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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Made at Gorwydd, the family farm in west Wales, until 2014

Gorwydd Caerphilly

Gorwydd is a farmhouse Caerphilly made by the Trethowan brothers, first on their parents' farm in west Wales and since 2014 in Somerset, from the milk of a single herd (raw, says its Slow Food profile). It follows the Caerphilly method of large curd, a low scald, milling, salting and light pressing, then matures for two to four months under a natural rind. Under the rind a soft, mushroomy layer forms around a crumbly, lemony centre. Made in 5 steps over 2 months – 4 months. The longest step, mature under a natural rind, takes 2–4 months (Neal's Yard Dairy (maturer and seller)). Salt is 1 % (Defra). Lactococcus starter strains of the Caerphilly method does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2–4 monthsReported[nyd-gorwydd]Mature under a natural rind
Temperature28–32 °CReported[caerphilly-pgi]Ripen the raw milk with starter
Salt1 %Reported[caerphilly-pgi]Mill, salt, mould and press lightly
DocumentedCheese2 months – 4 monthsnone; made outside the Traditional Welsh Caerphilly PGI area since the move to EnglandFamily: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from United Kingdom

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe Trethowans publish no recipe. The process numbers below are the rules of the Traditional Welsh Caerphilly PGI, the nearest written method; Gorwydd is made by that tradition but outside the PGI, so they describe the style, not this farm's exact make.
Raw cow milk from a single herd · One retailer's ingredient list says pasteurised; see the qa note[slowfood-trethowan][nyd-gorwydd]
Cheese cultures (described as local heritage starters)[slowfood-trethowan][nyd-gorwydd]
Animal rennet[nyd-gorwydd]
Salt[nyd-gorwydd]
Starter: cheese cultures (heritage starters); animal rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months – 4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
28–32 °Cshapes, not to countLactococcus

What changes: Starter goes into the raw milk of one herd and begins to sour it

Step 1 of 5
Ripen the raw milk with starter
Time
30 min – 1 h
Reported
Temperature
28–32 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus

Output: ripened raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Most Caerphilly is eaten young, from 10 days. Gorwydd is matured for two to four months under a natural rind, so a soft, mushroomy layer grows in from the rind around a crumbly, lemony centre.

Size
Whole wheels of about 3.5–4.1 kg
Maturing
Average age 2–4 months, against 10 days to 6 months allowed for Welsh PGI Caerphilly
Milk
Raw milk from a single herd (maker's profile)

Related ferments

Safety

Its Slow Food profile says raw milk, while one seller's label says pasteurised. In laboratory raw-milk Caerphilly, Mycobacterium bovis was concentrated in the curd and was inactivated during maturing, with D-values of 59 days (high inoculum) and 24 days (low inoculum); more starter and faster acid development improved its inactivation.

Hazards the sources name: Mycobacterium bovis, studied in laboratory raw-milk Caerphilly (not in Gorwydd itself).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Todd Trethowan learned to make Caerphilly from the Somerset cheesemaker Chris Duckett and began making it with his brother Maugan on their parents' farm, Gorwydd, in west Wales. Gorwydd was their first cheese. In 2014 they moved the dairy to Somerset, near Cheddar, where they later added a cheddar.

  1. [caerphilly-pgi] Defra, Traditional Welsh Caerphilly / Traditional Welsh Caerffili PGI product specification, section 4.5 method of productionspec
  2. [nyd-gorwydd] Neal's Yard Dairy (maturer and seller), Gorwydd Caerphilly product pageweb
  3. [slowfood-trethowan] Slow Food in the UK, Trethowan's Dairy producer profileweb
  4. [forgrave2016] Forgrave R., Donaghy J.A., Fisher A., Rowe M.T. 2016, Survival kinetics of Mycobacterium bovis during manufacture and ripening of raw milk Cheddar and Caerphilly cheese produced on a laboratory-scale, Journal of Applied Microbiology 121:1457–1468 (abstract)paper