TV chef James Martin thinks we might see a rise in cheese making in the UK – as the costs increase and dairy farmers have to diversify beyond milk.
“It’s tough out there for everybody, really. But farmers, particularly, are finding it tough,” says the 52-year-old. “Farmers are having to diversify at the moment. The costs of everything are increasing, so it’s natural, if you’ve got a dairy herd, you could diversify into making your own cheese, because milk prices are all over the place.
“So you’re going to hopefully get quite a few more cheese producers pop up.”
The James Martin’s Saturday Morning cooking show host has spent nearly eight years on the ITV show, and a further eight presenting BBC’s Saturday Kitchen before that. Cheese-related recipes, he says are “always a hit” with viewers.
Just like wine production is growing in the UK – a reflection of the changing climate and increased depth of knowledge – so too is cheese. “Cheddar has been our number one seller, ” says Martin, a judge at the International Cheese & Dairy Awards (of the Cheddar category, no less), and “people are creatures of habit – nothing wrong with that”.
Although he recommends branching out into different varieties of Cheddar, such as Montgomery’s Cheddar or Kirkham’s – which you should find in supermarkets – and trying independently produced cheeses from farm shops, delis or online where possible.
“The internet is brilliant when it comes to that, it gives you such a big opportunity to be able to purchase such a variety [of cheeses],” says Martin, who’s latest cookbook is simply entitled Cheese.
“You’ve got buffalo mozzarella farms opening up in the UK and you’ve got Pecorino being made in the UK – Yorkshire producers are doing Pecorino.”
His own love affair with cheese began with his grandma’s handmade Cheddar scones, and eating Yorkshire Brack with his grandfather. But from Spain to Italy and France, many amazing cheeses are on our European doorstep.
“Probably one of my favourite cheeses of all is Comté. It’s like the equivalent to our Cheddar but it’s produced on the French-Swiss border,” he says.
“This time of year look for something like a Vacherin Mont d’Or – a modern, classic French-style cheese. You can warm it up in the oven and put it on a cheeseboard, oh my God, it’s amazing, it feels like you can eat it with a spoon, or spread it onto bread, it’s absolutely delicious.”
But what a lot of people don’t realise, he says, is cheese, like butter and cream, changes from season to season. “All you’ve got to do is look outside, look at the pasture and what the cattle are eating,” the Yorkshire-born chef says. “In the summer they’re eating grass and cloves and heather – and that denotes how good the dairy is.
“As winter draws in, the animals don’t have that opportunity so they eat silage – the bales in the black polythene, animal feed.”
It’s a change you’ll notice with small, independent producers reliant on the same herd rather than mass market ones – who might mix dairy from different places.
“The milk content will change, the fat content, and that will change the end product. Colour-wise and the taste ever so slightly will change, it could be the saltiness of it.”
But with an estimated 2,000 different types of cheese available across the globe, what would Martin narrow it down to, for that all-important cheeseboard at Christmas.
“I would have Montgomery Cheddar, because I love it, my mother loves it, she’s down this Christmas. She likes a bit of Stilton, so I’m getting a bit of that. I’ll definitely have a Vacherin Mont d’Or, probably an Ogleshield and maybe something from Yorkshire.
“I love hard cheeses, Manchego, the kind of stuff that can really hold over Christmas – I know people can pick on Manchego so it’s great if you have a little bit of Spanish ham and just serve it for Boxing Day. You don’t need to cook,” he says.
Also on his Christmas cheeseboard will be figs – “there’s figs in my garden” – membrillo, which is a quince jam. Chutney, the inner heart of celery, biscuits and a classic French bread. “Nothing that glamorous,” he adds.
The important thing about cheese at Christmas is thats “nothing goes to waste – don’t waste any of it”. Martin’s hoping his latest recipe book will provide plenty of inspiration for cooking with different varieties of cheese – especially those leftover on the festive cheeseboard.
Following on from his other single-ingredient cookbooks, Potato and Butter, the TV star’s latest offering includes classics like a Welsh rarebit toastie, cauliflower cheese and his ‘best-ever’ cheeseburger, he’s keen for home cooks to push the boat out with pork chops with Gorgonzola maître d’hôtel butter, and tartiflette with Tomme (Martin worked in France for years).
As a pastry chef for over 30 years, he’s partial to a cheese-based dessert too. “You can put goat’s cheese with icing sugar in desserts as well, and serve it with an apple tarte tatin or a lemon tart,” he says, and advises serving a tarte tatin with a little bit of blue cheese, or poached pears with Dolcelatte.
Working at his restaurant, the Kitchen at Chewton Glen, Hampshire (although he owns several across the country) it’s tempting to “pick at bits and pieces” throughout the shift – especially cheese. But he says “everything’s a balance – certainly as you get older with your diet. You get to 52 and you’re working in the kitchen, you run around the kitchen, [but] you’re not 22 any more. You’re still working the hours, your brain is telling you that you can do it, but your legs are telling you otherwise!”
So when it comes to diet and loving cheese, “There’s a happy medium”, he says.
Cheese by James Martin is published by Quadrille, priced £25. Photography by Dan Jones. Available now
