Virtual Cheese Awards’ Supreme Champions Hamper

Description

The Virtual Cheese Awards (VCA) was set up as a response to lockdown by the wonderful Sarah de Wit, who has worked in the cheese industry for over twenty years, including a stint for ASDA.  She realised that there were no platforms for artisan cheesemakers to launch their new cheeses, and this would mean the cheese market would lack the diversity and innovation which comes from small cheesemakers and producers.  

The awards happen in May of each year now, and we are proud that two of our cheeses, Renegade Monk and La Fresca Margarita have won Supreme Champion in 2020 and 2021.  Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar won Supreme Champion in 2022.  

What’s interesting about this is that all of the Supreme Champions are produced and made within 5 miles of each other as the crow flies.   And whilst our Feltham’s Farm cheeses are non-traditional –  albeit organic and artisan – Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar is a fifth generation recipe for that most traditional of British cheeses, Cheddar.  

These three cheeses are a celebration of the diversity of great artisan British cheesemaking.  

You will receive all three Supreme Champions in one hamper as follows : 

1/  Supreme Champion 2020 – Renegade Monk is a soft, blue, organic cow’s cheese, drunkenly washed in ale.  It is a multi-award winning cheese, including having won Gold at the Mondial du Fromage in Tours 2021.  

Using artisan techniques on a newly developed recipe, Renegade Monk is made from organic, pasteurised cow’s milk while the set curd is then hand washed in organic ale every few days as the cheese matures. Maturation takes no more than four weeks.  

Cheesemaker, Marcus Fergusson, deliberately created a cheese of a style not traditionally found in Britain – but rather a cheese inspired by a range of Continental cheeses. It is most often compared to an Epoisses, but with an added hint of (occasionally visible) blue. 

2/ Supreme Champion 2021 –  La Fresca Margarita.  An organic “queso fresco” inspired by our travels in Spain, and Latin America.  It is available Salted and Unsalted.  It’s a lemony, fresh cheese, which is equally good drizzled with honey (as developed by our friends at Durslade Farmshop with their homegrown Somerset honey) and figs (the unsalted version), or used as a filling in a Mexican tacos (the salted one).  People are telling us it makes the most divine cheesecakes as well.  We say it really is best eaten within two weeks of make, though it will last longer.  

3/  Supreme Champion 2022 – Keen’s Extra Mature Cheddar.  Traditional Unpasteurised Cheddar was awarded Supreme Champion in 2022 Virtual Cheese Awards.  Cheddar has been made by George Keen and his family on Moorhaye’s Farm since 1899.   This cheddar follows a a fifth generation recipe (a closely guarded secret!), and is moist, tangy and powerful.  The truckles are clothbound and matured for 12 months giving a rich creamy flavour with a hint of citrus to finish.  

Recommended Retail Price of each of these cheeses is £6-12 depending on where you buy your cheese (hello Mayfair..)

4/  Two Packs of Biscuits – Included in your box are two packs of the finest biscuits from the Fine Cheese Company – recommended Retail Price of £2.80 each so approximately £5 of biscuits here.  

5/  One of either a jar of blackberry & apple chutney or quince jelly OR wrap of Somerset Membrillo – from our brilliant new local Somerset partners The Jam Shed from Lytes Cary or Somerset Membrillo.  The jars weigh 125g and the wraps of membrillo also weigh approximately 120g.   Retail value is £2.50-4 of each of these.  We have covered our bases offering these options, because as local partners they use small batch production, and sometimes it’s harder to obtain the fruit (quince for example) than at other times.  But we love both products and makers.  

We pack all this in an insulated eco-box, with ice-packs – please recycle and re-use where you can.  And post to you for guaranteed next day delivery.  

You can specify a future date you would like this delivered when you order in the Notes section.  We run deliveries from Tuesday – Friday inclusive. 

Don’t forget to put your mobile, not landline number as DHL will text you delivery times.  

We pay a portion of this hamper to the Virtual Cheese Awards for the use of their name and logo, and because we think they do really great work supporting British Cheese.  Thank you to Sarah de Wit and all her team…

We love the Virtual Cheese Awards (VCA) and not just because our cheeses win awards there.  We love it because 400 + artisan cheeses are judged live, online, by professional foodies.  This is a hugely valuable resource for any cheesemaker.  It’s about best practice.  Cheesemakers, cheesemongers, cheese buyers and cheese lovers get a chance to see how other professional foodies judge cheese, which opens them up to new tastes and flavours.  It raises the bar for everyone.