Craft Guild’s chefs tour Milk Link Foodservice’s Tuxford & Tebbutt creamery

Milk Link Foodservice hosted a group of chefs from the Craft Guild of Chefs at its award winning Tuxford & Tebbutt creamery in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire.

The tour, which was designed to provide an overview on stilton cheese and its use in the kitchen, included a cheese grading session, cookery demonstration, sampling activity and tour of the creamery.

Tony Robertson, a Milk Link Foodservice chef, demonstrated the versatility and cookability of cheese by showcasing recipes such as savoury apple stilton and spinach squeak, and poached pears with Shropshire blue cheese. He also provided the group with tips and techniques on how to get the best from stilton and Shropshire blue which are often just seen as cheeseboard cheese.

The grading session guided the chefs through the stilton maturation process. Experienced graders make the stilton by hand using traditional methods and milk sourced only from the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. The cheese is matured individually, and turned and graded by hand, to ensure that the highest quality and taste standards are maintained, which is an important factor for chefs.

Creamery visitor, Kevin Williams from Dolserau Hall, commented: "The tour was really valuable; experiencing first hand the production process will really help me cook with stilton back in my restaurant."

Louise Wagstaffe from Delicious by Design added: "I was overwhelmed by the passion, commitment and knowledge of the graders. Having seen the traditional methods employed at the creamery and the level of care and attention given to the cheese, it's clear to see that there is a lot more to cheese production than many people realise – it's an artisan craft."

Tuxford & Tebbutt remains one of only six creameries in the world able to produce stilton, the 'king of English cheese', and it has a long history of making world class stilton. In 2009 it was named as Supreme Champion at the Royal Welsh Show and at the Bakewell Show, and took home a host of gold awards from events such as the Nantwich International Cheese Awards and the Great Yorkshire Show.

Craig Dillon, head of Milk Link Foodservice, added: "We were delighted to be able to show members of the Craft Guild around our Tuxford & Tebbutt creamery. We hope that the takeout is that stilton is a cheese which can be used everyday."

The event is one in a series of creamery visits Milk Link Foodservice has organised for the Craft Guild of Chefs. A group recently visited Milk Link's Taw Valley creamery in North Tawton, Devon, to learn more about the cheddar cheese production process. A third trip to Reeces' creamery in Cheshire – Milk Link's 'crumbly' territorial creamery – is also planned for early June.

Words: Sheila Eggleston

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