Oxford Blue & Isis
Great British Food – 2007
Affinage means to refine or improve. The practice of affinage is a long standing tradition in France, where cheeses are kept by affineurs and matured, improved or altered in some manner. These specialists will take cheeses such as Tomme de Savoie, Morbier, Comté and Beaufort and by nurturng and maturing will bring them to a peak of excellence which the originals may perhaps not have reached. Others might take a cheese such as Camembert and by treating it with Calvados or cider produce a new product like Le Cados or Le Cacid, which can be seen to differ – if not always to be an improvement -on the original product.
Despite this long history on the other side of the channel, the concept of affinage is relatively new and still misunderstood in the UK. Although farmhouse Cheddars and other traditional cheeses have been matured to reach an increased quality of flavour, the first real affineur in England was the late James Aldridge who took Ducketts Caerphilly and by washing the rind, created a totally new cheese Tornegus.
Baron Pouget’s Oxford Blue is an example of extremely successful affinage. ” In 1996, I was searching to create my own blue cheese to meet the demand of Oxford Colleges’” explains the charismatic connoisseur, whose interest in artisan food is only matched by his desire that they be produced in an environmentally sustainable and ethical manner. “So I co-operated with the then boss of Nuttalls of Hartington, Steve Peace, to alter an existing blue cheese called Dovedale. I wanted a creamier, less salty product, and by shortening the brining time and maturing for longer and at a higher temperature, a new blue cheese with its own distinct character was created – Oxford Blue”.
Since then Baron Pouget has produced a new cheese, Oxford Isis – another example of affinage. By taking a young characterless cheese and spraying it with honey mead, then maturing and spraying a second time just before wrapping, the cheese develops a yellow orange rind. Once wrapped it continues to mature and improve, developing a deep, pungent creamy flavour reminiscent of Epoisses or L’Ami du Chambertim.
“It is to be hoped that other affineurs will come forward and bring their own perceived improvements to the ever increasing range of England’s artisan cheeses’. says Baron Pouget – and his habit of leading by enthusiastic example, it must be said, bodes well for such a positive development. Oxford Blue and Oxford Isis are not sold in any supermarket but can be found in good quality delis and farmshops, mainly in London and the south.
