The Kitchen Is a Cheese's Second Home
Great British cheese isn't just for the cheese board. From the simplest cheese on toast to the most elegant soufflé, the right cheese transforms cooking.
Essential Principles
Choosing Cheese for Cooking
- For melting — Choose cheeses with higher moisture and fat content. Young Cheddar, Gruyère-styles, Lancashire, and Raclette-types melt beautifully
- For gratinating — Aged Cheddar, Red Leicester, and Double Gloucester form golden, bubbly crusts
- For crumbling — Cheshire, Wensleydale, and Lancashire add texture to salads and toppings
- For sauces — Mild, smooth melters are best. Overly strong cheese can make sauces bitter when heated
- For finishing — Shave aged hard cheese over dishes just before serving. Don't cook Stilton into oblivion — add it late
The Golden Rules
- Grate cold cheese — It's much easier to grate from the fridge, even if you're serving at room temperature
- Melt gently — High heat makes cheese seize, go stringy, or split. Low and slow is the way
- Don't waste the rind — Hard cheese rinds (Cheddar, Parmesan-style) can be simmered into soups and stews for umami depth
- Season carefully — Cheese is already salty. Taste before adding salt
Classic British Cheese Dishes
Welsh Rarebit
Not merely cheese on toast — a proper rarebit is a rich, boozy cheese sauce grilled until blistered.
The cheese: Strong Cheddar or a mix of Cheddar and Lancashire
The method: Melt cheese with beer (a good English ale), mustard, Worcestershire sauce, a splash of cream, and an egg yolk. Spread thickly on toast and grill until puffed and golden.
The key is the beer — it adds depth and prevents the cheese from becoming rubbery. Use a pale ale or bitter, not lager.
Cauliflower Cheese
The great British side dish. Done well, it's a thing of glory.
The cheese: A combination of mature Cheddar for flavour and a milder cheese (Lancashire or Single Gloucester) for smooth melting
The method: Make a proper béchamel, stir in generous cheese, pour over par-boiled cauliflower, and bake until golden and bubbling. A breadcrumb topping with extra grated cheese adds crunch.
Ploughman's Lunch
Not cooked, but assembled with care:
- A generous wedge of Cheddar, Stilton, or Lancashire
- Good crusty bread (sourdough or a cottage loaf)
- Butter (always)
- Branston Pickle or a proper chutney
- A few pickled onions
- Celery sticks and apple slices
- A pork pie if feeling generous
Cheese Scones
Warm from the oven, split and buttered — few things are more satisfying.
The cheese: Extra mature Cheddar, finely grated, plus a dusting of cayenne
The key: Handle the dough as little as possible. Overworking makes them tough. And use cold butter cut into the flour, not melted.
Glamorgan Sausages
A Welsh vegetarian classic — not sausages at all, but cheese and leek patties shaped into sausage forms.
The cheese: Caerphilly — its crumbly, lemony character is essential
The method: Mix grated Caerphilly with fresh breadcrumbs, chopped leeks, mustard, herbs, and egg yolk. Shape, coat in breadcrumbs, and fry until golden.
Cheese Soufflé
The great test of kitchen nerve. It's actually easier than its reputation suggests.
The cheese: A strong, dry cheese works best — aged Comté-style or a punchy Cheddar
The secret: The base sauce must be thick. Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks but not dry. Fold gently. Don't open the oven door. Serve immediately.
Stilton and Broccoli Soup
A steaming bowl of this on a cold evening is pure comfort.
The cheese: Stilton — crumbled into the soup at the end, off the heat
The method: Sauté onion and broccoli, add stock, simmer until tender, blend, then stir in crumbled Stilton. The residual heat melts the cheese without destroying its character.
Cheese in Other Cuisines
British cheese works beautifully beyond traditional British dishes:
- Aged Cheddar in American-style mac and cheese (better than anything American Cheddar can do)
- Stilton crumbled into pasta sauces with walnuts and pear
- Lancashire in Mexican-style quesadillas (it melts brilliantly)
- Red Leicester in Indian-style paneer dishes (similar texture, more flavour)
- Caerphilly in Greek-style salads in place of feta
The Cheese Toastie
The nation's favourite comfort food deserves respect. For the ultimate cheese toastie:
- Use sourdough or thick-cut white bread
- Butter the outside of the bread
- Mix cheeses — mature Cheddar for punch, mozzarella-style for stretch and a Lancashire or Gruyère for complexity
- Add one enhancer only — Worcestershire sauce, mustard, or chutney, not all three
- Cook in a pan on medium heat — low enough for the cheese to melt before the bread burns
- Press gently, flip once, and cut diagonally (non-negotiable)
A Note on Waste
The average UK household throws away significant amounts of cheese every year. Cheese that's past its prime for eating is usually still perfect for cooking. Hard, dried-out Cheddar? Grate it and freeze it for gratins. Stilton that's a bit past it? Into a soup. Soft cheese that's super-ripe? Melt it into pasta sauce.
Recipes here are guidelines, not gospel. Adjust to your taste, your cheese, and what's in the cupboard.