Sidehustle #1 continued: Cheesemonger
My third experience with Neal’s Yard Dairy began again in December 2019. I was part of the seasonal retail team once more to support the hectic festive season and work in the Borough Market shop in the lead up to Christmas.
I returned to the now-familiar Bermondsey arches on the last weekend of November for the induction day alongside a much larger group — this year instead of fifty extra staff they were taking on around 90.
This time around there were, of course, familiar faces amongst the permanent staff, and returning seasonal cheesemongers like me. Also a lot of new faces, actors, freelancers and people curious to learn what all the fuss was about. The day passed quickly with the usual excitement of a ploughman’s lunch resplendent with NYD produce and seeing behind the scenes in the famous arches filled to the rafters with regional cheese. Although it had been over six months since I’d been there it was lovely to see the place I’d spent two weeks in April/May.
My first shift was scheduled for the 12th December, sadly my dad was rushed into hospital and I travelled back home to visit him. The first thing he said upon seeing me was “ Aren’t you meant to be working — doing the cheese?” which at the time wasn’t funny but of course, now is. The whole family is invested.
I worked for 5 days at Borough from 7 am–4 pm, restocking shelves with the amazing preserves, Cacklebean eggs and oatcakes. I also learnt how to manage the fridges, making sure everything was in date, stock rotation and which products were the most popular. Like last year I spent most of my time managing the queue, tasting out cheeses, spending a lot of time on the cobbles watching the world go by and learning more about each cheese as I went. It was a delight to get to know customers and see families from all over the world make their pilgrimage.
New for 2019 was Blackmount, a cheese similar in shape and appearance to the much-lamented Tymsborough. If you don’t know the story, it’s worth looking up, but in a nutshell, the farmer who made it for many years sadly passed away earlier in the year. The team at the farm tried in vain to replicate the product but alas, they could not.
Blackmount is a different kettle of fish: it flew off the slate last Christmas and it was hard to get a piece for myself to take home. I think since then it’s been different every time I’ve tried it, so it’s always worth testing just to see how it feels. If you’re asking I prefer the mellowness of the Innes Brick or the sweetness of Sinodun Hill.
Blue- wise, I’d always been a huge fan of Stichelton since meeting Joe Schneider on my first stint at Neals Yard. I always found it funny that people buying cheese for Christmas were convinced they needed Stilton, but once they tried the milky sweetness of Stichelton their taste buds were easily persuaded. I got to try some of the other subtler blues — Beenleigh and Harbourne which have now become regulars on my shopping list.
I have to talk about the bread at Neals Yard Dairy as well. Lord knows what I’d been doing before I started to try their smorgasbord of treats provided by Brickhouse (R.I.P) and Little Bread Pedlar — Sourdough, baguette, the niche, potato and the walnut and raisin bread. Every day the Italian man from LBP would come in with a beautiful cloth sack of baguettes and never drop them off with a grunt and then go: always a little dialogue with one or two of us and a flourish. Likewise with the folk from Monmouth next door picking up milk: one day I joked about a flat white and the next thing I knew I had one in my hand.
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As I write, several months on, the world has changed. Neal’s Yard was quick to react to the pandemic and now offer a dairy box delivered across the country containing eggs, bread, milk, yoghurt and a selection of cheese. The Bermondsey and Borough stores remain open, with social distancing measures in place. But the story behind those two stores is staggering: a whole network of farmers and producers trying to keep going in the face of COVID-19 with the restaurant part of the business completely disappearing.
We have all been forced to change our purchasing and eating habits over the past few weeks, I can only recommend you try NYD. You won’t regret a thing.
