Our cheese is called Stawley (named after the village that we live in). The production of Stawley is seasonal - the goats produce milk from March, when they start kidding, through to December, when milk production stops and the goats (and we) have a rest until kidding begins again.
Stawley is made with raw (unpasteurised) milk from our herd. The milk is gravity fed from the milking parlour to the dairy below to minimise agitation. We ripen the evening milk overnight, and add it to the next day’s morning milk. The curd is then formed by a slow process of acidification and hand ladled into cylindrical moulds. The cheeses are left to drain and turned regularly before being individually salted. After a couple of days in the drying room, the cheese has grown a fine covering of wrinkly geotrichum. The cheeses are then moved to the humid ripening room to begin a period of maturation.
At ten days old Stawley is soft, with mild, lactic, honeyed flavours. At three to four weeks the cheese develops a more complex, floral flavour and a firmer texture.
To store the cheese, keep it wrapped in its waxed paper and store it in a cool, preferably humid place. Bring the cheese up to room temperature a couple of hours before serving.