Get Ready for The British Cheese Weekender 8th -10th May 2020

We have joined forces with Britain’s specialist cheesemakers to help shoppers connect with local producers and independent retailers as part of the British Cheese Weekender 8^th – 10^th  May!

This first-of-its-kind collaborative project is being led by the Specialist Cheesemakers Association (SCA), Academy of Cheese and the Guild of Fine Food, bringing together cheesemakers from across the country to encourage shoppers to support the sustainability of local and specialist cheesemaking at this time.

Taking place over the May Bank Holiday weekend (8-10 May), the British Cheese Weekender will encourage shoppers to enjoy the best cheeses from around the UK, alongside a three-day schedule of free online pairings and tastings.

To celebrate, we are launching a special British Cheese Weekender Deli Box. Available to order from Saturday 2^nd May, it celebrates our award-winning, artisan cheese, as well as championing local food producers from in and around Yorkshire. Featured are speciality cheeses such as Kit Calvert Old-style Wensleydale, Wensleydale Blue, Yorkshire Wensleydale, plus Yorkshire Cheddar, and a firm favourite in our Cheese Shop, Yorkshire Wensleydale & Ginger. They’ve been paired with specially selected accompaniments, including chutney, fruitcake & oatcakes.

Joining a line-up of respected British cheesemakers, we’ll be delivering an online tutorial, led by our top Cheese Expert, Phil Jones at 4.30pm on Sunday 10^th May. You can sample cheese from the Deli Box alongside Phil as he ‘grades’ (cheese terminology for checking the cheese) and tastes a mouth-watering selection of cheese – explaining how a Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese is uniquely different from Yorkshire Cheddar and what makes the Kit Calvert Old-style Wensleydale and Wensleydale Blue so special. He will share the secrets of grading an award-winning cheese and advise on how to best pair cheese with other accompaniments.

The industry has been quick to respond to the current crisis with cheesemakers, cheesemongers, farm shops and delis rapidly pivoting their businesses to be able to sell cheese online.  Along with its comprehensive range of favourite Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese, our new Online Deli also features Old Roan cheese by local Wensleydale farmhouse cheese-maker, The Home Farmer, and a large selection of local produce from crackers, chutneys and oils to biscuits, fruitcake, sweets and chocolate.

We feel privileged to come together with specialist cheese-makers across the UK to celebrate and highlight artisan cheese-makers and traditional cheese-making skills in Britain. We’re fortunate to have exceptionally skilled specialists handcrafting quality cheese up and down the country who are reliant upon consumers’ support during this time, many of whom weren’t available online previously. We hope that by supporting the British Cheese Weekender, we can ignite people’s appreciation for specialist cheese and encourage as many shoppers as possible to support local and help sustain those businesses who have been impacted by the current situation.

Best-selling author Ned Palmer will also be delivering the history of British Cheese in 30 minutes as part of the British Cheese Weekender events. In his acclaimed book, A Cheese Mongers History of the British Isles, Ned explored the fascinating history behind Kit Calvert, the ‘father of Wensleydale cheese’, who helped to save Wensleydale Creamery from closure in 1935. The Creamery’s Kit Calvert Old-style Wensleydale is a cheese with significant heritage, named in honour of Kit Calvert and produced using a unique recipe emulating cheese made in farmhouses during the early 20^th century.

The Wensleydale Creamery tutorial will take place on Sunday 10^th May at 4:30pm via https://blog.academyofcheese.org/british-cheese-weekender/whats-on-sunday-10th-may. The Big Cheese Weekender Deli Box is available to purchase here.

Find out more about the British Cheese Weekender, as well as look up local cheesemakers and shops selling farmhouse and specialist cheese by visiting:

https://blog.academyofcheese.org/british-cheese-weekender.

The hashtags for the initiative are: #SupportSmallCheesemakers #BritishCheeseWeekender