have preferred to raise sheep instead of cows. Sheep were more profitable. This meant there might not have been enough milk to make the cheese.
Attempts to Bring It Back
People have tried to bring Banbury cheese back. In 1965, an old recipe for the cheese was found again. The Historical Society of Banbury tried to find someone to make the cheese. They wanted it for their annual dinner in November 1969. But they could not find any cheese-makers who could make it. So, the plan did not work out.
What Banbury Cheese Was Like
Banbury cheese was made from cow's milk. It had a golden yellow color and a strong taste. It was made in round shapes with an outer skin. The cheese was only about one inch thick.
Jones' Good Huswifes Handmaid (1594) said it had a sharp, keen flavor. Defoe described it as soft and rich. Camden said it was creamy.
According to Defoe, a very rich type of Banbury cheese was made late in the year. It was never made before Michaelmas. This was the "latter-made" cheese. It was white and one inch thick. It looked like other soft cheeses. But it cost a lot more and tasted much better. Defoe said it cost 1 shilling and 6 pence per pound when new. It cost about 1 shilling and 9 pence when ripe. (This would be about £8.90 and £10.40 in 2010 money).
An Old Recipe
A recipe for Banbury cheese still exists. It is in a manuscript from the 1400s or 1500s called Sloane MS 1201. Here is what the recipe says:
Take a thin cheese vat, and hot milk as it comes from the cow. And run it forth withal in summer time. And knead your curds but once. And knead them not too small, but break them once with your hands. And in summer time salt the curds nothing but let the cheese lie 3 days unsalted. And then salt them. And lay one upon another but not too much salt. And so shall they gather butter. And in winter time in likewise, but then hot your milk. And salt your curds for then it will gather butter of itself. Take the wrung whey of the same milk and let it stand a day or two till it have a cream and it shall make as good butter as any other.
The "Banbury Cheese" Insult
In Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Windsor, a character named Bardolph insults Abraham Slender. He calls him a "Banbury cheese":
You Banbury cheese!
This insult was a joke about how thin the cheese was. Especially after its outer rind was cut off. It was used to make fun of Slender's name and his thin body.
This comparison was quite common back then. An early example is from 1538. A judge in the Court of Common Pleas compared a legal case to a Banbury cheese. He said it was "worth little when the parings are cut off." He meant the case was simple if you removed all the unnecessary details.
Another similar insult is in Jack Dunn's Entertainment (1601). It says: "Put off your clothes and you are like a Banbury cheese—nothing but paring."
In 1928, a linguist named Frederic S. Marquardt said "you Banbury cheese" was still used as slang in America. A simpler version of the insult was "you big cheese."
