Cornish Yarg

This is Cheesemonger Emmanuelle's favourite cheese, mainly because you cannot get any cheese like this in France!

A semi-hard handmade cheese produced by Lynher Dairies who also make Cornish Kern, based in Ponsanooth just outside Truro, Cornwall. The cheese was first produced in the 1980s by Bodmin Moor farmer Alan Gray after he found a 17th Century recipe for a nettle wrapped cheese in his attic. The cheese needed a name and Yarg was born - it is Gray spelt backwards!

Cornish Yarg is wrapped in wild nettle leaves which are edible. The nettles are foraged from local fields and hedgerows in spring then frozen. By the time they are placed around the cheeses they no longer have their sting but have plenty of flavour. 

During maturation the cheeses develop a dusting of bloomy white moulds across their rinds and they are aged for only 6 weeks. This is a relatively mild cheese on our counter. It is a fresh cheese with mushroom flavours and a slightly crumbly texture. Cornish Yarg is a welcome addition to any cheeseboard.

There is also a garlic leaf version called Garlic Yarg. We don't stock this but can order whole cheeses in on a special order, please email to enquire about prices. 

Recipes Ideas:

Yarg has a low melting point so is a great cooking cheese, there are plenty of recipes on the Lynher Dairies website. We especially like the sound of the Twice Baked Cornish Yarg Souffle and Welsh Rarebit. 

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