The cheeses that we love – Francisco and Sabina Perello, The Cheese Hole

The founders of fabulous independent shop, The Cheese Hole in Bury St Edmunds (one of our Inspirational Cheese Retailers) share their favourite varieties.

Baron Bigod, Fen Farm Dairy

This cheese has to be at the top of our list. We were deeply inspired to continue on what turned out to be a seven-year journey of discovery of cheese (which ultimately led to the opening of our shop in Bury St Edmunds), following a meeting with Jonny and Dulcie Crickmore at Fen Farm back in the early days of Baron Bigod’s amazing journey.

The inspiration came about as we stood in one of Jonny’s fields, in the fertile marshland of the Waveney River Valley, nose to nose with his Montbeliarde cows, and listened to his story of the dedication and hard work of becoming a cheese producing dairy farmer. Now we both say, and we are sure he won’t mind, ‘we’re cheesemongers, it’s all Jonny’s fault!’.

Bigod is an exceptional traditional farmhouse Brie-de-Meaux-style cheese, produced traditionally in small batches in Suffolk, using fresh morning milk from the herd. It has a silky golden paste encased in a bloomy rind, with intense, delicious mushroomy flavours and occasional notes of citrus. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s high time you did!

Stichelton, Stichelton Dairy

A fabulous artisanal British blue cheese, made by Joe Schneider and his team to an historic recipe, using raw milk and traditional methods/

Produced at the Welbeck Estate, on the northern tip of the Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Stichelton has a range of flavours, from creamy, rich and buttery, to nutty, and even a slightly malty biscuit toastiness, with a gentle blue finish.

We love it. We find it certainly does vary from season to season, which makes it what we call ‘an experience’, as every mouthful can be an amazing surprise.

Stichelton is highly versatile. It can be crumbled into salads, and its salty flavour can be balanced with honey, figs and pears, melted into cream sauce for a fabulous pasta dish, or used to top a juicy steak or burger, to name just a few.

Murcia al Vino PDO

We adore this one! A hard Spanish goats’ cheese soaked in a Murcian red wine bath for 72 hours - what could be more sublime? Being immersed in red wine allows the cheese to develop a stunning dark red/purple rind. In Spanish this translates into ‘cabra al vino’, or ‘drunken goat’, which I think is perfect.

This cheese was Sabina’s father’s favourite, and we always stock it at The Cheese Hole, but we call it ‘Paco’s Cheese’ which our customers love. On breaking it open, the mix of the wine rind and the fabulous creaminess of this cheese gives off a sophisticated and dreamy aroma that harks back to days spent in a classic old-style Spanish tapas bar.

Murcia al Vino has PDO status, meaning that it is protected, so it can only be produced using unpasteurised raw milk from Murcian goat herds in Murcia - a province in South-East Spain.

What would we pair this delightful cheese with? Quite honestly, we would always enjoy it with the classic tapas accompaniments of olives, quince, charcuterie and a good crusty bread.

Alp Blossom, Hofkaserei Kraus

Not only is it an absolute thing of beauty to behold on a cheeseboard, but Alp Blossom’s coating of delicate meadow flowers and herbs ensures it has a delicious aromatic flavour. Flowers used include dried rose petals, calendula, lavender and cornflowers. It is crafted by Albert Kraus in the stunning region of Allgau, in Bavaria, Germany, using milk from two herds of Brown Swiss cow. It has a higher protein and butterfat content, giving a sweet and gentle creaminess together with an umami beefiness and nuttiness reminiscent of Gruyere, that combines with the aromatic, flowery rind, giving this cheese its unique herbaceous flavour. 

Just a slice makes for the perfect ‘popping round for dinner’ gift or to brighten up someone’s day. It’s also great for a cheese wedding tower.

Less is more with this one. We enjoy it with a dry Riesling or even a glass of very cold Bavarian beer.

Quicke’s Mature Clothbound Cheddar, Quicke’s

This is Cheddar cheese at its best!

A raw milk, clothbound beauty produced by the Quicke family in Devon, matured for 12 to 15 months.

It’s full-flavoured, rich, buttery, and sweet with a sturdy crunch, all at the same time. We love it when you can taste the sweet grassy hay notes, reminiscent of summer.

We enjoy it simply with sourdough crackers and sliced apple.

Nidelven Blå, Gangstad Gaardsysteri

An astonishingly delicious and complex blue, which won best cheese at the 2023 World Cheese Awards.

Nidelven Blå is made from pasteurised cow’s milk, produced by Gangstad Gårdsysteri in Inderøy, Norway. This artisan cheese is known for its dense, fudgy texture, fruity overtones, and elegant, wine-like characteristics. 

It’s proved so popular they had to scale up production, and there was a period when it was difficult to get hold of. Fortunately, supplies are now secure and it’s one of our most popular blues. Tangy, bright with cream, and barely solid in its texture with a lovely aromatic buttery finish – it’s superlative.

O. G. Goat, Kaasboerderij ‘t Groendal

An 18-month goats’ milk Gouda enriched with cow’s cream. It’s dense, rich, tangy and savoury, with sweet cream tones, caramel and butterscotch notes, and a luscious, enveloping paste. The addition of cow’s cream enhances the texture, and it’s known for its tyrosine development. 

It blew our socks off when we first tried it. Sublime.

Asiago Fresco

A fresh cow’s milk cheese with a mild, bouncy texture. Lactic and fresh, it’s the snacking cheese of kings.

It is semi-hard and known for its slightly sweet. soft, creamy texture, and typically white or pale yellow paste, with a thin, elastic rind. Asiago Fresco is aged for a short period - typically 20 to 30 days - which contributes to its delicate and fresh taste. 

It is very versatile too - great for sandwiches, melting in dishes, and pairing with other ingredients, especially fruit, nuts, bread, lager and white wine. We have a chunk before bedtime far too often.

Cheese Maker’s Special, Alsop & Walker

A 10-month Cheddar-style cheese like no other. Made from a blend of four different breeds of cow’s milk, it is surprisingly naturally sweet with a fudgy texture, a nice savoury undertone, and a buttery finish. Quite remarkable.

Cheese Maker’s Special is characterised by a delicate crunch from natural calcium crystals that develop during maturation - fairly unique for a softer cheese. 

Astonishingly good on buttered tagliatelle or fresh linguine with a knob of butter.

Carboncino, Caseficio dell’Alta Langa

This fantastic three-milk cheese hails from Piedmont. It is a perfect blend of cow, goat and sheep’s milk, and uses a vegetable charcoal covering. The result is a beautiful pale ivory colour, a firm but creamy rind, a subtle, soft centre, and a nicely balanced tangy flavour.

Carboncinos are made individually. Each cheese, when cut, reveals a small core and runny pate which is full flavoured but not overpowering and perfect for scraping up with crackers or crusty sourdough. Decadent beyond belief.