Oxford Blue is a variety and brand of blue cheese produced in Burford,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England in 1995 by French baron Robert Pouget in the tradition of Stilton cheese (it was produced in a Stilton dairy) but with a creamier consistency especially when the cheese was allowed to mature. It is a soft and creamy cheese that has tangy, aromatic and spicy qualities. By 2013, around five tonnes were produced monthly.

Characteristics

Oxford Blue is prepared using unpasteurised cow's milk and is ripened (aged) for 14 to 16 weeks. Its rind is sticky and wet in texture. The cheese is soft, creamy and moist, has aromatic, tangy and spicy qualities, and has traces of white wine and chocolate in its flavour. It has been described as a "French-style English blue" that can be used "as an alternative" to Stilton cheese", and as similar to Dolcelatte and St Agur cheeses, with a less strong flavour than

Roquefort Roquefort () is a sheep milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, European Union law, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the na ...

or Stilton.

History

Oxford Blue was created by French

baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

Robert Pouget in 1995. It was initially produced by Hartington Creamery in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

until 2009, when the creamery closed, and subsequently in

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

, Wales. In 2013, efforts began to start producing Oxford Blue at a new, small

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

in Burford, Oxfordshire, which was developed in a converted barn. At the Burford site in 2013, Pouget encountered an initial problem of having nowhere to dispose of waste

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...

, a byproduct of the cheese's production, which was at around each month. The problem was solved by the introduction of an anaerobic digester to process the whey. In April 2013, around five

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s of Oxford Blue were produced monthly. In 2015 the cheese was distributed by the Oxford Cheese Company.

References

{{blue cheeses Blue cheeses British cheeses

Characteristics

History

See also

References