Hand-Selected Sparkenhoe Red Leicester

Englands' only unpasteurised Red Leicester cheese, with a creamy and mellow flavour.
B Suitable for Pregnant Women R Raw Milk
£36.00
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Product details

Sparkenhoe, made by David and Jo Clarke, is England's only unpasteurised Red Leicester cheese. It's the first to be produced on Sparkenhoe Farm since 1875. The cheese is creamy and mellow, with a slightly flakey texture. The addition of natural annatto gives the cheese its deep orange-red colour.

David and Jo Clarke are dairy farmers who run one of the country’s top herds of pedigree Holstein-Friesian cattle. When they decided to revive the tradition of cheese-making on the farm, they discovered that Red Leicester had been made there from1745 until1875. David was initially wary of making the cheese, as Red Leicester cheese had a poor reputation – all that remained at the time was factory-made cheeses that bore little resemblance to the great farmhouse cheeses of the past. In fact, traditional Red Leicester cheese had died out in England in the early 1950s.

In the end, it was David and Jo’s desire to re-create the original great Red Leicester cheese that overcame their initial worry. So, in 2005, armed with an old recipe and having completed a cheese-making course, the Clarkes set about reviving Red Leicester, using traditional methods and raw milk from their own herd.

The name Sparkenhoe has historical significance, in that it is an old Leicestershire term meaning ‘gorsey nob’. It is also the name for the ‘hundred area’ in which the farm is situated.

* This is a hand-made, artisan cheese, which may contain naturally occurring blue veins. These are normal and intrinsic to the nature of this type of cheese and add to its character. We think they taste good too!

*A whole Sparkenhoe Red Leicester weighs approximately 10kg. Smaller weights are a cut of a whole cheese. 

More Information
Country of Origin British Isles
Milk Variety Cows'
Style of Cheese Hard
Vegetarian No
Organic? No
Suitable For Pregnant Women? Yes
Ingredients Raw cows' milk (95.00%), Salt, Rennet, Starter culture, Annatto
Nutritional Info (per 100g) Energy: 1708KJ, 412Kcal / Fat: 36.5g, of Which Saturated 21.4g / Carbohydrate 0.1g, of Which Sugars <0.1g / Protein: 25.5g / Salt: 1.63g
Allergen Advice For allergens see ingredients in bold.

Keep refrigerated below 8°. Please eat within 10 days of receipt.

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Freshly cut & wrapped

We unashamedly source, care for and sell the best cheese, because that is what we believe in. Our trained cheesemongers cut every piece to order, by hand, and wrap it in our waxed paper. We do this because it is the most respectful way to treat this precious food.