Cornish Yarg

This Cornish Yarg is prepared with garlic, and is wrapped with nettle

Cornish Yarg is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese made in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom from the milk of Friesian cows. Before being left to mature, this 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.^[1]

Modern production is at Pengreep farm near Truro, by Lynher Dairies from an old recipe. "Yarg" is simply "Gray" spelt backwards. It is named after Allan and Jenny Gray, the couple who gave the recipe to Pengreep Farm in the 1970s.^[2] Lynher Dairies work from a recipe by Gervase Markham dated to 1615. The original recipe is thought to date back to the 13th century.^[3]

Yarg is produced solely in Cornwall by Lynher Dairies and has never been manufactured on a mass scale. It was first made by the Grays at Withiel and from 1984 to 2006 at Netherton Farm near Upton Cross, Cornwall, by Lynher Dairies. From 2001 it has been made at Pengreep.^[4][5]

Another version of the cheese is Cornish Wild Garlic Yarg which is covered with wild garlic leaves.^[6]

References

1. "British Cheese Board". Britishcheese.com. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
2. Mason, Laura; Brown, Catherine (1999) From Bath Chaps to Bara Brith. Totnes: Prospect Books; pp. 12-13
3. Hart, Anna (5 August 2014). "Yarg: The Cornish cheese that's conquered America". The Independent. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
4. "Our story". Lynher Dairies. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
5. Philip's Street Atlas Cornwall. London: Philip's, 2003; p. 38 (Yarg Cheese Farm)
6. "Lynher Dairies Wild Garlic Yarg Cheese". Lynherdairies.co.uk. Retrieved 20 March 2012.

"Fifty Shades of Yarg" by Will Fenn. History and recipes for Cornish Yarg