A small goat's cheese

It felt like Spring this week – violets appeared in the wood, weeds sprouted in the veg patch.

I went to the cheese shop in Lewes and bought one of my favourite local cheeses: Chabis made by the Golden Cross Cheese Company. It’s a fresh unpasteurised goat’s cheese.

Chabis

The cheese is covered in a downy coat of white mould. Inside it is delicate, creamy and ethereal. As it ages, it gets gooier and fruitier.

I like to eat it torn up in a salad. This week, I made mine with air-dried ham, tomatoes and basil - not very seasonal, but extremely good. 

A violet patch in the woods

Sussex credentials: Excellent. The cheese is made on the farm using milk from their own goat herd. 

A slice of toasted cheese

I woke up this morning with the rain tapping on the window, and the wind frisking the trees. It could mean only one thing: the toasted cheese season had started.

I’m a big fan of melted cheese. It’s a hang-over from my childhood, but it has stuck with me like molten cheddar to a grill.

In the fridge, I had some Sussex Charmer – a local variety which has become a regular in our cheese box.



Sussex Charmer - very nice melted

Sussex Charmer

This cheese is a hybrid - a cheddar crossed with a parmesan.

You get the flavour of the cheddar first and then, just as you are contemplating the superiority of British farmhouse cheese, the zing of parmesan comes through, dragging you to the valleys of northern Italy and forcing you to admit that the Italians know a thing or two about cheese as well.

I cut mine into slices and grilled it on some toast. It was delicious – like cheddar just back from a holiday in the sun.  

Sussex credentials: Excellent. They make it in Sussex using milk from their own cows.

Availability: It's available online or from lots of local shops. I bought mine from Cheese Please in Lewes.