A Citroën, curds & great company: A team trip to Herefordshire
Our ex- 2024 ASLF Apprentice and new Ecommerce team member Ellen reflects upon a sunny day trip to Dorstone Hill to visit 2 of our wonderful producers.
A view down to the Wye Valley from the Creamery
A 4am alarm, a hastily downloaded Lime Bike app and a Tupperware of Neal’s Yard Creamery Greek Style Yogurt & Granola to go could only mean one thing; it was time to take a trip out of London to visit some of our wonderful producers.
Having only been at Neal’s Yard Dairy for 6 months now, I had been counting down the days until this trip with excitement. Myself, 3 colleagues from other departments and one new colleague-to-be were due to meet Charlie & the team at Neal’s Yard Creamery at 9am to be given a tour, help ladle some curds and see the making process of some of our wonderful cheeses Dorstone, Ragstone & Perroche.
Getting to work for 5:30am, although not the most welcome prospect on a cold February morning, was made easier knowing that the good forecast on the English/Welsh border beckoned us towards it. I was the designated driver and, after getting familiar with the fancy hire car's sensitive breaks, we were off. As we left London (and my grip loosened on the steering wheel just a little), the grey clouds lifted, as if on cue. Once our morning coffees had kicked in, everyone started relaying their stories from producer visits gone by and wondering what might await us in the Wye Valley. With our respective experiences in the Maturation, Packing, Ecommerce, Wholesale & Retail teams alike, it seemed we were all keen to understand the various aspects of what makes Charlie & Grainne Westhead’s business so successful, as well as to learn from each other’s perspectives too.
After more traffic than anticipated, we arrived at the Creamery at a tardy 10:30am. Although the team couldn’t hold off the morning make (milk is a demanding mistress), they had kindly reserved some curds for us to handle. We eagerly scrubbed in (aka donned hairnets, aprons, welly boots and washed our hands) and cast our eyes over what was a wonderfully efficient yet serene make room whilst Charlie introduced us to the team. People’s experience ranged from 2-9 years on the Creamery team that day, but what was universal was how content and knowledgeable everyone seemed. Naturally, we had a lot of questions about how things worked and commented on just about everything (even on how the floor’s natural slope must make the end of day squeegee a doddle…you had to be there). The team handled every question with grace and matched our enthusiasm throughout.
Freshly made and rolled Dill Perroche (which is amazing on bagels)
To our left, freshly washed cheese molds were glinting in the morning sun and, to our right, individual Perroche cheeses were being rolled in either Dill, Tarragon or Rosemary in the most satisfyingly routine way. Before we could get too distracted, we clocked the buckets of fresh uncut curds in front of us, that we were to cut and ladle onto cheese mats atop of molds. The mesh mats allow for the whey to drain off, leaving the silky curds free for cheesemakers to gently nudge into their respective molds. We gingerly began cutting the curds (which were, in Charlie’s words, “as smooth as a baby’s bottom” and therefore perfect) and watched closely as head cheesemaker Tom showed us the technique for ladling them. As with most artisanal processes, things are rarely as easy as they may seem, and cheesemaking is no different. The curds are so delicate that, even if their own whey falls onto them from a slight height, they can break in a way that is undesirable for the final “mouth feel” of that cheese. It requires a certain knack, and took a lot of practice to learn how to slip the curds off the paddle properly. We all got stuck in and, once our curd buckets had only whey remaining, we moved onto rolling the curds off of the cheese mats and into the molds. This was great fun, as the aim of the game is to fill up each mold with roughly the same amount of curds. We set about doing this, all the while trying to respect the curd in the way Charlie holds so dear; apparently a “curd respect test” was part of one employee’s interview, such is the importance of it!
Handling the curds with care (!)
With our hands covered in cheese and competitive sides satiated (there may have been a slight competition to see who could wrap a Perroche the neatest*), we scrubbed out to have a walk around the farm and treat our city-lungs to some country air whilst Charlie kindly made lunch for us. We realised it would be a crime not to pop-in on another of our wonderful producers Katie Cordle at Long Lane Dairy, who is only a ten minute drive away from the Creamery. As if by magic, we heard a call from behind us and it was Katie herself, waving from over a gate. She told us to swing by after lunch so, after admiring the view of the valley, we headed back to the farmhouse to eat and chew the fat with Charlie.
Very proud of our wrapped Perroches
After a delicious spread of roasted Ragstone with red peppers, Tarragon Perroche, toast, tomato salad and strong mugs of tea, we set off towards Long Lane Dairy, down what genuinely was one of the longest lanes I’ve ever seen. We were greeted by her two lovely dogs and then gathered in the entrance way to her small but perfectly formed dairy set up. Katie converted an old Land Rover garage to suit her solo-cheesemaking needs during lockdown and to see her working calmly and methodically within a palace of her design was quite the privilege. We had arrived just as the curds for her Herefordshire Frier (a wonderfully tasty, Halloumi style cheese) had finished cooking, so the sweet, almost rice-pudding like smell of cooked sheep's milk filled the air as she spoke to us about her set up. As she salted the curds and folded each of them carefully, ready to be brined, we learnt about all of the multi-tasking she has to do in one small space, as it is also where she makes her sheep’s milk ricotta and yogurt. As if it heard us, a yogurt timer went off, so we got to see the clockwork-like operation in action. Once Katie had reached a moment of pause, we enjoyed a generous slab of malt loaf and salted butter and talked about the importance of “protecting your peace” as a small producer and how Katie went from randomly ordering 10 litres of sheep’s milk one day to now regularly ordering 400 litres at a time.
Katie in her element
After watching the birds for a little, we realised that time was marching on and that we should begin our trip back to the Maturation Arches in Bermondsey. We said our goodbyes and off we went, admiring the golden hour as we drove through Herefordshire and Gloucestershire en route home. We all agreed that we were lucky to have been hosted so generously and to have learnt so much. Personally, I felt even more inspired to chat to our online customers about the cheeses and to convey the level of care and skill with which they are made. Trips such as these are a vital part of the company culture here and one we are very grateful for, even if it does mean a rather abnormally long day at the office. We are now waiting for our batch of Ragstone to come into circulation. Whether it will be up to scratch because of all our meddling, only time will tell. All I can say is, keep your eyes peeled for batch date 25.02…
*It was not me, reader.
A huge thank you to Charlie, Tom, Alisha, David, Louise & co. at the Creamery and to Katie at Long Lane for having us and being so generous with their time, cheeses and cake!