What Is Stilton Cheese?

Stilton is a semisoft cheese available in a white variety as well as the more common blue-veined type. Blue Stilton is known for its strong, spicy, piquant flavor and rich, crumbly texture. Stilton can be enjoyed on its own or incorporated into a variety of dishes. 

What Is Stilton?

Stilton is a richly flavored, iconic English cheese with a crumbly yet buttery texture that melts on the tongue. The cheese first became well known in the early 18th century and was first factory-made in the late 19th century.

Stilton can only be produced in the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire. Only six dairies in these counties are licensed to make both white and blue Stilton varieties, producing more than 8,000 tons of both types annually. Stilton has been protected in the United Kingdom under a Certification Trademark since 1966, and it received a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in 1996. 

How Stilton Is Made

Raw milk is pasteurized, then piped into a vat, where both starter and secondary cultures (the Penicillium roqueforti that will give the finished cheese its blue veining) are added. Rennet is added to coagulate the milk into a bouncy, tofu-like curd. The curd is cut into small pieces, and the liquid whey is allowed to drain off. The dry curds are milled into smaller pieces, then ladled into cylindrical cheese molds, or hoops. They're allowed to drain for several days, and the cheesemaker flips the hoops daily to help distribute moisture evenly throughout the wheels.

When the cheese is dry enough to keep its shape, the hoop is removed. At this point, the cheesemaker rubs a blunt knife across the outside of the cheese to prevent molds from growing on the rind too quickly. This process also helps seal the interior of the cheese from oxygen at this early stage.

After several weeks, the wheels of Stilton are pierced with a long needle several times on the top and bottom. This allows oxygen into the paste, which allows the P. roqueforti culture to grow into the cheese's signature blue veining. After another five or six weeks, the cheese will be mature and ready for sale. 

Substitutes

Most blue-veined cheeses with a similar semisoft texture and flavor profile can be swapped out for Stilton in recipes. However, blue cheeses made with milder-tasting Penicillium glaucum rather than bolder Penicillium roqueforti will taste sweeter and milder than Stilton, so bolder cheeses like Roquefort may be a better substitute for blue Stilton. Try Gorgonzola Dolce as a substitute for milder white Stilton.

Types

There are both blue and white varieties of Stilton, although the blue version is much more commonly known. White Stilton does not have the P. roqueforti mold added, so it lacks the blue veining and strong flavor of blue Stilton. It's also sold younger than blue Stilton. White Stilton is often sold with dried fruits incorporated into the cheese. Today, Colston Bassett is widely considered to be the top Stilton producer.

Another cheese, Stichelton, was developed at Stichelton Dairy in Nottinghamshire in 2006. This raw milk cheese harks back to the traditional farmhouse methods used to produce Stilton for centuries before the cheese began to be made with pasteurized milk in the 20th century. However, Stichelton cannot use the Stilton name, because the Stilton PDO stipulates that pasteurized milk must be used. Seek out Stichelton for a richer, fuller flavor thanks to the raw milk. 

Uses

Serve Stilton as a creamy, flavorful table cheese or as part of a cheese board with accompaniments like honey, dried fruit such as dates or apricots, fruit preserves, dark chocolate, toasted nuts, figs, apples, and pears. Stilton pairs well with sweet wines, sherry, port, gin, and dark beers like porter or stout.

Stilton can also be crumbled into salads and vegetable dishes; used to top pizza, burgers, and steaks; in dressings and dips; and to add flavor in baked items like casseroles, crackers, and pastries. 

Storage

Store Stilton cheese in the coldest part of your refrigerator. It's ideal to keep the wedge in the cheese paper your cheesemonger packaged it in, as cheese paper maintains the correct humidity for the cheese while still allowing it to "breathe." If you don't have cheese paper, wrap the wedge tightly in a piece of parchment paper, then place it in a plastic baggie with the opening folded down, not sealed. You may also wrap the piece of Stilton tightly in aluminum foil if you don’t have cheese paper or parchment paper on hand.

Properly stored, Stilton will last in your refrigerator for three to four weeks. If mold grows on the surface of the cheese, cut at least one inch around the mold to remove it. Take care not to drag your knife through the mold, which may spread it to other parts of the cheese. 

Stilton Recipes

• Welsh Leek and Stilton Soup
• Blue Cheese Compound Butter
• Pear and Blue Cheese Salad

Can You Eat the Rind?

The natural rind encasing Stilton cheese is edible.