Britain is absolutely chockfull of cheesemakers these days. We make over 700 varieties – that’s more than France – and even the supermarkets stock artisan wedges from across the UK. Putting together a knockout cheeseboard has never been easier, and it’s thanks to people like Giel Spierings that we no longer have to look abroad for world-class varieties.
Giel is the man behind The Cornish Gouda Company, a small farm-based business outside of Looe. Gouda is well-known in the UK, but tends to lumped in that category of uninteresting European varieties that are often found shrink-wrapped on supermarket shelves. Growing up in Holland meant Giel knew the stuff in the UK was a pale imitation of the real thing.
‘We’re originally from Holland and gouda has a pretty bad reputation over here – people tend to think it’s rubbery and bland,’ he explains. ‘But I know a proper farmhouse gouda made traditionally results in a fantastically flavoured cheese. It’s the same as cheddar, where you get pretty uninteresting factory-made varieties and then the really good farmhouse stuff. It’s funny – in Holland, everyone thinks cheddar is rubbery and bland because they only have access to the mass-made types. That’s what gouda is like here.’