where do OUR cheese names come from?
Renegade Monk is a hybrid, combining as the attributes of soft white cheese, blue cheese and rind-washed cheese. Some purists may object to this untraditional combination – hence the Renegade in the name.
While many cheeses are washed in brine, cheeses can also be washed with beer, wine or spirits. This technique dates from the Middle Ages and originated in the Franciscan monasteries of France and Belgium, where the monks were frequently not only cheesemakers but distillers and brewers as well. Washing in alcohol results in a more pungent and complex taste and a creamier consistency than is achieved through brine washing but it also helps to preserve the cheese.
The name is also a nod to the Knights Templar, the original renegade monks following their brutal suppression in 1307. Feltham’s Farm is less than two miles from the village of Templecombe, where a Templar Preceptory was established in 1185. Templecombe was an important administrative centre for the Templars and may even have been a training site for both men and horses before the Crusades. Feltham’s Farm is almost certainly sited on what was once Templar land.
Rebel Nun came about because Marcus was playing with the recipe for the Monk, and really liked the milder more blue cheese.
La Fresca Margarita means “fresh daisy” in Spanish, because this cheese is as fresh as a daisy. A Spanish friend tells us that “fresca’ in front of any female name has connotations of “coquettish” – which of course we love.
awards
2022 – Gert Lush is awarded a Gold at the Artisan Cheese Awards, and One Star at the Great Taste Awards.
2021 – La Fresca Margarita wins Supreme Champion at the Virtual Cheese Awards beating 400 artisan cheeses…Renegade Monk awarded a Gold at the Mondial du Fromage Tours (amazing for a British cheese made in a French style to win this ultimately French award). Rebel Nun wins One Star at the Great Taste Awards.
2020 – Renegade Monk won Best British Cheese at the inaugural #VirtualCheeseAwards
It also won Best Rind Washed Cheese, Best Artisan Cheese Soft, Best Organic Cheese Soft, Best Cow’s Cheese Soft
2019 – Renegade Monk won
Winner – Best Food Producer – WDP Food & Farming Awards
Gold / Finalist – Taste of the West Awards
Silver – Best Washed-Rind Cheese – British Cheese Awards
Silver – Best Washed-Rind Cheese – Artisan Cheese Awards
2018
Two Stars – Great Taste Awards
Runner up – Best New Cheese Producer – Great British Cheese Awards
Shortlisted – Great British Food Awards
2017
Gold – Best Artisan Soft Cheese – Global Cheese Awards
Silver – Best Washed-Rind Cheese – World Cheese Awards
Runner up – Best Soft Cheese – Great British Cheese Awards
funding
The cost of fitting out our New Cheese Factory was part-funded by a grant awarded by the European Union (EU) as part of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). The grant application process was administered by Heart of Wessex, part of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) 2014-2020 Funding Programme supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)/Rural Payments Agency (RPA) through the European Union’s LEADER Programme.
We are hugely grateful for the EU’s financial support and for the expert and patient advice of the Heart of Wessex team. Without nailing our Brexit colours to the mast too obviously, we are saddened that after everything it has done for South Somerset, the LEADER programme is now closed for applications.
