Cheese fair helps whet appetites
THE authenticity of Irish farmhouse cheese can be traced not just to a region, but to a family, a small valley and even to the slopes of a mountain. It is a claim that fits in well with the global perception of Ireland as a wholesome fresh and green country with a reputation for producing quality food.
That powerful message was highlighted in Paris last week when Bord Bia for the first time hosted 14 Irish farmhouse cheesemakers at the leading trade fair, Salon du Fromage.
Up to 40 artisan cheeses from Ireland were showcased at the event which had more than 170 exhibitors from 12 countries.
Over 6,000 visitors attended the fair where the Bord Bia exhibition was one of only two non-French national pavilions.
Artisan cheese production in Ireland dates back to the Middle-Ages, but the current suite of producers is only 40 years in business.
Bord Bia’s website records how the revival came about in the 1970s on lands that had been farmed by the same families for generations and on smallholdings bought by people who wanted to escape to the peace of the Irish countryside.
The cheeses were first made to satisfy the family desire for more interesting food than was then available and because families who had moved from continental Europe were missing their native cheeses.
Bord Bia say the cheesemakers developed their craft, and friends, enlightened local chefs and shopkeepers put in orders and the amateurs slowly evolved into professionals.
Experience and knowledge passed to other interested farms and slowly a new food culture began to emerge.
“The personality of the cheesemaker is often reflected in aspects of their cheese; from the wild and unpredictable to the precise and consistent.
“The large range of Irish farmhouse cheeses now available is exceptional considering the youth of the industry and the small size of our island,” Bord Bia says.
There are 50 farmhouse cheesemakers in Ireland producing more than 150 types of cheese.
The sector is valued at more than €12m per annum at farm gate level, with exports valued at about €4.5m.
Exports have become a focus in recent years due to the upcoming abolition of milk quotas in 2015.
This is expected to increase milk supply by up to 50% in Ireland by 2020 and to a growth in the number of dairy farms adding value in the form of Irish farmhouse cheese.
Noreen Lanigan, Bord Bia’s French market manager, said the recent growth in exports is an invaluable endorsement of the quality of Irish artisan cheeseinternationally. “Europe, and of course France, the acclaimed epicenter for cheese, have become a priority for Irish farmhouse cheesemakers in their export targets.
“Our European counterparts see it as unique and unusual that each cheese is the result of the passion and dedication of one farm and family.”
That passion and dedication is reflected in each of the 14 exhibitors on the Bord Bia pavilion in Paris last week.
Cheese producers, Cahills, Cooleeny, Cashel and the Little Milk Company, were the anchor exhibitors.
The Cahill family has been producing cheese for more than four generations on their farm in Newcastle West, Co Limerick.
They specialise in the production of flavoured artisan cheeses and mix traditional cheese making methods with modern technology to obtain the best possible quality.
Cooleeney cheeses are produced on the Maher farm in Moyne, Thurles, Co Tipperary. They are the fourth generations of the family to work the land. All the milk used comes from their own herd of pedigree Friesians.
Cashel Blue is produced and matured by the Grubb family, who say it represents the outstanding quality of Tipperary milk. The family has been associated with farming in the county since 1719.
The Little Milk Company is a young co-operative of eleven organic milk producers spread across Munster and Leinster.
All their farms are family run and use 100% organic milk from a mix of Jersey and Montbeliarde cows to traditionally produce their range of cheeses.
The other brands represented were Ardrahan, Bellingham Blue, Carrigaline, Corleggy, Durrus, Knockdrinna, Milleen, Old Irish Creamery, St Tola and Wicklow Blue.
Ireland, along with the Netherlands and Germany, is currently engaged in a three year European Union co-financed promotion called “Discover Farmhouse Cheese.”
It is being managed by Bord Bia on behalf of CAIS, the Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association, and has a total budget of €1.4m.
