Cheese! I have an unhealthy love of the stuff.

Blue Stilton from the Value of Belvoir remains my all-time favourite and I know that it is a “marmite” thing (I love that too!). Stilton is ‘cooked up’ close to us but I think we can claim it as a Nottingham thing (those in Leicestershire may disagree). But Colwick Cheese is named after a place on the edge of Nottingham so that must be part of the us?

And in the last few weeks sales of the stuff have gone mad! This is mainly thanks to Jamie Oliver who made it their mission to revive the almost-forgotten cheese on Jamie And Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast, which aired on Channel 4 a couple of weeks ago.

The cheese, which is light and curdy, dates back to the 1600s. According to the current makers,

“Because of the way it is made; it has a unique shape, forming a bowl. The centre of the curd falls to the bottom of the mould while the sides still hold to the cheese cloth. Nottingham locals would place all sorts of flavourings into this bowl: jam; soft fruit such as strawberries, apples, pears etc. Others would eat a savoury version with onion, garlic or pieces of bread. It was also combined with cream in the hollowed out bowl and locals would spoon the two together.”

It went out of production in 1993 before making its comeback at the Melton Mowbray Artisan Cheese Fair in May. It is made in the Belvoir Ridge dairy at Crossroads Farm in Eastwell, using the milk from Red Poll cows at their farm.

Since the TV show demand has sky-rocketed and it is becoming a local delicacy agin. It’s not my favourite (it’s too mild for my palette). It seems that much of the demand has come from the older generation who remember it from their younger days.

For the fact that it has made a recent return it deserves to be on the list. Oh, and I love cheese – did I mention that?