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Welsh Dairy and Cheese

Caws Cymreig

Specialised

CAERPHILLY — a young, crumbly, salty white cheese made to be eaten in weeks rather than months, and by tradition carried down the pit because the salt replaced what a miner sweated out and the rind could be held in dirty hands. ⚠ ITS HISTORY IS NEARLY A LOSS: farmhouse Caerphilly was almost extinguished by wartime cheese control, which permitted only hard cheeses, and was revived from the 1980s by a handful of makers. Also: Perl Las, Perl Wen, Hafod, Teifi, Y Fenni, Gorwydd; caws pobi, the toasted cheese from which Welsh rarebit descends; and buttermilk.

Atlas — where and when

Communities and languages

Languages: Welsh

What is recorded

  • Farmhouse Caerphilly was nearly extinguished by wartime cheese control, which permitted the manufacture of hard cheeses only, and was revived from the 1980s by a small number of makers. By the twentieth century much of the cheese sold as Caerphilly was made in Somerset and Carmarthenshire rather than at Caerphilly. documented
  • Wartime cheese control permits only hard cheeses and nearly ends farmhouse Caerphilly; revival begins in the 1980s. documented

Related foodways

This foodway relates to

  • related to English Cheese Foodways documented

    ⚠ Caerphilly is Welsh in origin and was long made in England as well; the English cheese system records the same fact from the other side.

Recipes

No recipes are filed under this cuisine yet.