Yorkshire Wensleydale Cheese

Wensleydale is a style of cheese originally produced in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, England, but now mostly made in large commercial creameries throughout the United Kingdom. The term "Yorkshire Wensleydale" can only be used for cheese that is made in Wensleydale

Wensleydale cheese was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They built a monastery at Fors, but some years later the monks moved to Jervaulx in Lower Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from sheep's milk. During the 14th century cows' milk began to be used instead, and the character of the cheese began to change. A little ewes' milk was still mixed in since it gave a more open texture, and allowed the development of the blue mould. At that time, Wensleydale was almost always blue with the white variety almost unknown. Nowadays, the opposite is true, with blue Wensleydale rarely seen. ] When the monastery was dissolved in 1540, the local farmers continued making the cheese until the Second World War, during which most milk in the country was used for the making of "Government Cheddar". Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels

The first creamery to produce Wensleydale commercially was established in 1897 in the town of Hawes. Wensleydale Dairy Products, who bought the Wensleydale Creamery in 1992, sought to protect the name Yorkshire Wensleydale under an EU regulation; Protected Geographical Indication status was awarded in 2013.

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28 January, 2023 - Savinkil | 0 Comments

Around the time that the Wallace and Gromit films started coming out, a cheese by the name of Wensleydale had been experiencing a worrying decrease in sales. The makers of the cheese thought they might have to cease production—but then Wallace proclaimed his love for Wensleydale and turned it all around.

Wensleydale doesn’t take a central role in the films—it’s mentioned in passing. In their shortA Close Shave, for example, Wallace invites a woman he has a crush on in for some cheese and crackers. When she admits she’s allergic to cheese and says she’ll pass, Wallace is taken aback. “Not even Wensleydale?” he asks. Needless to say, that was the end of that relationship.

The decision to mention Wensleydale as Wallace’s favorite cheese was fairly arbitrary. The makers of the films simply chose to use it because of the sound of the name, which would be interesting to animate coming from Wallace’s mouth. But the image of Wallace and his beloved Wensleydale ended up making quite the mark on viewers.

Wensleydale was originally named after the region in England in which it was made. The cheese has a distinct flavor due to the limestone-based pastures that the cows in this region graze on. In the ’90s,Wensleydale Creamery had to leave Wensleydale, which changed the character of the cheese and further hurt the already struggling brand (Wensleydale had been trying to get back on the map since milk rationing during WWII stunted the British cheese industry). Wallace and Gromit unintentionally revived the cheese’s reputation just in time. After the release of their 2005 feature film,Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wensleydale sales had increased by 23%.