Ramshackle
This month sees our first foray into sheep's cheeses, Ramshackle is a soft sheeps cheese made by Leagrams Organic diary in Chipping, hand made and encased in a cute red wax coat. Soft and crumbly the lovely young cheese has plenty of creamy character as sheeps milk is rich in lactose and fats and is gorgeous spread on warm crumpets, oatcakes or crumbled over salads.
Leagrams was the creation of the late Bob Kitching a true artisan cheesemarker who is sadly no longer with us, but his wonderful legacy is his fabulous range of cheeses , this being one.
I appreciate that if you don't live in Lancashire it may be difficult to get hold of this or another of Bobs creations such as the what I call "Baby Lancashire cheese" day old curd, but try one of the other sheeps cheeses avaliable locally to you.
These soft curd cheeses are a favourite of a number of local chefs, so much so that Great British menu favourite Nigel Haworth uses it in his curd cheese and onion pie which is a regular menu feature in his Ribble Valley inn pubs.