Quickes Traditional are a local cheese company run from Home Farm which is situated near the village of Newton St. Cyres. The Quicke family have been running the farm there for over 450 years! 25 years ago Sir John Quicke and his wife Prue built the dairy, where Sir John’s daughter Mary continues to produce outstanding cheeses today.They make award winning cheese from the milk from their own dairy herd. All of their cheese is made by their 9 skilled cheese makers and can be matured for up to 24 months!
As I have repeatedly said on this blog, I LOVE cheese. They are also passionate about their cheese and products. I spoke with Mary Quicke, who gave me 3 of her cheeses to try for myself. A mild, mature and vintage! I also saw them at Exeter Christmas fayre and got myself some of their smoked cheese as well.
Quickes Traditional Mild Cheddar
A lot of people tend to dismiss a mild cheese nowadays. People seem to be accustomed to a supermarket mature cheddar as that seems to be the only cheese that has any kind of flavour, but this cheese is different. It has a rich, smooth and creamy texture with a slight nutty taste. I tried this cheese with some of Hillsides Speciality Foods chutneys and pickles, as well as their biscuits. The cheese worked well with all of their different flavours as well as being super tasty on its own. The mild cheddar cheese is the youngest by Quickes Traditional, and is matured for 3-4 months. For a mild cheese it is still very much full of flavour.
Quickes Traditional Mature Cheddar
This is the most famous cheese by Quickes and has been left slowly maturing in a muslin-wrapped truckle for a year. This creates a wonderful rich and complex flavour. This cheese is something special, and was thoroughly enjoyed by us both. The flavour was very strong, but not overpowering and of a more crumbly texture. I don't think that any cheese board in the land should be without this! Because of the strong flavour, it would also be a great cheese to use during cooking, but less is more!
Quickes Traditional Vintage Cheddar
We have tried the youngest, now it is time to move on the the oldest of the Quickes range. Matured for over 2 years, this cheese is the strongest of all the ones that I have tried. Due to its maturity it has an almost blue cheese flavouring to it, rich and strong. It also leaves a lovely lingering taste on tongue after every bite. Lovely, crumbly and not for the faint hearted!
Quickes Traditional Oak Smoked Cheddar
Quickes Traditional Mature Cheddar
This is the most famous cheese by Quickes and has been left slowly maturing in a muslin-wrapped truckle for a year. This creates a wonderful rich and complex flavour. This cheese is something special, and was thoroughly enjoyed by us both. The flavour was very strong, but not overpowering and of a more crumbly texture. I don't think that any cheese board in the land should be without this! Because of the strong flavour, it would also be a great cheese to use during cooking, but less is more!
Quickes Traditional Vintage Cheddar
We have tried the youngest, now it is time to move on the the oldest of the Quickes range. Matured for over 2 years, this cheese is the strongest of all the ones that I have tried. Due to its maturity it has an almost blue cheese flavouring to it, rich and strong. It also leaves a lovely lingering taste on tongue after every bite. Lovely, crumbly and not for the faint hearted!
Quickes Traditional Oak Smoked Cheddar
One of the Quickes mature cheddars is specially selected after maturing for 12-14 months to be smoked for 3-4 hours over oak chips from their farm's woodland. This gives the rich and smoky taste with every bite. The cheese is smoked for just the right amount of time, so that the flavour is strong enough, but not so strong that you feel like you are licking ash! You have multiple layers of flavour, started with the smoke flavour, then to the smooth buttery cheese and then you're left with a clean pallet. I enjoyed every mouthful of this cheese and I think that it is the nicest smoked cheese I have ever eaten (and I have eaten a LOT!)
I cannot recommend these cheeses enough, and just wanted to say a special thank you to Mary Quicke for letting me try some!! These will take pride of place on my Christmas cheese board and I know that they will be enjoyed by all!
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