Wensleydale cheese

{{Infobox cheese

| name = Wensleydale

| image = Wensleydale cheese 2.jpg

| othernames =

| country = England

| regiontown =

| region = Wensleydale, North Yorkshire

| town =

| source = Cows (formerly ewes)

| pasteurised =

| texture = Medium, crumbly

| fat =

| protein =

| dimensions =

| weight =

| aging = 3–6 months

| certification = PGI 2013 (Yorkshire Wensleydale){{cite web|title=Denomination Information Yorkshire Wensleydale|url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2013:231:0020:0024:EN:PDF|publisher=OJEU|access-date=18 May 2014}}

}}

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.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/12/29/go-somewhere-cheese-gromit/|title=We'll go somewhere there's cheese, Gromit!|first=Jack|last=Torrance|date=29 December 2017|access-date=15 July 2018|work=The Telegraph}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wensleydale.co.uk/blog/the-wensleydale-creamery-unveils-seasonal-yorkshire-wensleydale-cranberries-packaging/|title=The Wensleydale Creamery unveils seasonal Yorkshire Wensleydale & Cranberries packaging |work= Wensleydale Blog|date=15 November 2017 |access-date=15 July 2018}} The style of cheese originated from a monastery of French Cistercian monks who had settled in northern England, and continued to be produced by local farmers after the monastery was dissolved in 1540. Wensleydale cheese fell to low production in the early 1990s, but its popularity was revitalized by frequent references in the Wallace & Gromit series.

Flavour and texture

Wensleydale is a medium cheese that is supple and crumbly. It has a slight honey aroma.{{cite web

|url=http://www.cheesesdirect.com/wensleydaletruckles.htm |title=Wensleydale Cheese |access-date=3 July 2008 |publisher=Lawsons Cheeses Direct |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080513202502/http://www.cheesesdirect.com/wensleydaletruckles.htm |archive-date = 13 May 2008}}{{cite web|title=Wensleydale Creamery - Artisan Cheeses|url=https://www.wensleydale.co.ukabout/yorkshire-wensleydale-cheese/|access-date=9 July 2020|website=Wensleydale Creamery}}{{Dead link|date=January 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

=Common flavour combinations=

The flavour of Wensleydale is suited to combination with sweeter produce, such as sweet apples. Many restaurants and delicatessens serve a version of the cheese that contains cranberries.{{cite web|title=Cheese.com: Wensleydale|url=https://cheese.com/wensleydale/|access-date=23 August 2017}}

In Yorkshire and North East England, the cheese is often eaten with fruit cake or Christmas cake.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetoengl00jule|title=The rough guide to England|date=2004|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=1843532492|edition=6th|location=London|oclc=59321351|page=948}}{{cite book|last=Gundrey|first=Elizabeth|url=https://archive.org/details/stayingoffbeaten00gund|title=Staying off the beaten track|date=1992|publisher=Arrow|isbn=0099864002|edition=12th|oclc=655867327|page=353}}

History

File:Wensleydale Creamery - geograph.org.uk - 1343509.jpg in Hawes, North Yorkshire]]

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.{{cite book |last= Rance |first= Patrick |title= The Great British Cheese Book |year= 1982 |publisher= Macmillan|isbn=9780333486986}} 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.{{cite book|first=Steven W. |last=Jenkins|title=Cheese Primer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TmRuoa40mQgC&pg=PA308|date=1 January 1996|publisher=Workman Publishing Company|isbn=978-0-89480-762-6|pages=308–311}} 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".{{cite web| url=http://www.cooksinfo.com/government-cheddar-cheese | title=Government Cheddar Cheese | publisher=CooksInfo.com | access-date=17 July 2014}} Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels.{{cite web | url=http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/about/history/ | title=History of Wensleydale Cheese | access-date=3 July 2008 | publisher=Wensleydale Creamery | archive-date=11 November 2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091111151531/http://www.wensleydale.co.uk/about/history/ | url-status=dead }}

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.{{cite news| url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?pageID=65230 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110103112517/http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/CustomPages/CustomPage.aspx?pageID=65230|archive-date=3 January 2011| work= Yorkshire Post| title=Uniquely Yorkshire | access-date=31 July 2008 }}{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/door/appliedName.html?denominationId=950 |title=EU Application for Yorkshire Wensleydale |access-date= 16 April 2009}}

References in culture

File:Wensleydale Creamery (6287).jpg

File:Wensleydale with Cranberries cheese.jpg

George Orwell rated Wensleydale second behind Stilton in his 1945 essay "In Defence of English Cooking".{{cite web |last1=Orwell |first1=George |title=In Defence of English Cooking |url=https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/in-defence-of-english-cooking/ |website=www.orwellfoundation.com |date=15 December 1945}}

In the 1990s, sales of Wensleydale cheese from the Wensleydale Creamery had fallen so low that production in Wensleydale itself was at risk of being suspended.{{cite news |url=http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/Wensleydale-is-big-cheese-in.1571748.jp |title=Wensleydale is big cheese in world awards |newspaper=Yorkshire Post |date=17 June 2006 |access-date=31 July 2008 |last=Waites |first=Mike |quote=In 1992 the 100-year-old creamery was in danger of closing, along with the threat that virtually all Wensleydale Cheese production would move out of its traditional home|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126121915/http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/local-stories/wensleydale-is-big-cheese-in-world-awards-1-2375201|archive-date=26 November 2015}} The cheese experienced a boost in its popularity after being featured in the Wallace & Gromit franchise. The main character of the series, Wallace, a cheese connoisseur, most notably mentions Wensleydale as a particularly favourite cheese in the 1995 short A Close Shave. Animator and creator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate the lip sync to rather than due to its origins in northern England where the shorts were set. He was also unaware of the financial difficulties that the company was experiencing.{{cite web| url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104361/trivia | title=A Grand Day Out (1989)—Trivia | publisher=uk.imdb.com |access-date=31 July 2008 }} The company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of Wensleydale cheese called, "Wallace & Gromit Wensleydale", which sold well.{{cite web| url=https://wallaceandgromit.com/history | title=Wensleydale | publisher=www.wallaceandgromit.com |access-date=23 February 2019 |first=Elizabeth |last=Krumbach}} When the 2005 full-length Wallace & Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses increased by 23%.{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=7&entry_id=1781/ | title=Wallace & Gromit Boost Cheese Sales | access-date=3 July 2008 | publisher=SFgate.com |first=Karen |last=Reardanz |date=15 November 2005}}

Wensleydale is one of the cheeses mentioned in the Cheese shop sketch of Monty Python's Flying Circus that Mr. Mousebender attempts to purchase, without success. There is a glimmer of hope the shop may have this variety of cheese, only for the proprietor to reveal that his name is Arthur Wensleydale, and he thought he was being personally addressed.{{cn|date=February 2024}}