Free Republic

Stilton is among the world’s best-known cheeses. An after-dinner stalwart, Stilton pairs brilliantly with a wide assortment of fortified and dry wines. Little wonder that it is nicknamed the “King of Cheeses.” Here’s a quick primer on the history and diversity of England’s Stilton cheeses and the wines and spirits to pair with them. Stilton has two forms. Inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti, a blue variety exhibits the characteristic blue veining and Stilton's traditional smell and taste. There is also an uninoculated white form. The cheese takes its name from the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire. Ironically, the town is outside...

The village of Stilton has been banned from making its namesake cheese after EU officials ruled it originated in another part of England. Under European law, the renowned blue cheese can only be produced in Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Controversy arose when the Bells Inn in Stilton, Cambridgeshire, announced it wished to name their own blue-veined cheese after the village—rather than “Bells Blue”, which they have been forced to do. However, in a landmark decision that the pub has branded unfair, an application submitted by the Original Cheese Company to amend the EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) ruling has...

October 5 Today is the Anniversary of Monty Python's Flying Circus! The Flying Circus debuted this day, 35 years ago, on television at 10:50 PM on BBC-1. The world was never the same. (October 5, 1969)

Greeks claim the right to feta, but Danes won't say 'cheese' Tuesday, December 24, 2002 Associated Press COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Denmark sued the European Union's executive Commission yesterday for giving Greece exclusive rights to produce feta cheese, calling the product a generic foodstuff, not a regional delicacy.Greece has tried since 1989 to have the EU ban other nations from using the label, saying the cheese has been made there since ancient times. In October, the EU's head office added feta to a list of hundreds of gourmet products given "designation of origin" protection. That means they can only be produced...