Roger Crudge and his cheese

Helena rang me from town asking if I could come and give her a lift, as she had just bought some camping gear, to protect our two-burner cooker from wind and to raise it to a normal height. A good idea, and hopefully we will use it soon when we go to the beach in Cornwall next month.

I suggested a stroll around the Farmer's market which was just winding down, but was full of characters, colours, very good local foods and even some local cider. I spotted a cut section through a large round cheese, which seemed to be glowing. When the stall holder had finished serving a customer, I asked him what it was, and then noticed a sheep cheese called Halloumi, which we have recently been enjoying with our salads.

I asked the man if he was 'the' Mr Crudge, which he admitted to, and then we had a chat about where the name originated from. He and his wife Karen live and farm near Great Rollright, in the north Cotswolds, and he bothers to come all the way to this market every other Saturday. He said his family had always been dairy farmers and that their name was associated with the production of cheese. It is a great name, full of resonance and tradition. Long may they be successful, and I hope that like Stroud Farmer's market they prosper in these hard times.

I then asked if I could take his photo and he grabbed his Kingham round and I gave him the label for you to see too. He was rather shaded under the canvas of his stall so is not as well lit as I would have liked.

We have now just had lunch from many odd salad components, including letuce, radicchio, rocket, olives, cheese, boiled eggs, sun-dried tomatoes, potato salad and an Anchoiade dip, which we also bought in the market, but not the Halloumi cheese. That is reserved for another meal. The boiled eggs were cooked on the patio, using the camping cooker on its new plinth, which worked wonders for the flavour, no doubt!


This is what the label on Roger's cheese says:
Kingham Green
Smooth and creamy, Kingham Green has a well rounded flavour derived from organic Jersey cows milk from Hutton Grange Farm, Great Rollright, it has a lovely firm texture. A juicy Cox's Orange Pippin might complement it beautifully or try it with a slice of fruit cake.
Kingham was voted best village in the entire Galaxy in 2004 and best place to live in by the Telegraph this year and since my house is just off the Green, it was an obvious name for the cheese really.
Made with Raw Milk.
£1.60 per 100gms