Farmhouse cheese certainly does this; it’s a synergy between the soil on which the pasture grows, the animals that graze, the quality of milk produced and the maker using the milk to produce cheese. Through a selection of thirty cheesemakers and their cheeses, I hope to show how British artisan cheese is profoundly connected to the land, farm animals and people involved in making it. The countryside is where I find most of my inspiration for writing, photographing, curating and, well, eating! From Lincolnshire Poacher to Stichelton, Baron Bigod to Brefu Bach, the book explores the diversity of cheeses and the communities that make them. The UK farmhouse cheese industry has faced its biggest challenges in recent years, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing many small cheesemakers out of business.

Through his essays, many photos and recipes, Angus brings to life the joys and challenges of cheesemaking in 21st century Britain, and shows how each of us can play our own small part in keeping alive this important part of our culinary and agricultural heritage. Farming – as many farmers and farmhouse cheesemakers are finding out – is arguably the most important stage in relation to the health of the land, animals and the consumers. It also goes behind the scenes, looking at aspects of the industry and cheesemaking process that are often unsung or unseen, to show what makes each cheese unique.With beautiful photography, hearty cheese based recipes, and a new insight into each of these wonderful artisans, this will be treasured by anyone with a love of cheese, the countryside and traditional cooking. Through a selection of thirty cheesemakers (including Caws Teifi Cheese ) and their cheeses, I hope to show how British artisan cheese is profoundly connected to the land, farm animals and people involved in making it. It is one of those rare food products can be spoken about in the same sentence as terroir – loosely defined as ‘evoking the character of the land’ or more broadly, the ecosystem. I visited several artisan cheesemakers around East Anglia where I grew up and in Wales where I am now living.

What I found fascinating about artisan cheese is how many different varieties you can have from the same initial product, milk (which, of course, is so complex in itself). A Portrait Of British Cheese celebrates the excellence of artisan and farmhouse cheese in the British Isles, expressing it as a product of the land, its animals, and its people, offering a snapshot of rural life, traditions and delicious dishes.We sat down to chat about the book and Our Isles, the platform he founded to celebrate the rural environment and the British Isles through food, nature, history and heritage. The specific ecosystem and microbiome in the maturation process also affects the flavour of the cheeses, the microbiome being, again, like every aspect of the cheesemaking process, utterly fascinating.