Cheese Slices - Series 3

S03E01 Basque Shepherds Cheeses
The Basque people boast the oldest language in Europe – and one of its most ancient cheeses. Will visits the pretty village of Espelette, famous for its red peppers, before travelling into the mountains to one of the few remaining traditional shepherd huts where the ewes are still milked by hand. The region’s ewe’s milk cheese goes by many names, including Ossau Iraty in France and Idiazabal in Spain. Will explains the differences and gets a few lessons on what it really means to be Basque.

S03E02 Farmstead Cheeses of Northern California
Artisan and hand-made farmhouse cheeses have been at the forefront of a growing consumer backlash against innocuous mass produced foods in the USA. Will travels to Northern California to find out more.

S03E03 Greece - Feta food of the Gods
The ancient Greeks regarded cheese as the food of the gods. Little wonder, then, that Greece has the world’s highest per capita rate of cheese consumption. Will travels to the rugged coast of Northern Greece to learn how wooden barrels play an essential role in maturing traditional Feta and how Manouri, an ancient whey cheese, is made. Then it’s time for some hand-rolled filo pastry and homemade pita pies, followed by a trip to the largest Greek isle to sample some local cheese delicacies.

S03E04 Massif Central And The Auvergne
The rugged plateau of Massif Central and Auvergne is famous for its rich green pastures and its six benchmark AOC French cheeses. Three semi-hard varieties date back to the 12th century and Will explores the differences between them while visiting a disused railway tunnel, where more than 3000 cheeses are now matured. Then it’s off to a cow fair, where the locals celebrate the annual transhumance (seasonal livestock migration), the village of St Nectaire and a troglodyte dwelling where cheese is still matured on rye straw mats.

S03E05 Cheeses of The Netherlands
The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of cheese in Europe, yet it's famous for just two cheeses, Edam and Gouda. Will visits the town of Edam, visits a food show in Rotterdam and learns how real farmhouse Gouda is made.

S03E06 France – Soft Washed Rind Cheeses
There is nothing like the evocative smell of washed rind cheeses to bring back memories of a visit to France. Will travels to the misty Vosges Mountains of Alsace, the undulating green countryside of Normandy and the pretty village of Epoisse in Burgundy to look at four benchmark monastic cheeses: Munster, Pont l’Eveque, Livarot and Epoisse. These luscious stinky cheeses have a long history but until recently were threatened with extinction. Their growing resurgence is due largely to the vision and hard work of a few passionate dairy owners.

S03E07 AOC Cheeses of Switzerland
Switzerland has a reputation for producing the finest mountain cheeses in the world, and more than 75 per cent are still made from raw milk. Will samples Raclette and learns how it’s traditionally made over a wood fire. His journey takes him on to the picturesque town of Gruyere to look at the origins of a cheese whose name literally means ‘head of a monk’. Then it’s time to meet the king of Swiss cheese, Emmenthaler and find out just how it gets its holes.

S03E08 Seasonal Cheeses of The Alps
The Alps and Savoie are covered by snow for at least four months of the year and cheese-making has always been a strictly seasonal affair. Will learns how the local spruce forests play an essential role in ripening the unctuous Mont d’Or before he heads to the high summer pastures to visit a farm making the deliciously creamy Reblochon and learns how to grill it under hot coals. Then it’s on to meet one of the last cheese makers still making the ‘Prince of Gruyere’, Beaufort, and its smaller cousin Abondance in the high alpage.