Cornish Yarg is a semi-hard

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutr ...

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 in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England. Before being left to mature, the cheese is wrapped in

nettle Nettle refers to plants with stinging hairs, particularly those of the genus '' Urtica''. It can also refer to plants which resemble ''Urtica'' species in appearance but do not have stinging hairs. Plants called "nettle" include: * ball nettle ...

leaves to form an edible, though mouldy, rind. The texture varies from creamy and soft immediately under the nettle coating to a Caerphilly cheese-like crumbly texture in the middle.

Production

Lynher Dairy the home of Cornish Yarg - geograph

Although made according to an historic method, Cornish Yarg is actually the product of the British cheesemaking renaissance in the 1980s while its roots are inspired by traditional British Territorial cheeses. The cheese is produced at Lynher Dairies Cheese Company on Pengreep Farm near

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

, by Catherine Mead, Dane Hopkins and team. "Yarg" is simply "Gray" spelt backwards. It is named after Alan and Jenny Gray, enterprising farmers who found a 1615 recipe by

Gervase Markham Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work ''The English Huswife, The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woma ...

for a nettle-wrapped semi-hard cheese in their attic. The original recipe is thought to date back to the 13th century. In 1984, the Grays sold the recipe to Michael and Margaret Horrell, farmers wanting to diversify into cheesemaking. Mead began working with the Horrells in 1985, helping to develop the business. She built a second dairy on Pengreep Farm in 2001 and in 2006, when the Horrells retired, all production moved to Lynher Dairies. Cornish Yarg is made using pasteurised cow's milk sourced from neighbouring farms. After pressing and brining, nettles are coated on by hand. The application of nettles changes the acidity on the outside of the cheese, thus affecting the manner in which the curd breaks down and matures.

References

{{English cuisine Yarg Cow's-milk cheeses