I've had a crush on this cheese for quite a while. Cheesemaker friends had always spoke very highly of it and every time my path crossed with this farmhouse blue, I got the "oh, whoa" effect. I'm a huge fan of Colsten Bassett Stilton and was not surprised to learn this began with a traditional Stilton recipe and process. Matt Benham, cheesemaker at Arethusa Farm Dairy, told me they still do the very laborious "rubbing up" process that involves sealing the rind of young wheels by smoothing them with a butter knife as though frosting a cake. Several weeks later the wheels are needled by hand and hand turned weekly, helping the blue to get in and do its magic.

The end result is incredible. The classic recipe combined with the characteristics of the extraordinary milk, and the aging facilities create a god-like blue, in my opinion. Matt hand-picked and sent me a couple huge hunks of two beautiful wheels that were so soft and crumbly and tasted of fresh cream, sweet and mellow.

It took a while for me to decide how best to set up and convey my love of this impressive cheese. Pieces "accidentally" fell off in the process and the more I tasted (you know, to keep it tidy) I finally surrendered to the fact it was too good not to make into a classic double portrait. I chose to make this a slightly larger painting and enough room to properly get into this chunky, crumbly terrain and really enjoy it's butteriness. I added some warmth to the shadow side with some reflected light and it just made perfect sense to me.

Country of Origin: USA, CT

Availability: sold