![Wild Garlic Yarg](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Wild_Garlic_Yarg.jpg)
Cornish Yarg is a semi-hard
cow's milk
Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulati ...
cheese
Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
made in
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
, United Kingdom. Before being left to mature, the cheese is wrapped in
nettle leaves to form an edible, though mouldy, rind. The texture varies from creamy and soft immediately under the nettle coating to a
Caerphilly cheese-like crumbly texture in the middle.
Production
![Lynher Dairy the home of Cornish Yarg - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Lynher_Dairy_the_home_of_Cornish_Yarg_-_geograph.org.uk_-_38651.jpg)
Although made according to an historic method, Cornish Yarg is actually the product of the British cheesemaking renaissance in the 1980s while its roots are inspired by traditional
British Territorial
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
cheeses.
The cheese is produced at
Lynher Dairies Cheese Company
Lynher may refer to:
* River Lynher
The River Lynher ( kw, Linar) (or St Germans River downstream from its confluence with the Tiddy) flows through east Cornwall, England, and enters the River Tamar at the Hamoaze, which in turn flows into ...
on Pengreep Farm near
Truro, by Catherine Mead, Dane Hopkins and team. "Yarg" is simply "Gray" spelt backwards. It is named after Alan and Jenny Gray, enterprising farmers who found a 1615 recipe by
Gervase Markham
Gervase (or Jervis) Markham (ca. 1568 – 3 February 1637) was an English poet and writer. He was best known for his work '' The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman'', first publishe ...
for a nettle-wrapped semi-hard cheese in their attic. The original recipe is thought to date back to the 13th century.
In 1984, the Grays sold the recipe to Michael and Margaret Horrell, farmers wanting to diversify into cheesemaking. Mead began working with the Horrells in 1985, helping to develop the business. She built a second dairy on Pengreep Farm in 2001 and in 2006, when the Horrells retired, all production moved to Lynher Dairies.
Cornish Yarg is made using pasteurised cow's milk sourced from neighbouring farms. After pressing and brining, nettles are coated on by hand. The application of nettles changes the acidity on the outside of the cheese, thus affecting the manner in which the curd breaks down and matures.
References
{{English cuisine
Yarg
Cow's-milk cheeses