paxton and whitfield cornish yarg cheese on wooden cheeseboard
paxton and whitfield nettling coating on cornish yarg cheese
close up of paxton and whitfield cornish yarg cheese
paxton and whitfield cornish yarg cheese on wooden cheeseboard
paxton and whitfield nettling coating on cornish yarg cheese
close up of paxton and whitfield cornish yarg cheese

Cornish Yarg

From £9.00

Deliciously fresh in flavour, creamy under the rind and crumbly at the core, this Cornish cheese is wrapped in nettles.

From £9.00
Pasteurised Pasteurised
Vegetarian Rennet Vegetarian Rennet
Cow Cow

Cornish Yarg

This product is available for in-store collection only!

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Cornish Yarg

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Order by 11am for next day delivery.

Order by 11am for next day delivery. Delivery information

Available for Click & Collect.

Available for Click & Collect. Find a cheese shop

Reserve your cheese and preorder now.

Reserve your cheese and preorder now. Learn more

Product Details

Cornish Yarg cheese was first made by Alan and Jenny Gray in Withiel, near Liskeard, on the edge of Bodmin Moor in the 1980’s. The word Yarg is simply their surname 'Gray' spelt backwards! The inspiration for this unique cheese came from a 17th century recipe for nettle wrapped cheese found in their attic. In 1984 they sold the recipe to Michael and Margaret Horrell who farmed near Bodmin. The business steadily grew and in 1995 the Horrell family met with the Mead family who were farming in West Cornwall and interested in farm diversification. Catherine Mead worked alongside them to develop the business and in 2006 all production moved entirely to the Mead family farm. Owned by Catherine Mead, Lynher Dairies is now processing 2,000,000 litres of milk a year and making just over 220 tonnes of cheese.

Cornish Yarg is very unique due to the handpicked nettle leaves which coat the rind. Three tonnes of nettle leaves are picked during May and June by a team of 50 hand pickers. Cheeses which are made at the time of picking are then wrapped with fresh leaves and the rest of the leaves are then frozen in bundles until they are ready to be used.

The cheese making process is done by hand using the farm's milk and grass rich milk from carefully selected local Cornish farms. After the milk is pasteurised, a culture is added for ripening and rennet to help the curd set. Once set it is cut and stirred to separate the curd from the whey until each curd piece is as small as a grain of rice, this increases acidity and fermentation. The curd is then milled, blocked and hand packed into moulds, after which the cheese is pressed and immersed in brine overnight. After drying, the nettle leaves are painted on by hand in a concentric circle pattern. Yarg takes about 4-5 weeks to mature, by which time a beautiful white bloom decorates the nettles from naturally occurring moulds attracted to the leaves.

As the cheese matures, it develops a delicate, mushroomy taste and a bloomy white appearance. Six weeks from field to finish, Yarg is fresh and creamy with an irresistible crumble in the core. The semi-hard rind is completely edible and adds an earthy, mushroomy flavour to the cheese.

Awards

  • Awarded Silver at British Cheese Awards 2024.
  • Awarded Gold at The World Cheese Awards 2019.
  • A consistent medal-winning cheese for many years, also being awarded two gold medals at the British Cheese Awards 2018.

Nutritional Information

Cow's Milk, Salt, Rennet, Dairy Cultures (Milk)

How To

STORING YOUR CHEESE

The first thing to remember is that cheese keeps best as a whole cheese. So unless you are buying a whole cheese it’s best to eat it as soon as you can. However, this may not always be practical and you may need to store it. Larger pieces of cheese keep better than small pieces. There are few hard and fast rules, merely lots of hints and to make life more complicated, conditions will change with the seasons as will the cheese.

WHERE TO STORE

If you are storing cheese in a refrigerator, it is best to store it in the salad drawer, which although may be running at a slightly higher temperature, it is a confined space that will retain humidity levels. However, do bear in mind that if using the salad compartment to store your cheese, do not also store salad items in the same compartment, as it can transfer harmful bacteria to the cheese.

TEMPERATURE

Some cheeses are best kept cool, others need a warmer environment; it depends on the type of cheese and its stage of maturity. Most hard cheeses that arrive with you will be fine at 8 degrees centigrade to 15 degrees centigrade, at warmer temperatures they will continue to mature; a cool, humid cellar would be perfect, or any unheated part of the house that has a constant temperature between 8 &15 degrees centigrade. Soft and blue cheeses need to be stored at low temperatures, preferably in a refrigerator between 5 & 8 degrees centigrade.

HUMIDITY

Nearly all cheeses like a moist atmosphere, 80% relative humidity is ideal. A humid cellar is often ideal, as is the dairy or salad drawer in your fridge, but if this is not possible cover the cheese with a clean, damp cloth or keep the cheese in a container which prevents moisture escaping, for example a cheese bell or cardboard box. Too dry an atmosphere will mean the cheese will crack; too moist an atmosphere and mould growth is encouraged. Moulds are part of the natural development of cheese and often enhance their flavour but scrape them off if they look unattractive.

WRAPPING

The waxed paper in which we supply our cheese does a good job at keeping the cheese in the right condition. It allows the cheese to breathe but not to dry out too quickly. Cling film, if used for any length of time, tends to allow too much moisture to build up, encouraging moulds to grow on the surface of the cheese. If you do use cling film, cover only the cut surface, allowing the rind to breathe and use a new piece every time you open it. Kitchen foil is good for wrapping moist blue cheeses.

SHELF LIFE AND STORAGE

With individual cheeses you can expect a natural shelf life as indicated by the Use By / Best Before Date on the packaging. With hard cut cheeses (including robust blues like Stilton), if carefully wrapped and stored as suggested cheese will keep for a minimum of a week or more from the date of purchase (all cut cheeses are cut to order and will have approximately 12 days shelf life on them).

At Christmas our last delivery will be a few days earlier than Christmas Day and keeping the cheese in the refrigerator as recommended will slow down maturation and help prevent premature spoilage.

SERVING YOUR CHEESE

To enjoy your cheese at its best, allow it to come to room temperature between 18 & 23 degrees centigrade for an hour or so before serving. Cut the cheese according to its shape, for example if it is a wedge follow the lines of the cheese. Round cheeses such as Camembert should be cut as you would cut a cake, so that each piece has an equal proportion of rind. Remember that small portions of cheese tend to dry out quickly, so cut as small a surface as possible and try to finish up little pieces quickly to enjoy your cheese at its best.

We would recommend that cheese should be served before the dessert as the flow of flavours through the meal is best preserved and the wine from the main course can usually be enjoyed with the cheeses. On the other hand, it is always nice to sit and relax at the end of a meal and pick at a cheese board intermittently, and so the choice is yours! Accompany with quality bread or crackers and a selection of pickles and chutneys.

Cheese delivery

FREE UK* Delivery when you spend over £40 

Fresh, Overnight UK Cheese Delivery

Overnight Cheese Delivery: Our UK delivery charge is £6.95 for UK* orders under £40. Delivery for orders over £40 is free.
*Please note Free UK Delivery is only valid for deliveries to the UK mainland and also excludes deliveries to the Scottish Highlands. We do not currently deliver to Northern Ireland and we do not deliver to international locations outside of the UK.

Named day deliveries on all orders: You can select a delivery date on Tuesday - Saturday when you go to checkout. (Please note. a surcharge of £5 applies to Saturday deliveries) .  

Chilled overnight cheese delivery: All of our cheese parcels are cooled with re-usable ice packs and insulated with recyclable packaging. We always use an overnight delivery service for UK mainland orders to ensure that your cheese arrives with you in fine condition. 

Hand cut & hand wrapped: Our cheese for online orders is hand cut to order and hand wrapped in Paxton & Whitfield wax paper by our expert cheesemongers. Your cheese will have approximately 12 days shelf life on them from the date of despatch.

Delivery tracking & notifications: Please provide your mobile phone number or email address and you will receive tracking details and anticipated delivery times. On the day that your order is despatched, you will recieve a notification that your delivery is on its way and an anticipated 1 hour delivery time slot. 

Carbon-neutral delivery: Our delivery partners at DPD commit to make every parcel they deliver carbon neutral. They measure their CO2 emissions, strive to reduce them, and offset the remaining emissions.

No signature required: You may use the "Delivery Instructions" in the ordering process to provide succinct instructions such as "leave in the garage if out" (choose a cool place) if the recipient is out. The driver is instructed to leave your parcel somewhere safe if you are out to ensure that the cheese is not delayed or held for too long in a warehouse. We regret we cannot accept responsibility for the condition of the goods or non-receipt if goods are not signed for.

UK Highlands & Islands Delivery

There are some places we simply can't get to in under a day and cost more for delivery. If you live in the UK Highlands or Islands, or in a particularly remote location then an additional delivery charge and longer delivery time may apply. You will be notified of any additional charge when you go to checkout. 

Click & Collect

If you would prefer to avoid the queues, rather not wait for delivery or avoid delivery cost then try our FREE order online Click & Collect service.

Simply order on line one day and collect your purchases the next day from your chosen shop. This service is available at all four Paxton & Whitfield shops in Jermyn Street, London; Cale Street, London and Bath.

This service is only available for the items that are listed on our web-site. If you want to place an order for products that are not included on the web-site please call the shop and place a telephone order for the entirety of your order directly with them on the phone. See Visit Our Shops for contact details and maps of each shop. Please note that we are unable to process orders that include items for collection from one of the shops as well as items for delivery. If you want to split your purchase please place two separate orders – one for collection and one for delivery.

Place and pay for your order online

Orders placed before 5pm are available for collection at your chosen shop after 11am the next day that the shop is open. (Pick ups not available Sundays and Bank Holidays).

Orders placed after 5pm are available for collection at your chosen shop after 2pm the next day that the shop is open. (Pick ups not available Sundays and Bank Holidays).

If you do not want to pick up your goods the following day, please specify in the comments box of the Order Form the day and approximate time (ie morning before 1pm/afternoon after 12 noon) that you want to collect the goods.  Please note that 2 full working days are required for any orders which include a Ham.

Pickup In Store

Maps and opening times of our shops are available at Visit Our Shops. Details of the shop that you have chosen to collect from will be shown on your receipt.

Please give a contact number so that we can call you if there are any issues with your order.

On arrival at the Shop please make your way to the counter where a sales assistant will be able to collect your purchases. At particularly busy times, for example, just before Christmas please make your way to the Collection Point which will be clearly identifiable.

To ensure we are handing over your purchase to the correct person, please bring with you a copy of your order receipt email or, at a minimum, your order number. Goods will not be released without this information.

Your order will be available for collection for 24 hours. If you are unable to collect it within that time, please contact the shop from where you were meant to be collecting your goods (see Visit Our Shops) to rearrange collection.

Key Facts

Country: England

Region: Cornwall

Flavour: Fresh and citrus

Type of Milk: Cow

Pasteurisation: Pasteurised

Vegetarian Rennet: Yes

Organic: No

Store & Serve

All cut cheeses are cut to order and will have approximately 12 days shelf life on them from the date the order is despatched. Due to high demand, it is occasionally necessary for us to substitute items in orders for an alternative. We will always endeavour to choose an alternative, which is the most similar to the item you have selected and of equal or higher value for no additional charge.

Storage: Keep refrigerated.

Instructions for use: Serve at room temperature.

Recommended Drink: Sauvignon Blanc

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