Somebody cut the cheese
British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Saturday urged cheese lovers to help police catch scammers who conned a London dairy food supplier out of 22 tons of English and Welsh Cheddar. Oliver described the theft as a “brazen heist of shocking proportions.” Calling it the “grate cheese robbery,” he told followers on Instagram to be alert if they heard anything about “lorry loads of very posh cheese” being offered “for cheap,” adding that the cheddar would have originally been worth around $388,000. The appeal comes after the Neal’s Yard Dairy said it delivered more than 950 wheels of cheddar to the alleged fraudster posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer before realizing it had been duped. The company, a leading UK distributor and retailer of British artisan cheese, said it had still paid Hafod, Westcombe and Pitchfork, the small-scale producers of the stolen cheese, so they would not have to bear the cost. Cheddar, which is named for the village in southwest England where it originated, is the world’s best-known cheese because it does not have the protected status of other regional products like champagne and, thus, is produced in many countries. But there are only a small number of real British cheddar makers.
The wholesaler is calling on cheesemongers around the world to contact them if they suspect they have been sold the stolen cheese, particularly clothbound cheddars in a 10kg or 24kg (22 pound or 52 pound) format with the tags detached. “Between them, these cheeses have won numerous awards and are amongst the most sought-after artisan cheeses in the U.K.” The crime cuts deep: Cheddar, which originated in a village by the same name in Somerset, England, is the best-selling cheese in the U.K. and a big source of national pride. Jamie Oliver explained there are “only a small handful of real cheddar cheese makers in the world,” and that’s where the stolen cheese came from. He called it a “real shame.” “This will slow Neal’s Yard being able to support all of their cheesemakers over the next five years, I would imagine,” Oliver said.
Neal’s Yard Dairy says it is now taking steps to ensure its own financial stability and the “continued development of the British artisan cheese sector.” It is also working with local law enforcement and international authorities to try to track down the culprits. “While the cheese may never be recovered, our priority is to share openly what has happened and to prevent it from happening to other businesses.” “Remember, if the deal seems too gouda to be true, it probably is!” he wrote in the caption.
Cheesy humor
What do you call a cheesy baby deer on your lawn in the morning?
Fawn dew.
I accidentally got antiaging cream on my block of cheddar.
I’ve now got milk all over the kitchen top.
I once asked a cheese maker if there was any way he could make me a block of cheddar using soy milk.
He said, “I’m sorry, but there’s no whey.”
What do you call it when mozzarella, cheddar, and parmesan rent a little beach house together?
Cottage cheese.
October 29th Birthdays
1973 – Gabriella Union, 1988 – Kat Timpf, 1971 – Winona Ryder, 1994 – India Eisley
1947 – Richard Dreyfuss, 1983 – Maurice Clarett, 1957 – Dan Castellaneta , 1987 – Andy Dalton