It’s the smell that hits you first. Deep beneath brick railway arches in Bermondsey, south London, the damp air inside Neal’s Yard Dairy’s maturing rooms is alive with aromas of yeast and mould. The source is impossible to miss. Rows of spruce shelves reach high up to the vaulted ceilings and are filled with huge truckles of cheese covered in mottled rinds.
Guiding me around this pungent cathedral of cheese is Owen Baily, the cheesemonger’s high priest of maturing. Baily has been nurturing cheeses to maturity for 10 years, and there are flashes of fatherly pride as we walk among the greats of British cheese, from Montgomery’s Cheddar to Mrs Kirkham’s Lancashire.
The country’s first cheddar robot trundles up and down turning and brushing the cheese
“This is tasting really good at the moment,” he says gently patting the dappled rind of an organic Welsh cheddar called Hafod. I try it later and he’s right; it’s mellow and buttery with a long, savoury finish.
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