7/31/2019 Caws Cenarth: Harrods Magazine

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A distinctive lemon-coloured rind and creamy, nutty flavour have madethe award-winning Golden Cenarth a star of the cheese world

BYPATRICK MCGUIGAN/PHOTOGRAPHER JEAN CAZALS/FOOD STYLISTSEIKO HATFIELD

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7/31/2019 Caws Cenarth: Harrods Magazine

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FOOD

temperature, and sometimes it just wont grow,says Adams. We havent cracked it 100%, but weregetting ar better at adjusting the atmosphere in thematuring room. Tats where the experience comesin, and its what artisan cheese making is all about.

Washing the cheeses also helps develop the

distinctive bloom, with each one rubbed in bowls obrine and cider. Tis ancient technique was supposedlydiscovered by monks who ound that dousing cheesein beer gave it a meaty favour, which was handy whenthey were asting and not allowed to eat meat.

As anyone whos eaten Stinking Bishop will testiy,washed-rind cheeses can have a pungent odour, yet,inside, the glossy, white fesh tends to be surprisinglymild and creamy. Golden Cenarth is certainly not inthe heavyweight category o washed-rind cheeses; ithas a pleasant, earthy aroma, and the ivory interioris rm and lemony when young, developing to anintense, oozy maturity at about six weeks.

Te favour and texture also change throughoutthe year, refecting what the cows have been eating.In late summer, ater they have ed on lush Welshgrass or several months, Golden Cenarth is at itsglorious best.

Crikey, the milk is creamy then, says Adams.Were only eight miles rom the coast, so it rains alot here in the mornings, even over the summer. Itsgreat or the grass. Te good thing is that it clearsup nicely by about 3pm, just ater weve nishedmaking the cheese. H

Available from Food Halls, Ground Floor

Patrick McGuigan contributes to Square Meal,Te Spectator andFine Food DigestTOPCaws Cenarth arm in Wales

Petite, curvaceous and withdelicate, dusky skin, GoldenCenarth has become a pin-upo the cheese world. But theresmore to this Welsh beauty thanits looks. Made with organic milkrom the verdant ei Valley andhand washed in cider, the cheese

has a rounded character, taking in nutty, savouryfavours and a rich, creamy depth.

Judges at the 2010 British Cheese Awards werecertainly swept o their eet by its charms. Teynamed Golden Cenarth rom Caws Cenarth theSupreme Champion rom a eld o more than900 other cheeses. What made the accolade evenmore remarkable was that the cheese had only beenlaunched two years previously. Its meteoric rise isalmost unheard o in the dairy world, where cheesesoten take up to ve years to achieve such recognition.

Te ame and adulation has come with its airshare o heartache, however. Carwyn Adams, MDo Camarthenshire-based Caws Cenarth, admitsthat, like all true superstars, Golden Cenarth can

be a bit o a prima donna.Its quite a temperamental little cheese, says

Adams. I we dont get conditions spot on, itdoesnt thrive at all. o be honest, its been the baneo our lives trying to get it right, so winning theaward made it all worthwhile.

Caws Cenarth was set up by Adams mother andather, Telma and Gwynor, in 1961. Te businessstarted as a dairy arm, but in 1987 Telma startedproducing cheese to add value to the milk. Now thatTelma and Gwynor have retired, Caws Cenarthis run by Carwyn and his wie, and is ocusedsolely on cheese.

My mums meant to be retired, but shes stilldown here every day bossing us around. Tats what

mothers are or, I suppose! he jokes. I really dontmind. She just loves the cheese, and there wouldntbe a business i it wasnt or all their hard work.

Hard work is certainly an essential ingredient in theproduction o Golden Cenarth, not to mention highlevels o skill and expertise. Small 200-litre batcheso organic pasteurised milk rom local arms are usedto make the curd, which is gently cut by hand andladled into small moulds. Each o these then has to bemanually turned upside down every ew hours to helpdrain the whey and orm the cheese.

Its like baby-sitting, says Adams. I you go outor the evening, you have to make sure youre back bymidnight to turn the cheeses, and i it means gettingup in the middle o the night, thats what we do.

Once out o the moulds, each individual cheeseis rubbed with organic sea salt not a quick jobwhen you consider that each batch produces 92small cheeses.

However, what really makes Golden Cenarthsuch a diva is its trademark lemon-coloured rind.Tis is ormed by a naturally occurring culture,Brevibacterium linens, which colours the outside othe cheese and helps develop its complex favours. Teculture is present in the everyday fora o the cheeseroom (Adams rst noticed the telltale tint on someCaerphilly), but getting it to orm on a semi-sotcheese like Golden Cenarth is raught with diculties.

Te culture is very sensitive to humidity and

Its like

baby-sitting. Ifyou go out for theevening, you have

to make sureyoure back by

midnight to turnthe cheeses