Dovedale cheese
Also known as: Dovedale Blue, Dovedale PDO
Dovedale cheese is an English soft blue PDO cheese made from cow's milk at Hartington in Derbyshire.
Dovedale cheese is a soft, full-fat blue cheese made from cow's milk. It is produced at Hartington in Derbyshire, with milk from farms in the Peak District. The paste is creamy white with even blue veining, the texture is smooth and open, and the flavour is clean and distinctive.
The recipe is whole milk (about 96.5 %), starter culture, rennet, blue mould culture and salt (about 3 %). The milk is pasteurised, then starter, rennet and mould are added; the curd is cut, drained, put into hoops, brined and pierced. The cheese matures in the creamery at 8–14 °C and 80–90 % humidity. Milk comes from Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire, and at peak times from Shropshire and Cheshire too.
Hartington has made blue cheese since about 1870. Only three people make the cheese in the creamery, and their skills have been handed down through generations. The specification sets the area as fifty miles from Dovedale.
Fat is 25–35 % and moisture 40–60 %. The cheese is usually despatched 3–4 weeks after making, as a cylinder about 20 cm wide and 6–8 cm high, weighing 2–2.75 kg, wrapped in foil.
Why it matters to you: it is a separate British blue cheese alongside Stilton, with its own name, its own area and PDO protection. The specification gives a shelf life of 32 days from despatch.
Facts
| Registered | PDO; Reg. (EC) 1107/96 (1996) |
|---|---|
| Raw material | Whole cow's milk (pasteurised), rennet, blue mould culture |
| Region | Hartington, Derbyshire; milk from the Peak District, England |
| Duration | Usually despatched 3–4 weeks after making |
| Taste | Clean, distinctive; creamy white paste with blue veining |
How it connects to Cheese
Dovedale cheese → kind of → 🔵 Blue cheeses → kind of → 🧀 Cheese
Links
- Made from which milk
- 🥛 Cow's milk
- Part of
- 🔵 Blue cheeses, 🏷️ Protected cheese names, 🇬🇧 British cheeses
Frequently asked questions
What milk is Dovedale made from?
Pasteurised cow's milk from Peak District farms.
Where is it made?
At Hartington in Derbyshire, a creamery that has made blue cheese since about 1870.
What does it look and taste like?
Creamy white paste with even blue veining, a smooth open texture and a clean, distinctive flavour.
How big is a Dovedale cheese?
A cylinder about 20 cm wide and 6–8 cm high, weighing 2–2.75 kg.
Is it true that Dovedale is just another name for Stilton?
No. It is a different cheese with its own protected name, Dovedale cheese; both are British blues.
Similar
Dorset Blue Cheese · Exmoor Blue Cheese · Jihočeská Niva · Jihočeská Zlatá Niva · 🧀 Stilton · 🧀 Strachitunt
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