Derby cheese is a mild, semi-firm British cow's milk cheese made in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the no ...

with a smooth, mellow texture and a buttery

flavour Flavor or flavour is either the sensory perception of taste or smell, or a flavoring in food that produces such perception. Flavor or flavour may also refer to: Science *Flavors (programming language), an early object-oriented extension to Lisp ...

. Like most of the traditional British hard cheeses it was produced exclusively on farms and was typically sold at a younger age than its more famous cousins

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and ...

and

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...

. It has a pale, golden orange interior with a natural or waxed rind and ripens at between one and six months. In many respects Derby is similar to Cheddar in taste and texture, but with a softer body (it doesn't go through the

cheddaring The manufacture of Cheddar cheese includes the process of ''cheddaring'', which makes this cheese unique. Cheddar cheese is named for the village of Cheddar in Somerset in South West England where it was originally manufactured. The manufactur ...

process) and slightly higher moisture content. When young it is springy and mild but as it matures subtle sweet flavours develop and the texture becomes firmer. Its claim to fame is that the first creamery in the UK was set up by a group of farmers in the village of

Longford, Derbyshire Longford is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 349. It is from Ashbourne and west of Derby.

– the farmers having agreed to pool their milk and have the cheese made on a larger scale using techniques that had been developed in the US.

Varieties

The most common variety available is

Sage Derby Sage Derby is a variety of Derby cheese that is mild, mottled green and semi-hard, and has a sage flavour. The colour is from sage and sometimes other colouring added to the curds, producing a marbling effect and a subtle herb flavour. The colo ...

, a herb-flavoured Derby that has the traditional light ivory/yellow colour with blended light green areas of sage. Another common variety is port wine Derby, blended with port.

Notes

{{Cheeses of the United Kingdom English cheeses