Stilton cheese is produced exclusively in the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, and Leicestershire. It is one of the few kinds of cheese that freeze well and is affectionately called 'The King of English cheeses'. The Stiltons have three varieties: White, Blue and Mature / Vintage Stilton. White Stilton, as its name suggests, is a white, cylindrical cheese made from full cream pasteurized cow's milk that forms its own crust.
Its taste is acidic, fresh, and creamy with a texture that is open and crumbly, and the crust is moist and smooth. Sometimes there are fruity additions to White Stilton, like White Stilton with apricots, mango, or ginger, creating a unique dessert cheese.
It has even been used as a flavoring for chocolate. Its brother, Blue Stilton is produced in the same way except that it's a semi-hard blue cheese, with a clean, strong flavor and a rich, creamy color with blue or green moldy veins on the interior, making it a great dessert cheese. Read more
The taste is less aggressive and less salty than other blue cheeses and the scent is characteristically strong and intense. The crust is not smooth like in White Stilton, but wrinkly and a bit rougher. When it's left to mature for a longer period of time, the flavor becomes mellow and the interior gets even more velvety and creamy yellow in color. Stilton should be served in slices, and never scooped because scooping it out exposes the cheese to the air, causing it to dry out.
Traditionally, it is served with Port at Christmas, but it can also be paired with walnuts, crackers, biscuits, celery, figs, pears, and crusty bread, or used in blue cheese and roasted leek tart for a hearty dish. Just be careful, because once you develop a taste for true Stiltons, you will never again go back to the supermarket varieties.
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