Leicestershire

by Helen Gaffney

Leicestershire is a beautiful county at the heart of England, a county where timeless villages really do exist and market towns actually live up to the name; a special place for those who love the great outdoors and those with a passion for English history and heritage.

Thanks to the county's excellent dairy cattle the area is famous for not one, but two, superb cheeses - Stilton - known as the King of Cheeses‚ and Red Leicester. Although Stilton is made in parts of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, it received its name in the eighteenth century because it was first sold in the small village of Stilton in Huntingdonshire, and was pioneered by a Mr. Cooper Thornhill, owner of the Bell Inn on the Great North Road. In 1730, Mr. Thornhill discovered this distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm in rural Leicestershire. He fell in love with the cheese and forged a business arrangement that granted the Bell Inn exclusive marketing rights to Blue Stilton and soon after, wagonloads of cheese were being delivered to the Inn. As the main stagecoach routes from London to the North of England passed through Stilton he was able to do excellent business and the legend of Stilton's cheese rapidly spread far and wide.

Stilton is made from whole cow's milk and allowed to ripen for 4 to 6 months, during which time it is skewered numerous times to encourage the growth of the Pencillium roqueforti mould (also present in Roquefort cheese). This process creates a pale yellow interior with blue-green veins with a texture that is rich and creamy (45% butterfat) but slightly crumbly. Stilton has a mellow Cheddar-like quality with the pungency of blue cheese and is sold in tall cylinders with a crusty brownish rind. In addition to this better-known mature version, there is also a young white Stilton that is marketed before the coloured veins develop which has a mild and slightly acid flavour. Stilton is at its best eaten alone with a glass of port or a full-bodied, dry, red wine.

Red Leicester cheese is firm with a slightly flaky texture, varying in colour from russet to deep red and from a mild mellow to a mature flavour. It has been made for a number of centuries - Platina, wrote about it in De Honesta Voluptatae in Venice in 1475: Take curds that are not too coagulated, so that the cheese does not turn sour, as often happens, and with a hand that is not too thin or too hot, but fleshy and gentle, reduce the curds into a mass and put it from the container into moulds or pails or small baskets; press it until the whey within come out. After the cheese has been salted it is put in a place where it is somewhat exposed to smoke; when it has absorbed the smoke and has been aged a little, it will be good to eat.

Another of the county's most famous specialities is the pork pie, particularly those from the town of Melton Mowbray. This robust pie is justly famous for its juicy, jellied filling. The pies were originally served at high tea after a long day's hunt. The most famous manufacturer of these pies is Dickinson and Morris, located right in the middle of Melton Mowbray. They are the oldest producer of pork pies remaining in the town and as such, this small shop does a busy trade with loyal local fans as well as with tourists. One part of the shop is given over to tourism with a small demonstration area showing how the pies are made. Should there be any doubt as to what constitutes a proper Melton Mowbray pork pie there is a clearly printed sign declaring: Finest pork (not cured), natural colour (not pink), meat chopped not minced, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked without a supporting hoop.

It is the lack of this hoop during baking which results in the famous bowed belly of the Melton pork pie.

"The pork pie is the sum of its parts - crunchy pastry, moist, well-seasoned pork and melting jelly. It says 'eat me'" declares the craft baker, Stephen Hallam, who presides over the Dickinson and Morris shop.

Of course, no discussion of the food of Leicestershire would be complete without considering Walker and Sons, manufacturer of high-quality potato crisps and other snack products. Henry Walker who founded the company in 1948 was a successful pork butcher who moved from Mansfield to Leicester in the 1880's to take over an established business in the high street. Mr Walker and his son offered quality meat and the business prospered, eventually moving to Cheapside in 1912. However, when the Second World War broke out meat was strictly rationed and even in 1948 Walker's shops were sold out by 10 a.m. every day. With a factory that was working at half-capacity, Mr Walker pondered over how he could make better use of his premises and work force. The company's managing director, Mr. R.E Gerrard, discovered potato crisps, which were enormously popular with the public but subject to rationing and the first Walkers production line came into being in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. During these early days the potatoes were sliced up by hand and cooked in an ordinary fish and chip fryer and Mr. Gerrard himself was the first cook. From this humble start, the public's love affair with crisps and Walkers began and crisp manufacture was here to stay. Today, Walkers is Britain's largest crisp manufacturer, employing over 4,000 people in 15 locations.

Nowadays, you only have to count the number of different types of take-aways and restaurants in Leicester to realise that people like to eat different types of food. The city is famous for the many curry dishes and in particular for thali - a selection of delicious little curry dishes served in small bowls on a tray. As well as the many people from the Indian sub-continent that have made their home in the city, there is also a sizeable Greek Cypriot population. A number of them run excellent fish and chip restaurants here, enabling the discerning customer to purchase an ouzo to go with their fish and chips - a most unlikely yet highly agreeable combination!