Lanark Blue facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lanark Blue |
|
|---|---|
| Country of origin | Scotland |
| Region, town | Lanarkshire, Carnwath |
| Source of milk | Sheep |
| Pasteurised | No |
| Texture | Semi-Hard |
| Aging time | ~3 months |
Lanark Blue is a special type of cheese made from sheep milk in Lanarkshire, Scotland. It's known for its rich, blue veins and strong flavor. This cheese is a great example of traditional cheesemaking.
What is Lanark Blue Cheese?
Lanark Blue is a blue-veined cheese, which means it has blue or green streaks of mold running through it. These veins give the cheese its unique look and strong, tangy taste. It's also an artisan cheese, meaning it's made by skilled cheesemakers using traditional methods, often by hand, rather than in large factories.
How is Lanark Blue Made?
Lanark Blue is made from the milk of sheep. The cheesemaker, Humphrey Errington, uses milk from his own flock of sheep. To create the blue veins, a special kind of mold called Penicillium roqueforti is added to the cheese. This mold is completely safe to eat and is what gives blue cheeses their distinctive color and flavor.
The cheese is produced at Ogcastle, a place near the village of Carnwath in Scotland. Humphrey Errington started making Lanark Blue in 1985. It was one of the first blue cheeses made from ewe's (sheep's) milk in Britain since the Middle Ages, making it quite special!
The Flavor of Lanark Blue
The taste of Lanark Blue cheese can change depending on the time of year it's made. This is because the sheep's diet changes with the seasons, which affects the flavor of their milk. For example, milk from sheep grazing on fresh spring grass might produce a slightly different cheese than milk from sheep eating hay in winter. This natural variation is part of what makes artisan cheeses so interesting.
See also
