Ardrahan Farmhouse Cheese creates two varieties of cheese. They originate from Ardrahan Farmhouse, Kanturk,

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

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. The two varieties are Ardrahan and Duhallow. Eugene and Mary Burns first made Ardrahan cheese on their farm in County Cork in 1983 using traditional techniques.Bord Bia Description
Both varieties are made entirely from the milk of the Burnses' cow herd, which is composed of Friesian cows.

Description

Ardrahan is a semi-soft vegetarian

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

made from pasteurised

cow Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are called co ...

's milk and vegetarian rennet. It has a 25% fat content. It is made into wheels of 400g and 1.5 kg with a ridged brine-washed rind encrusted with moulds. A

smoked Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food, particularly meat, fish and tea, by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. In Europe, alder is the traditional smoking wood, but ...

version is also available. Ardrahan cheese has an earthy, farmhouse taste and aroma, and also a zesty tang that enhances the rich buttery and meaty flavour. It has a smooth texture, a deep yellow interior and an edible, full-bodied rind. Ardrahan's interior is firm and slightly chalky. It matures in four to eight weeks.

History

Since 2006, they have also produced Duhallow cheese, a medium hard cheese also made from pasteurised cow's milk using vegetarian rennet. Most is exported to the US.

Awards

In 1994, Ardrahan won the Irish Food Writers Guild annual Good Food award.Irish Food Writers Guild previous winners
Since then, Ardrahan has won many more awards, including multiple medals from the British Cheese Awards and the World Cheese Awards.

References

Dairy products companies of Ireland Cheesemakers Cow's-milk cheeses Washed-rind cheeses Smoked cheeses {{cheese-stub