Dart Mountain Cheese Company in
Northern Ireland has launched a new
cheese, Sperrin Blue, named after a nearby
peak in the Sperrin range of mountains in the
north west of Northern Ireland.
Sperrin Blue has been developed by cheese
maker Julie Hickey from milk sourced from
local dairy farms and is handmade in small
batches using traditional methods, and aged
for up to six weeks to maximise flavour before
release. It is a semi-hard pasteurised cows’
cheese with blue veining and a natural rind,
available in 150g, 1.5kg and 3kg formats,
Sperrin Blue is the third blue cheese to be
launched in Northern Ireland in the past two
years – the others being Kearney Blue, from
Portaferry and Young Buck, the first cheese to
be developed by Mike’s Fancy Cheese based at
Newtownards.
Dart Mountain Cheese is part of Tamnagh
Foods, a small business based at Park in
Claudy, which also produces granolas, relishes
and chutneys. The cheese business was
established by Hickey, who has been involved
in the local food industry for over 18 years as
a chef and restaurateur, in June 2011.
In June 2012 the company converted a
disused farm shed into a modern approved
food unit, incorporating a modern production
kitchen, cheese production area and cheese
maturing rooms to facilitate the controlled
ageing of cheese.
The artisan business recently agreed
a distribution deal in Northern Ireland
with Henderson Foodservice.
“We are committed to the principles
of artisan production – carefully
producing food with the minimum use
of machines to maximise the natural
flavours of the food,” said Hickey. “We
are committed to the environment;
we source locally to keep food miles
down, ensure traceability and recycle to
minimise our waste. Furthermore, we
are committed to food integrity, sourcing
directly from the farms in our region to
guarantee the source of the food and to
improve spend in our local community.”
The company is also a founder of the
Sperrin Dairy Group, which seeks to
encourage the development of a network
of artisan producers in the wider Sperrins
area.