Shropshire Blue

Shropshire Blue

What it is

It has never been made in Shropshire. Andy Williamson developed it at Castle Stuart near Inverness in the 1970s as Inverness-shire Blue; when the Scottish creamery closed in 1980 two Nottinghamshire dairies took the recipe on, and it was the marketing name that survived.

In the kitchen

The orange is annatto, a seed dye that adds no flavour, so judge the paste instead: it should be dense and fudgy, not crumbly. Sweeter and less salty than Stilton, it wants something sharp beside it — dry cider, pickled walnuts — rather than port.

Goes with

Pear Walnut Celery Pickled walnut Honey Fig Apple Ruby port

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