The Isle of Man Creamery has recently achieved two ‘Finalist’ awards in the Dairy Category at The Grocer Food & Drink Awards 2010, that took place in London on Wednesday, 17 February 2010. The Grocer is the UK’s leading grocery trade publication.

Both the Black Peppercorn Mature Cheddar and Garlic & Chive Mature Cheddar were successful in reaching the final of these prestigious awards. Garlic & Chive Mature Cheddar combines the depth of flavour of our Isle of Man Mature Cheddar with the delicate taste of chives and the more lingering savoury taste of garlic. Isle of Man Mature Cheddar is hand-blended with split black peppercorns to create a special Black Peppercorn Mature Cheddar which is delicious.

Gordon Smith, Sales & Marketing Director at Isle of Man Creamery said: “This is a fantastic achievement for the Creamery and to reach the final with two of our cheeses is a tribute to the craft and dedication of our cheesemakers. We were up against major household dairy brands such as Flora,Pilgrims Choice and Kerrygold. For a small creamery like ours to be in this kind of company is testament to the potential of our brand. It would have been great to have been the overall winner and we will set our sights on this for next year ”

The Grocer Food & Drink Awards recognise products for their taste, content, packaging, shelf standout, brand impact, labelling and value for money. All products entered in The Grocer Food & Drink Awards go through a vigorous and robust judging process that is conducted by an independent company, who ensure that respondents reflect a cross section of the UK population.

A fantastic achievement to the Isle of Man Creamery and well deserved.

This is one of favorite Saturday afternoon snacks that I enjoy with a cup of tea or some times a sneaky can of Stella!

What you need

2 slices of white bread (Ramsey Bakery Mighty White)
4 good slices of Isle of Man Creameries Black Pepper Mature Chedder
Knob of butter
1 tsp oregano
½ cup sliced Greeba Farm Manx mushrooms
A toastie maker/George Foreman grill

What to do

In a pan, put a knob of butter and heat on the hob. Place the mushrooms and oregano in the pan and gently cook for 2-3 minutes until the mushrooms are lightly cooked and soft. Set aside.
Lightly butter the two slices of bread. Place one of the bread slices butter side down and line with slices of the cheese. With a spoon place the mushrooms on top of the cheese, finally adding the other slice of bread, butter side facing out.

Toast for 5 minutes in a toastie maker or George Forman Grill or until golden brown and cheese has melted. Serve warm with a side salad of leaves and cuppa if you want to push the boat out!

Gourmet Shark Tip: If you don’t have a toastie machine you could fry the toastie gently on each side in a frying pan.

The Isle of Man Creamery’s Garlic & Chive Mature Cheddar has recently won a Bronze medal at this year’s British Cheese Awards.

The Awards were held in Cardiff Castle on 25th September with a total of 884 entries were received from 189 cheesemakers and judged by a panel of 60 top industry experts, amongst them cheese buyers, journalists, chefs and food critics.

Gordon Smith, Sales and Marketing Director, said, “This is fantastic news for the Creamery.

“Winning a Bronze medal at the British Cheese Awards is a tribute to the craft and dedication that our cheesemakers put into making our range of award winning cheeses.”

Isle of Man Creamery desribes its hand-blended, award-winning cheese as “a taste of the Continent for true cheese aficionados, combining the depth of flavour of our Isle of Man Mature Cheddar with the delicate taste of chives and the more lingering savour of garlic – meltingly delicious.”

This is the latest in a string of prestigious awards for the Creamery’s range of cheeses.

In this year alone, its Vintage Cheddar beat all the competition in Tesco’s annual ‘Cheese Challenge’, its Black Peppercorn Mature Cheddar took Gold in the Great Taste Awards, and its Oak-Smoked Mature Cheddar earned a Silver medal in the World Cheese Awards