Cheshire
Moist, slightly salty cheese, mild when young but aquires a more pronounced tang with age. Cheshire is probably the oldest Bristish cheese. Mentioned in the Doomsday book in 1086, but there is evidence to suggest that it is much older, going back even further than the Roman occupation. The majority of Cheshire cheese today is creamery made, but a handful of farms still produce farmhouse Cheshire cheeses.

Caerphilly
Moist, crumbly, lemon yellow cheese with a salty, slightly sour buttermilk flavour, Caerphilly dates back only to the early 1800's. Made in dairies throughout the vale of Glamorgan & Gwent, most of it being consumed within the locality of manufacture. Today it is widely manufactured in England, predominantly in creameries.

Cheddar
The traditional farmhouse cheddar used to be made between April 1 and November 1, but is now made throughtout the year. It is usually produced from the milk of a specific breed of British cow, the Shorthorn. The cheese should have a frim, elastic consitency and a slightly nutty flavour; it must be neither too sweet nor too sour. It should ripen for at least six, but perferably twelve months or longer.

Double Gloucester
Bright orange, waxy cheese with a strong, mellow flavour. Originally, Gloucesters were coloured with Saffron, and later with Annatto, predominently for the London market, where buyers thought the magnificent colour indicated a richer, creamier cheese. Most Double Gloucester is now creamery made although a few farms are still making it.

Emmental
Known throughout the world as 'Swiss' cheese and imitated in many other countries, Emmental accounts for over half of Swiss cheese production. It is a pressed cooked cheese, instantly recognizable by the round, walnut sized holes, evenly distributed throughout the cheese. Originating in the Emmen valley near Bern, it takes about 1000 litres of milk to make one 80kg cheese. During the ripening period, a secondary fermentation takes place, producing gas holes in the curd.

Grana Padano
For centuries the cheese producing centres of the Po valley wrangled over whose name should be associated with the excellent Grana they produced. In 1955, the names Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano were given legal protection, the character and area of production of each cheese being precisely delineated. Grana Padano is made all year round and matures more rapidly, being a pressed cheese made partly from skimmed milk of two milkings. The ripening period varies from one to two years with the cheese colour darkening with age.

Gruyere
Like Emmental, Gruyere is a pressed cooked cheese, the rind being a course reddish brown and stamped all over with the word 'Switzerland' to indicate a genuine Swiss product. A particularly fine cheese, Gruyere has a pronounced sweetish flavour, with a typically nutty aroma. Excellent as a cooking cheese (sauce mornay is based on it, as is fondue), it is also traditionally accompanied by white wine or Kirsch.

Lancashire
White, slightly salty, crumbly cheese which should have a rich, full bodied flavour. Manufacture in the traditional way is a laborious and time consuming process. The curd made on one day is added to the previous days curd, which has already been drained, salted and partly pressed. Both curds are then milled, placed in moulds, pressed for twenty four hours, bandaged, waxed and then allowed to ripen for two months.

Leicester
Somtimes known unnecessarily as Red Leicester (there being no other kind), this is a hard-pressed grainy cheese with a faint lemony bite. The colour, which ranges from bright russet-gold to a tomato red, makes this cheese one of the most visually striking of all British cheeses.

Mozzarella
Traditionally, Mozzarella is a fresh cheese of the plastic curd, or pasta filata, category, which requires lengthy kneading to chieve its resilient yet somewhat stringy texture. It is widely used in cooking because it melts well. The great herds of water buffalo from whose milk mozzarella is properly made are dsiappearing from Southern Italy, and much cheese sold as mozarella is really Fior di latte, made from cows milk. Today, mozzarella is made throughout Europe in modern cheese factories and is much drier than its traditional counterpart, but still retains its stretchiness and meltability.

Pecorino Romano
The most famous of the Pecorino cheeses and the legendary cheese made by Romulus, Pecorino Romano had its characteristics precisely laid down by the Stressa Convention of 1951. The traditional area of production is Lazio, but other regions are also now producing. It has a greyish-white close textured paste and a dark brown or black very hard rind rubbed with oil and wood ash or wax or a yellow clay-based compound. It is ripened for a minimurn of eight months, when the flavour is sharp and dry.

Provolone
A smooth, close-textured pasta filata cheese made from whole cows milk. Provolone originated in southern Italy, but production has now spread to many other regions.

Sbrinz
Sbrinz is probably the most ancient of Swiss cheeses. Generally related to Italian Grana cheese, it is a long ripened, extra hard, pressed cheese, used mostly for grating and very spicy & piquant in flavour. It is ripened for 18 months to three years.

Wensleydale
A lightly pressed, smooth textured cheese, with a subtle, milky flavour which is clean and refreshing. Not a cheese that improves with age, it is best eaten young at about a month old. During the 16th century, Wensleydale began to be made from cows milk, production moving first to farmhouses and then later on to small dairies.