This is my first post after stalking the forum for almost 2 months and 15 cheese makes...
My gran's ashes are sprinkled between two English counties (Staffordshire and Derbyshire) at a wonderful spot known as Dovedale by the River Dove. I remember the place well as a visiting 15-year-old, and have been back numerous times. One time I drove from Malvern past it as a major snow storm threatened and the last time I travelled from Lincolnshire via train to Newcastle-under-Lyme and saw a covering of white snow across the midlands... My fantasy trilogy (I'm a writer by day) is based on the nearby town of Ilam near Dovedale... and I go there whenever I get the opportunity. So I'm please with my Dovedale Cheese... a hard Staffordshire (but blue / brine dipped) and it is doing well. It's got another three weeks to age before it hits the 2 month minimum, but it needs a brush and a vinegar-brine wash. Before and after photos...
The make was as per the Staffordshire, (Jeff Hamm's make) (local Australian Barossa Valley non-homogenized jersey milk with MM100) with the exception of the adding of blue PC to the make, and punctured holes, and I brined it rather than rubbing salt over it. So it might be a tiny bit unique? It's got a few more weeks to go, but it smells blue-divine. I may well cut a quarter...but can I wax a hard blue? Not sure...
