Edmund Tew

The Courtyard Dairy met Dave in 2018 when he attended, with several other cheese-makers, a cheese-making seminar to learn how to make ‘natural-cheese’ – i.e. that being made using starter cultures created on the producer’s farm [more about that here >].  Dave paid for his attendance on the course in cheese; and the relationship between the two businesses was born.

Australian-born, David Holton started out making cheese in the Yarra Valley, Australia.  But after coming over to the UK in 2010 for for a ‘quick’ internship visit to Neals Yard Dairy, he never left.  After three years at Neals Yard, David returned to cheese-making, setting up Blackwoods Cheese in the centre of London, and was soon joined by fellow ex-Neal’s Yard employee Tim Jarvis.  Sourcing their milk from Commonwork Organic Farm, they made their cheese in central London: a feta called Graceburn.  But then an opportunity arose to move their cheese-making to Commonwork Farm itself, allowing them to be closer to where the cows are milked and giving them more space to grow their business to make a larger range of cheeses.

Commonwork Organic Farm produces organic milk from a mixed breed of 240 cattle comprising Friesians, Swedish Reds and Montbeliarde. The Swedish Reds help to increase the butterfat concentration in the milk, while the milk from the Montbeliarde cows has a high level of protein and is famed for its cheese-making qualities.

Their latest cheese creation, Edmund Tew, is based on the washed-rind, lactic cheeses of France, such as Langres.  Hand-ladled and acidic-set, it has a sharp core and an orange-yeasty rind that breaks down around the rim to give a meaty-savoury flavour.

The Australian link is reflected in the name, with “Edmund Tew” being a man from Leicestershire who was convicted of stealing cheese in the 1800s and sentenced to seven years in Australia: “The prisoner heard his sentence with the most perfect indifference” – Leicester Chronicle, 1829.

This product will have two weeks’ shelf life from the date of delivery.  Conveniently, at checkout you can choose a delivery date well in the future if you would like your cheese delivering for a specific event.