Caerphilly
Caerphilly is a hard, white cheese originating from a town of the same name in South Wales. It was first made in Caerphilly in about 1830. Its texture and flavor bears resemblance to cheddar, which is the most popular type of cheese in the United Kingdom. This cheese is known as "the crumblies".
The recipe for Caerphilly has been inspired from other crumbly cheeses like Cheshire, young Lancashire and Wensleydale. It is said that the cheese was specially made for coal-miners as its tough texture and shallow height made it easy for them to eat with bare hands while the salty, moist curd helped to replenish the lost minerals.
Caerphilly is made from unpasteurized cows' milk and matured anywhere from 8 to 10 to 14 days. Some variants are often kept for up to a year to develop a harder texture and stronger taste. Inside the pale ivory rind of the cheese, young Caerphilly has a fresh and pleasant taste alongside a moist yet supple texture. With maturity, the edges become creamy and the flavor becomes more rounded. It usually has a wheel-shape with ivory-white rind dusted with fine flour. As the cheese ages in a moist cellar, the white and gray moulds become thicker and more leathery. The cheese can be vegetarian depending upon the brand.
A basic white burgundy would go well with this cheese. It is normally grated or melted onto dishes.
- Made from cow's milk
- Country of origin: United Kingdom
- Region: Wales
- Type: hard
- Fat content: 48%
- Texture: close, crumbly and dense
- Rind: natural
- Color: white
Other cheeses from United Kingdom:
- hard cheeses: Acorn, Basing, Berkswell, Buffalo, Cheshire, Coverdale, Double Gloucester, Duddleswell, Dunlop, Gospel Green, Hereford Hop, Isle of Mull, Lairobell, Lincolnshire Poacher, Marble Cheddar, Marbled Cheeses, Orkney Extra Mature Cheddar, Red Leicester, Seriously Strong Cheddar, Spenwood, Wensleydale
- semi-hard cheeses: Cornish Yarg, Cotherstone, Derby, Devon Blue, Sage Derby
- semi-soft cheeses: Celtic Promise, Exmoor Blue, Harbourne Blue, Marbled Cheeses, Oxford Blue, Stinking Bishop, Waterloo, Wigmore
- soft cheeses: Bath Cheese, Beenleigh Blue, Bonchester, Bosworth, Buxton Blue, Cottage Cheese, Dunsyre Blue, Finn, Flower Marie, Golden Cross, Sharpam, Somerset Brie, Yorkshire Blue
- fresh soft cheeses: Innes Button, Vulscombe
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