Curd & Cure launch new Tiddly Blue cheese

Curd & Cure have launched a new cheese, Tiddly Blue, as the first of an exclusive range of collaborative cheeses. A semi-soft unspiked blue cheese, Tiddly Blue is washed in Dudda’s Tun Kentish Cider, and handmade in small batches in Cheshire. The cheese has very unique characteristics, due to the way in which it is made. Produced using a pasteurised cows’ milk and a vegetarian rennet, the blue mould (Penicillium Roqueforti) is introduced as cheesemaking begins. Unlike the majority of blue cheeses, which are normally spiked – a process which acts to introduce oxygen to the inside of the cheese, forming blue veins of mould – Tiddly Blue does not undergo this process, meaning that the mould instead develops on the rind only and the cheese is not expected to blue on the inside, except perhaps in very small pockets. Unlike many washed cheeses, the aim of using Dudda Tun’s cider is not to create a sticky outer rind which is often characteristic of this style of cheese, but to introduce another layer of flavour whilst giving the cheese a sweeter taste than would normally be associated with a typical blue cheese as well as a paler appearance. The blue rind will also impart a mild blue flavour to the cheese. The cheese is matured for 4-6 weeks, with the younger cheese having a more chalky texture becoming smoother as it ripens, in a similar way to a brie. The younger cheese will have slightly more acidity with a freshness from the curd which will develop into a more pronounced flavour as it matures. When it comes to serving suggestions, it wouldn’t necessarily be the usual pairings you would associate with a blue cheese; a crisp cider would work really well, in the same way sliced apple with a good crunch would, with both bringing out the freshness of the cheese and balancing well against the cider wash. Look out for Tiddly Blue in cheese counters across Kent & the South East. curdandcure.co.uk