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Cheese from Anglo-Scottish Borders, within 90 km of the summit of Peel Fell in the Cheviot Hills

Teviotdale Cheese PGI

Unpasteurised Jersey milk from the Borders is warmed to 32 °C, given starter and held at 25–32 °C, then renneted; an hour later the curd is cut, settles 20–30 minutes and goes into moulds. The cheeses are pressed, floated in brine at 13 °C for 9 hours, dried 4 days and matured 15 days, turned daily. The result is a white-coated, full-fat hard cheese.

Fully documentedCheese20 days – 21 daysPGI (EU register, Reg. (EC) No 134/98)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe application gives temperatures and times, not doses.
Unpasteurised Jersey cow milk from the designated area[tev-sum]
Starter[tev-sum]
Rennet[tev-sum]
Brine[tev-sum]
StarterStarter cultures are added to the warmed milk

Total time across the recorded steps: 20 days – 21 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
25–32 °C

What changes: Starter goes into the warmed Jersey milk and it begins to sour

Step 1 of 7
Warm the milk and add starter
Time
1.5 h
Set
Temperature
25–32 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The Japanese notice adds that the evening milk is chilled overnight and warmed to 32 °C just after the morning milking, then mixed with the morning milk. The two texts give different upper incubation temperatures (32 °C against 30 °C).

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Unpasteurised Jersey milk from the Borders is warmed to 32 °C, given starter and held at 25–32 °C, then renneted; an hour later the curd is cut, settles 20–30 minutes and goes into moulds. The cheeses are pressed, floated in brine at 13 °C for 9 hours, dried 4 days and matured 15 days, turned daily. The result is a white-coated, full-fat hard cheese. Made in 7 steps over 20 days – 21 days. The longest step, mature, takes 15 days (Ministry of Agriculture 2081). Starter cultures added to the warmed milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step15 daysSet[tev-sum]Mature
Temperature25–32 °CSet[tev-sum][maff-gi]Warm the milk and add starter

What makes this one different

Made only from unpasteurised Jersey milk, salted by floating in brine, and matured only about two weeks after drying.

Composition
Full fat; minimum 48 % fat and maximum 48 % water
Shape
Cylindrical, white-coated

Related ferments

Safety

Made from unpasteurised milk, which the Japanese notice calls milk of very hygienic quality. The cheese matures for 15 days. The pressed cheese keeps up to 4 months at about 10 °C, and wrapped cheeses are held at 4 °C until dispatch. The application names the Environmental Health Office of Roxburgh District Council as the controlling body. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not remove E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in some cheeses while they age. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid raw-milk cheese unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The application says the cheese had been made by the same traditional method on the same farm since 1983. The Japanese notice says it was first made at Easter Weens farm in 1983/84, like the farm's Bonchester cheese from unpasteurised Jersey milk, and began as a Christmas cheese made from autumn milk. It was registered in the EU in January 1998 (Reg. (EC) No 134/98) and designated as a geographical indication in Japan on 20 December 2024.

  1. [tev-sum] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (UK), Application for registration under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, 'Teviotdale Cheese', summary sheet (English original), eAmbrosia attachment 62300spec
  2. [tev-eamb] European Commission, eAmbrosia register of geographical indications, entry 'Teviotdale Cheese' (PGI, United Kingdom, protected from 21.1.1998, Reg. (EC) No 134/98, OJ L 15, 21.1.1998)gov
  3. [maff-gi] Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan (MAFF), Notice of designation of a geographical indication no. 176, 'Teviotdale Cheese', 20 December 2024 (Japanese translation of the UK product specification)gov
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov