Simon Jones, who makes Lincolnshire Poacher, is the fourth generation to be running the family farm (which has been run by the family since 1917). It is situated on the edge of the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds about five miles from the east coast. The lush pastures sit on chalky land, which enables him to have a dairy herd and some arable land in an area where dairy farms are very scarce and cheesemaking is virtually unknown.
A large part of the farm is currently in conversion to organic status with the Soil Association, so pesticides and fungicides are no longer used on any of this land. Full accreditation should be achieved by April 2002, so fully matured organic Lincolnshire Poacher will be available from autumn 2003 – watch this space.
Lincolnshire Poacher is a handmade, traditional recipe, unpasteurised cheese. It is made using milk from a herd of 170 Holstein cows between the months of October and May. It is not made in the summer months partly because the farm is heavily involved in harvest but also because the majority of the herd calve in autumn, so most of the cows are producing little milk in the summer.
Although the cheese is not dissimilar to the unpasteurised cheddar’s of the West Country, the recipe used is slightly different and this allows the cheese to be matured for an unusually long time – it is generally matured for 15-18 months. All of the cheeses are regularly hand turned to ensure an even maturation throughout the cheese.
Since cheesemaking started nine years ago, things have gone from strength to strength and it has picked up numerous awards along the way. None more prized than Supreme Champion at the British Cheese Awards in 1996/7 and gold medals in 1997/8 and 1998/9. Indeed, it is the only cheese to have been awarded three consecutive gold medals at the British Awards.
Simon is absolutely passionate about his “girls” to such an extent that he can name every cow on the farm by sight! His choice of names, however, is a little dubious – they range from Daisy and Ermintrude, that you might expect, to Radar Bucket and Slingsby Geranium!! He has also been spotted at the county show, spending the whole night sleeping next to one of his prized cows and in the morning he was seen with a blow dryer in his hand making sure she was looking her best!!
The cheese is particularly well suited to sweet white wines such as a Southern French or Spanish Muscat. It also goes well with fortified wines such as sherry or vintage port. It is best eaten with a good hunk of French bread, a glass of the above and of course, in good company!
Lincolnshire Poacher was judged to be of GOLD MEDAL standard at the British Cheese Awards 2001.