(10) Love me do, or What is a Traditional Cheese?

The first part of the title is the famous song from The Beatles, this could be classified as traditional, it is well known and appreciated, the name of its maker has been established and is part of the history of song making.

So, what is a traditional cheese?

Traditional topping modernist?

For many shoppers and most people, they look at the label of the product to establish how good it is. However, can we really trust what a product maker would write on the label? Well, may be, up to a certain point. And this is only due to the many regulations protecting consumers.

So, the problem stays the same. You look at your cheese and think that it is good because of its name, you are already influenced as to its taste and its quality. Then again you are used to buy it, for you it is traditional, you know other people who bought it before you did, you think it is established and of quality. Well, think again. It is not because a cheese has been made for some time, or even that it uses a common cheese name, that it is quality made and will taste good. There is an easy solution. When you find a product with one of the 3 logos of the European Union protecting quality products, you can be sure that it is well made.

A well-made product does not correspond to my idea of a traditional one. It is not because that it is well made that it will be tasty. On top of this, most traditional cheeses respect the environment and the animals. It should be an obvious principle that a well-made cheese is made from milk obtained from happy animals living in a good environment well maintained. Maintaining the environment is in the news more and more nowadays, but farmers and shepherds have been doing it all their life for generations.

Tending the earth is a natural process for them as they benefit from a tidy and well-maintained environment. They care for the many wildflowers, the shrubs which brings many birds and wild animals, and they try to use the diversity of their natural habitat for the benefit of their animals, constantly making sure that any natural event is controlled, and the damage repaired. Welfare of the animals is important. It is important for them of course, and it is important for the quality of the milk. This means as well a good and appropriate habitat, good and varied grass or shrubs and aromatic plants. And then, for the benefit of the environment and the benefit of the farmer, he can use refuse to generate self-sustaining energy source, with a bit of investment conditional on the size of the business and quantity of organic matter.

Then we should notice that the nature of the terrain will dictate the style of the environment. Mountainous areas are usually the best for high quality, whereas plain is good for high yield and easy maintenance or creative investments in reusable energy sources. Many modern production sites are located in plains, and this brings to mind a story told to me at the turn of the millennium by a national traditional cheese champion. He went to visit a cheese plant which waws very successful at the time and supplied large supermarket chains. It was made up of a single line production unit. Naturally he asked the technicians how they were doing to make that many different cheeses with a single line production unit. The answer was edifying: “we regulate the acidity level, select ferments depending on what we want to produce, choose the additives if we so desire, and select the colour supplements for the best results”. They were making mainly Territorial, like if in the UK Cheshire, Cheddars, Derby, Leicester, etc… all from a single line production unit. People were buying in good faith cheeses that they considered to be traditional but were in fact produced on the idea of affordability for the customers and market share and profitability for the manufacturer and distributor. The quality of the end product was average, however the market where they were sold was based primarily on large distribution and average quality established over 50 years. To be noted it is only for the last 40 years now that good products, even if on small numbers comparatively, are available in the UK and overall quality have improved significantly. Still, people have their habits and it is hard to get them to change to a higher quality product when the price difference is marked. The producers are happy anyway because they can charge so much, and the consumers make their choice depending on location and availability. You still do not buy your cheese like you would buy a book or a toy.

The last part of the traditional cheese equation is the European Union quality labels, and even more the PDO cheeses. These are recognised products that deserve their label of quality, even more so as the UK has left the Union. The system is improving the quality with a drive to require more, more control of the milk obtention process, from the quality of sustainability and maintenance of the environment, to the quality of life to the animals with better quality of fields and free roaming trails. Another quality drive is better definition of the cheesemaking process for all of the PDO cheeses, you can easily check which cheese improves by checking on the EU website, and you will then notice the disinterest of others, no judging on my side but some countries stopped trying a long time ago.

It is to be noted that the global aspiration to help quality has had benefits for the producers and many for the consumers, this should be encouraged and not denied.

For all the above points I would like to say that Traditional Cheese is a product with history and quality. It encapsulates the essence of the place and the moment of time, bringing the flavour of the place with all of its history and the quality of its cheesemaker. This is Traditional Cheese, Love me do, as long as you eat and enjoy cheese, Traditional Cheese that is.