| Stinking Bishop | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Region | Gloucestershire |
| Town | Dymock |
| Source of milk | Cow |
| Pasteurised | Yes |
| Texture | Smooth, creamy, semi-soft |
| Fat content | 48% |
| Aging time | c. 4 months |
Stinking Bishop is awashed-rind cheese produced since 1972 by Charles Martell and Son at Hunts Court Farm,Dymock,Gloucestershire, in the west ofEngland. It is made from the milk ofOld Gloucester cattle.
By 1972, just 68heifers of theOld Gloucester breed were left in the world. Charles Martell bought up many of the surviving cows, and began to produce cheese from their milk, not initially for its own sake, but to promote interest in the breed. With a revival of interest from other farmers in the endangered breed, overall Gloucester cow numbers began to recover, increasing to around 450 by 2016. Martell's own herd of cows had expanded over the years; it still remained relatively small for a dairy herd, at 25 head by 2015, meaning that the Gloucester milk needed to be combined and pasteurised with the milk ofFriesian cattle from other nearby farms, for cheese production to be economically viable.[1]
Stinking Bishop is an artisanal, handmade cheese, so it is not marketed through supermarkets. As of 2017[update] it had over 130 stockists[2] across the UK, retailing in artisan food stores and delicatessens, as well as inHarrods andSelfridges.
The colour of Stinking Bishop ranges from white-yellow to beige, with an orange to greyrind. It is moulded into wheels two kilograms (4.4 lb) in weight, 20 centimetres (7.9 in) in diameter, and 4 centimetres (1.6 in) deep. Only about 1,000 wheels, or twenty tonnes (44,000 lb) are produced each year.[3]
The distinctive odour comes from the ripening process, during which the cheese isrind-washed: it is immersed inperry (the traditional pear cider of the region) made from the localStinking Bishop pear – from which the cheese gets its name – every four weeks while it matures. To increase the moisture content and to encourage bacterial activity, salt is not added until the cheese is removed from its mould.[1] The fat content is 48 per cent.
The cheese was brought to international attention by the animated comedyWallace & Gromit. In the 2005 animated filmThe Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Gromit uses it to revive Wallace. Demand for the cheese subsequently rose by 500 percent,[4] forcing the cheesemaker to hire more staff and increase production.[5] It was also referenced again at the end of Episode 4 ofWallace and Gromit's World of Invention, where Wallace samples an even more pungent – fictional – variant of Stinking Bishop, called "Stinking Archbishop".[6]
ChefAndrew Zimmern, host of the TV showBizarre Foods (Travel Channel), in an episode about the U.K., samples Stinking Bishop cheese during a visit to theBorough Market in London.[citation needed]
In the 2011Channel 4 showKing Of..., hostClaudia Winkleman and her two guestsChris Evans andSarah Millican adjudicate on contenders for the King of Cheese; Stinking Bishop was awarded the title by Winkleman and Evans (with Millican expressing dislike for cheese in general).[7][8]
Stinking Archbishop, which features inWallace and Gromit's World of Invention, sadly remains fictional.
Data from Wikidata
