- Dorset Blue Vinney
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Dorset Blue Vinney 
Country of origin England Region, town Dorset Source of milk Cows Pasteurised No Texture Hard, crumbly Aging time 6 weeks Certification Protected Geographical Indication Dorset Blue Vinney (frequently spelled "vinny") is a traditional blue cheese made near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England, from skimmed cows' milk. It is a hard, crumbly cheese. "Vinney" is a local Dorset term related to the obsolete word "vinew", which means to become mouldy. Another explanation has it that "vinny" is a corruption of "veiny", referring to the blue veins running throughout the cheese.
Historically the cheese was merely a by-product of the much more lucrative butter market. Milk was of little value before the railways as it couldn't be brought to market before it went off, thus cheese and butter production was the main focus of dairy farms. Dorset butter was highly regarded in London where it fetched a premium price but making butter left the farmers with large quantities of skimmed milk which they turned into a hard, crumbly cheese.[1]
While the cheese was a common farmhouse cheese in Dorset for hundreds of years, production dried up around 1970 and the cheese became extinct. However, in the 1980s Woodbridge Farm in Dorset revived the old recipe, and it is now producing the cheese again.
In his poem Praise O' Do'set,[2] the Dorset poet William Barnes asks,
- Woont ye have brown bread a-put ye,
- An' some vinny cheese a-cut ye?
It is often made from unpasteurised milk. This is considered healthy by some and risky by others due to the potential for tuberculosis from infected cows passing into the milk. It has a strong taste and smell.
Blue Vinney goes well with Dorset Knobs, another traditional product from Dorset. The cheese was Thomas Hardy's favourite.
References
- ^ "True Blue". Dorset Life Magazine. http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2008/11/true-blue/. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
- ^ Poems of Rural Life in the Dorset Dialect by William Barnes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd., 1903
External links
British cheeses England Applewood · Bowland · Buxton Blue · Cheddar · Cheshire · Chevington · Coquetdale · Derby · Dorset Blue Vinney · Dovedale · Fine Fettle Yorkshire · Five Counties · Gloucester · Harbourne Blue · Lancashire · Lincolnshire Poacher · Little Derby · Newport 1665 · Norbury Blue · Red Leicester · Red Windsor · Sage Derby · Shropshire Blue · Stichelton · Stilton · Stinking Bishop · Sussex Slipcote · Swaledale · Waterloo · Wensleydale · Wrekin White · Yarg
Scotland Bonchester · Caboc · Crowdie · Dunlop · Lanark Blue
Wales Caerphilly · Pantysgawn · Tintern · Y Fenni
Manufacturers
& brandsCathedral City · Coleraine · Ilchester Cheese Company · Neal's Yard Dairy · Pilgrims Choice · Yeo Valley Organic
Blue cheeses Ädelost • Aura • Bleu Bénédictin • Bleu de Bresse • Bleu des Causses • Bleu d'Auvergne • Bleu de Gex • Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage • Bleuchâtel • Blue Castello • Buxton Blue • Cabrales cheese • Cambozola • Cashel Blue • Cheshire cheese • Crozier Blue • Danish Blue • Dolcelatte • Dorset Blue Vinney • Dovedale cheese • Dragon's Breath Blue • Fourme d'Ambert • Fourme de Montbrison • Gamalost • Gorgonzola • Grinzola • Lanark Blue • Lymeswold cheese • Maytag Blue cheese • Newport 1665 • Norbury Blue • Picón Bejes-Tresviso • Rokpol • Roquefort • Saga cheese • Saint Agur Blue • Shropshire Blue • Stichelton • Stilton cheese • Valdeón cheese • Wensleydale cheese • Wrekin WhiteCategories:- English cheeses
- Cow's-milk cheeses
- Blue cheeses
- Culture in Dorset
- Ark of Taste foods
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