A family firm built on hard work and dedication, Dewlay cheese is now a third-generation business run by Nick Kenyon and brother Richard
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My brother and I are the third generation of a family of Lancashire cheesemakers. My grandfather started Dewlay; he was the general manager of a cheesemakers nearby, but wanted to build something of his own. He didn't have the capital, but all that changed after a motorcycle accident in 1957, in which he broke his leg. Although the circumstances were unfortunate, he was able to start the business with the compensation money, so my father, who was a teenager at the time, left school to work alongside him.
Dad was there from the beginning, more or less running Dewlay by himself in his late 20s. He always had passion and a unique foresight; in 1995, he moved the dairy from the centre of Garstang to the town's outskirts. It meant having more space to grow, but still being very close to the local milk suppliers. He also had a vision of one day building a viewing gallery that overlooked the shop floor, to maximise ground space, so he made provisions for that in the plans.
As children, we helped in the dairy in our school holidays, but I began to take a much stronger interest in cheesemaking after I left university. I spent a year in Australia in Bega, which is on the south coast, working at a cheddar makers. It sounds strange, but there was something about the landscape that really reminded me of Lancashire. I joined full-time in 2001 and spent the first few years on the shop floor; my father was adamant that it was the only way to truly understand the business. He was very traditional in that sense; he knew I wouldn't be able to run it in the way he did if I didn't get a handle on the day-to-day workings from the bottom up. Sadly, my father passed away in 2009, which for myself and my brother meant a baptism of fire – the pressure to continue the success of Dewlay after seeing decades of hard work go into it. Now we are the joint directors.
There are three varieties of Lancashire cheese: crumbly, tasty and creamy. I suppose you can liken the differences between them to the different strengths of cheddar. The traditional variety is the latter, but crumbly Lancashire is the most commonly sold one, although it's a bit of an imposter in the Lancashire cheese family. Local producers refer to it as "new" Lancashire, as it only came about in the 1950s – it was made to compete with Cheshire cheese, which was dominating the market at the time. Creamy matures in 6-8 weeks, but Cheshire could be matured much faster, which improved its price point, so makers created something similar – crumbly Lancashire. We produce all three kinds; I'm proud of all our cheese, and of all the people that work at Dewlays, but it's the creamy variety that I really champion.
We still turn and cut the cheese by hand, but at the same time we have to constantly improve the efficiency of what we do. Building a wind turbine has been a great success for our business. One of the things about making cheese is that it's energy intensive, so being able to generate our own energy on site is a great asset. It offers us some stability in the volatile world of energy procurement – and it means we are really easy to find as well!
Creamy Lancashire is only 1% of the market, which means we have to shout as loud as we can to be heard. We want every piece to be sold at peak condition, so we ask an external cheese grader to come in and check it. Milk is a raw ingredient that you can't control; a cow's diet and the weather can hugely affect the taste, so the master cheesemaker has to make decisions to ensure that the final product remains roughly the same – that takes a lot of skill and experience.
I'm happy to say that we've now completed the viewing gallery that my dad hoped for, and just opened an onsite cheese shop. We've been a little overwhelmed by the response, but it's great that people are taking such an interest. Lancastrians by nature are very loyal and proud people; this cheese is a real hidden gem, and I couldn't be more proud to make a traditional Lancashire product with Lancashire milk, in Lancashire itself.
*Lancashire cheese and onion soup*
Serves 4
*2 large onions, chopped*
*1 large carrot, chopped*
*900ml vegetable stock*
*100g low-fat soft cheese*
*2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or parsley*
*75g creamy Lancashire cheese, grated*
*50g croutons*
*Freshly ground black pepper*
*1 *Put the onions, carrot and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20‑25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
*2 *Blend the soup in a liquidiser or food processor, or use a hand-held stick blender. Reserve 2 tbsp of the soft cheese, then add the rest to the soup along with the chives or parsley and blend until smooth. Gradually add most of the grated cheese, stirring until it is melted. Reheat gently and season to taste.
*3 *Ladle the soup into four bowls and garnish with the reserved soft cheese, croutons and the remaining grated cheese.
Recipe supplied by the British Cheese Board
*Exclusive reader offer*
10% off all cheese sales in January 2014 and free family membership allowing one year's free access to the cheese viewing gallery at Dewlay. To claim these offers, email cheeseshop@dewlay.com with GUARDIAN2013 in the subject line between now and the end of January 2014. Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.
• Click here for an exclusive reader offer
My brother and I are the third generation of a family of Lancashire cheesemakers. My grandfather started Dewlay; he was the general manager of a cheesemakers nearby, but wanted to build something of his own. He didn't have the capital, but all that changed after a motorcycle accident in 1957, in which he broke his leg. Although the circumstances were unfortunate, he was able to start the business with the compensation money, so my father, who was a teenager at the time, left school to work alongside him.
Dad was there from the beginning, more or less running Dewlay by himself in his late 20s. He always had passion and a unique foresight; in 1995, he moved the dairy from the centre of Garstang to the town's outskirts. It meant having more space to grow, but still being very close to the local milk suppliers. He also had a vision of one day building a viewing gallery that overlooked the shop floor, to maximise ground space, so he made provisions for that in the plans.
As children, we helped in the dairy in our school holidays, but I began to take a much stronger interest in cheesemaking after I left university. I spent a year in Australia in Bega, which is on the south coast, working at a cheddar makers. It sounds strange, but there was something about the landscape that really reminded me of Lancashire. I joined full-time in 2001 and spent the first few years on the shop floor; my father was adamant that it was the only way to truly understand the business. He was very traditional in that sense; he knew I wouldn't be able to run it in the way he did if I didn't get a handle on the day-to-day workings from the bottom up. Sadly, my father passed away in 2009, which for myself and my brother meant a baptism of fire – the pressure to continue the success of Dewlay after seeing decades of hard work go into it. Now we are the joint directors.
There are three varieties of Lancashire cheese: crumbly, tasty and creamy. I suppose you can liken the differences between them to the different strengths of cheddar. The traditional variety is the latter, but crumbly Lancashire is the most commonly sold one, although it's a bit of an imposter in the Lancashire cheese family. Local producers refer to it as "new" Lancashire, as it only came about in the 1950s – it was made to compete with Cheshire cheese, which was dominating the market at the time. Creamy matures in 6-8 weeks, but Cheshire could be matured much faster, which improved its price point, so makers created something similar – crumbly Lancashire. We produce all three kinds; I'm proud of all our cheese, and of all the people that work at Dewlays, but it's the creamy variety that I really champion.
We still turn and cut the cheese by hand, but at the same time we have to constantly improve the efficiency of what we do. Building a wind turbine has been a great success for our business. One of the things about making cheese is that it's energy intensive, so being able to generate our own energy on site is a great asset. It offers us some stability in the volatile world of energy procurement – and it means we are really easy to find as well!
Creamy Lancashire is only 1% of the market, which means we have to shout as loud as we can to be heard. We want every piece to be sold at peak condition, so we ask an external cheese grader to come in and check it. Milk is a raw ingredient that you can't control; a cow's diet and the weather can hugely affect the taste, so the master cheesemaker has to make decisions to ensure that the final product remains roughly the same – that takes a lot of skill and experience.
I'm happy to say that we've now completed the viewing gallery that my dad hoped for, and just opened an onsite cheese shop. We've been a little overwhelmed by the response, but it's great that people are taking such an interest. Lancastrians by nature are very loyal and proud people; this cheese is a real hidden gem, and I couldn't be more proud to make a traditional Lancashire product with Lancashire milk, in Lancashire itself.
*Lancashire cheese and onion soup*
Serves 4
*2 large onions, chopped*
*1 large carrot, chopped*
*900ml vegetable stock*
*100g low-fat soft cheese*
*2 tbsp chopped fresh chives or parsley*
*75g creamy Lancashire cheese, grated*
*50g croutons*
*Freshly ground black pepper*
*1 *Put the onions, carrot and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20‑25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
*2 *Blend the soup in a liquidiser or food processor, or use a hand-held stick blender. Reserve 2 tbsp of the soft cheese, then add the rest to the soup along with the chives or parsley and blend until smooth. Gradually add most of the grated cheese, stirring until it is melted. Reheat gently and season to taste.
*3 *Ladle the soup into four bowls and garnish with the reserved soft cheese, croutons and the remaining grated cheese.
Recipe supplied by the British Cheese Board
*Exclusive reader offer*
10% off all cheese sales in January 2014 and free family membership allowing one year's free access to the cheese viewing gallery at Dewlay. To claim these offers, email cheeseshop@dewlay.com with GUARDIAN2013 in the subject line between now and the end of January 2014. Reported by guardian.co.uk 13 hours ago.