Homage to
Fromage
Naval
French troops give their verdict on
our most famous regional product –
Double Gloucester cheese
Smart’s Farm at Churcham, just 13
minutes’ drive from Innsworth, is home
to award-winning Double Gloucester
cheese. “Every country makes good cheese
in its own right, so it’s down to the
cheesemaker and if you put the
detail in you’ll get a good cheese.”
The farm provides the rounds of
Double Gloucester for the infamous
‘cheese roll’ competition at Cooper’s
Hill, where cheese-chasers race down
the dangerously steep slope to win
the cheese. PAS MAL
So, the imjin decided to send a group
of French NATO troops and family
members to taste test our most iconic
local food stuff. “And the Gloucester is not too bad.
I like it, for me it is a little like a
French ‘Cantal’ cheese.
TRADITION
Cheesemaker Rod Smart explained
what makes his cheese so special: “I
think it’s tradition, it’s handmade, and
it’s matured on shelves which had
cheeses matured on twenty, thirty
years ago.
“And we milk our own cows so we
maintain the quality of the product
coming in in the first place. It’s all
those details, I suppose.
Warrant Officers Jean Pierre Phileas
from the French army (l’armée de
Terre) said: “For us, cheese is like a
religion.
“But it is
really not
worth risking
your life
over.”
On the Double
– Cheesemaker
Rod Smart of
Smart’s Farm
Smart’s Farm at Old Ley Court, Churcham GL2 8AR can be visited
by appointment. Telephone 01452 750225 for details.
18
SUMMER 2019 the imjin
@HQARRC
Allied Rapid Reaction Corps