Author Topic: Tornegus Cheese Making Recipe  (Read 5169 times)

Cheese Head

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Tornegus Cheese Making Recipe
« on: September 14, 2009, 11:48:42 PM »
British based James Aldridge made some very interesting webpages, copies are posted in our library.

I've just learnt, via member Lionel, that sadly he died in 2001. The obituary in "The Independent" UK newspaper/website says his first famous cheese was called Tornegus:
Quote
He bought an unpasteurised Caerphilly cheese from Chris Duckett in Somerset, which in its original state is delicate and crumbly. He introduced a bacterium, R. lincus, spreading it over the young cheese with an (English) white wine brine, repeating the procedure every few days for seven weeks: "This is allimportant," he told the British food-guide writer Henrietta Green, "in the development of the thin apricot-coloured rind, the flavour and the softening of the interior." The cheese was finished with a scattering of herbs, which included lemon verbena and mint. The resulting Tornegus cheese was unctuous, with a rich and creamy texture and pungent flavour, more like analogous French cheeses than like any other British cheese being made then.

There is some more info at:

1) British The Teddington Cheese webstore (click on English cheeses and scroll down) still sells it so it must be still made. Website lists it an an unpasteurized cow's millk cheese says:
Quote
James Aldridge takes Duckett's Caerphilly and marinates it in herbs, brine and wine from Kent. It is matured for ten weeks and acquires a complex flavour. A speckled-orange rind hides a semi-hard, open texture and a rustic flavour.

2) British The Cheese Shed webstore also still sells it and says:
Quote
This cheese, invented by James Aldridge, is based on Chris Duckett's Caerphilly. Aldridge, who died in 2001, was a seminal figure in the revival of artisan cheese in the UK. From his cheese shop in Beckenham he sought out the pioneers like Robin Congdon (of Beenleigh Blue fame) and others who taking cheese making back from the big industrial dairies. Today Tornegus is still made by his partner Pat Robinson at Godstone in Surrey, with Duckett Caerphilly cheeses sent up from Somerset. Tornegus is a washed-rind cheese: the wash used to include Kentish wine until the food safety people got nervous. Finding that the wine didn't add a great deal to the cheese, Pat left it out, and she feels that the cheese is just as good. The pinkish rind also has a scattering of Egyptian Mint, to give the cheese a sweeter finish. The texture is silky - semi-soft, and the flavour spicy, becoming fruitier and more powerful as it matures.

Member Tea (Tracey) has posted a Caerphilly Cheese Making Recipe here.

Has anyone:
  • Heard or know what R. lincus is?
  • Have any more info on how to make this cheese?
  • Ever heard - tried this cheese and can describe it more?
  • The urge to try making this cheese?
« Last Edit: September 15, 2009, 12:10:11 AM by John (CH) »

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Tornegus Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #1 on: September 15, 2009, 02:35:32 AM »
I am thinking from what I have read r.lincus might be a play on words ...

"Despite all this erudition, it was chance rather than applied science that led to Aldridge's greatest triumph. "Tornegus," he says, "was a total accident. At Christmas time, we had thousands of cheeses on shelves all over the place. Our turnover then was £3,000 a week, but over the five days of Christmas we never took less than £22,000. We had a caerphilly stored on a shelf near some stiltons, and these had orange patches on them caused by bacteria. The bacteria from the stilton rind entered the caerphilly. When we cut it for a customer to sample, he asked 'Is this French?' It was wonderful. I found out what the bacterium was and bought the culture from a laboratory. It was fairly consistent right from the first batch. We didn't have a single failure."

http://www.waitrose.com/food/celebritiesandarticles/foodissues/9907080.aspx

r.lincus from stilton to caerphilly > Tornegus

Alex

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Re: Tornegus Cheese Making Recipe
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2009, 11:30:45 AM »
"In 1989, Aldridge decided to experiment with making and maturing his own cheeses. He bought an unpasteurised Caerphilly from Duckett's in Somerset, and introduced a bacterium, R lincus, as a maturing agent. His Times obituary remarked: "The techniques of ripening a cheese, known as affinage by French cheesemakers, were so little practised in Britain that he had to rely on intuition. With characteristic precision he treated the Caerphilly with the agent and a Kentish white wine brine every few days for seven weeks. The result was a silky, spicy washed-rind cheese, strikingly pungent and soft enough to spread with a knife. He added herbs, lemon verbena and mint, and named it Tornegus (from the Somerset word 'tor' and 'negus' to signify flavoured wine). At his first attempt, he created a masterpiece, often compared to Pont l'Eveque."

For more go to: http://www.newstatesman.com/200106250045

"He bought an unpasteurised Caerphilly cheese from Chris Duckett in Somerset, which in its original state is delicate and crumbly. He introduced a bacterium, R. lincus, spreading it over the young cheese with an (English) white wine brine, repeating the procedure every few days for seven weeks: "This is allimportant," he told the British food-guide writer Henrietta Green, "in the development of the thin apricot-coloured rind, the flavour and the softening of the interior." The cheese was finished with a scattering of herbs, which included lemon verbena and mint. The resulting Tornegus cheese was unctuous, with a rich and creamy texture and pungent flavour, more like analogous French cheeses than like any other British cheese being made then."

And again, for more reading: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/james-aldridge-728779.html