Stichelton Cheese Has an Identity Crisis

To be Stilton, or not to be Stilton?
image: Stichelton Dairy website
 

According to, I kid you not, the EU protected recipe issued by the Stilton Cheesemakers’ Association, a cheese can only be considered a true stilton if, and only if, it has been made with pasteurised milk in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

But Joe Schneider’s Stichelton cheese is considered an imposter amongst the tightly-knit stilton community, as it is made with raw milk, thereby falling short of this clearly vital criterion.

Needless to say, Stichelton’s lack of recognition as a proper stilton has left Mr. Schneider feeling a little… blue. He believes that the law is only there to protect big cheese-making factories, pushing smaller dairy farmhouses out of business.

“Stilton isn’t a ‘brand’, it isn’t owned by anyone.” Schneider told LeftLion. “Laws like this push smaller farmhouse cheesemakers to extinction; there’s no farmhouse stilton left in the world, which is killing off a very British tradition.”

Schneider uses milk from the cows on the dairy farm where he is based. His choice in using raw milk from cows just outside the dairy instead of importing in the pasteurised kind is due to his belief that unpasteurised milk makes the cheese taste better; pasteurised milk kills off pathogens, which contribute to the cheese’s strong flavour.

Mr. Schneider’s ten year crusade to get his cheese recognised as a stilton has caused quite a schism in the cheese community. After being rejected twice by the EU Department of Food and Rural Affairs about getting the law changed, Schneider was approached by The Slow Food Foundation, who offered their support. They argue that Mr. Schneider’s methods are actually the correct way to make a stilton, using the methods that have been established in Britain for centuries long before the regulation of pasteurised milk, and launched a petition in Stichelton’s honour.

The petition, which has only been live for two weeks, has gained over 1,000 signatures, with the number steadily growing as the cause gains more support.

Schneider insists that this isn’t a matter of marketing for him, but rather one of principle.

“We have a loyal customer base and we sell all of the cheese that we produce, so this isn’t a marketing exercise. This is a matter of ownership and producing cheese in a fair and ethical way.”

However, would a cheese by any other name smell as sweet as stilton?

Stichelton Dairy website