{"id":3046,"date":"2025-02-02T04:25:21","date_gmt":"2025-02-02T04:25:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/how-blaenafon-cheddar-tells-a-fascinating-story-of-welsh-food-and-drink\/"},"modified":"2025-02-02T04:25:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-02T04:25:21","slug":"how-blaenafon-cheddar-tells-a-fascinating-story-of-welsh-food-and-drink","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/how-blaenafon-cheddar-tells-a-fascinating-story-of-welsh-food-and-drink\/","title":{"rendered":"How Blaenafon Cheddar Tells a Fascinating Story of Welsh Food and Drink"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Storefront – Photo courtesy Blaenafon Cheddar Co.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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High on a hilltop just south of Brecon Beacons National Park<\/a>\u2014a lush landscape with miles of walking trails, sheep-studded meadows, and expansive dark skies\u2014sits the town of Blaenavon, Wales. Behind a red-trimmed storefront on Broad Street, you\u2019ll find Blaenafon Cheddar Company<\/a>, where Susan Fiander-Woodhouse practices her craft. She\u2019s a cheesemaker and a storyteller who gleans inspiration from Welsh traditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Creating a Welsh Flavor Trail with Cheddars<\/strong> <\/h2>\n
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Cymru Crunch – Photo courtesy Blaenafon Cheddar Co.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wales may not be top of mind for every food-minded traveler, but the country\u2019s varied geography has always lent itself to wholesome, flavorful ingredients. Through Blaenafon Cheddar, Susan has made it her mission to turn visitors on to Welsh food and drink in hopes they\u2019ll see it as an invitation to further explore the country\u2019s offerings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to use everything Welsh, but it\u2019s got to be about what\u2019s in my heart,\u201d says Susan. \u201cIt\u2019s about the love of my homeland and wanting other people to come and enjoy it. I thought if I could entice them in with a smile, with the cheese, then they\u2019d go and have a look elsewhere. By using ingredients from the south, mid, and north Wales, we\u2019ve created a flavor trail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\"Susan

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Susan, Charlotte, Gerry – Photo courtesy Blaenafon Cheddar Co.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Susan\u2019s \u201cwe\u201d includes husband Gerry Woodhouse and daughter Charlotte Hill, both of whom help with production and serve as directors of Blaenafon Cheddar Company. And the ingredients from across the Welsh landscape? Those are sourced and carefully paired to create Blaenafon\u2019s unique, wax-cloaked cheeses\u2014like Capel Newydd, a medium cheddar with garlic, elderflower, and white wine from Abergavenny\u2019s Sugarloaf Vineyard<\/a>; or Cymru Crunch, with chives, pickled onions, and Welsh ale from Tomos Watkin Brewery<\/a> in Swansea; or Blaenafon\u2019s namesake cheddar, with ginger preserves and Danzy Jones whisky from Celtic Spirit Company<\/a>, a distillery on the island of Anglesey; just to name a few.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThere are so many lovely stories and there\u2019s so much to see in Wales,\u201d Susan explains. \u201cNot just commercial places, but things off the beaten track, like our lovely castles<\/a> and the stories behind the castles, the walks, the little villages\u2014that\u2019s what I want everybody else to enjoy as much as I do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Continuing her efforts as an unofficial representative for Wales tourism<\/a>, Susan and Blaenafon Cheddar regularly host international tour groups for tastings and talks, they\u2019re a member of the Guild of Fine Foods<\/a>, and they participate in a government-funded program for Welsh food producers called Cywain<\/a>. \u201cNever a dull moment here!\u201d Susan laughs. \u201cAnd we\u2019re always open to writing people\u2019s itinerary for holidays.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Caerphilly<\/strong> <\/h2>\n
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\"Caerphilly\"<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Between her community involvement and story-driven cheddars, Susan also produces Caerphilly, a hard, mild cheese with practical origins that originated in and around the town of Caerphilly, Wales. Despite its crumbliness, Caerphilly isn\u2019t dry\u2014it\u2019s creamy with a pleasant tang, and it used to wrap up nicely for tucking into the pockets of the coal miners who would descend into Blaenavon\u2019s depths when The Big Pit<\/a> was still a working mine. Today, Caerphilly cheese tastes great with an oat biscuit and a cup of tea served above ground\u2014but it\u2019s a matter of tradition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the heritage of food,\u201d says Susan. \u201cIt\u2019s about a sense of place and keeping the miners\u2019 traditions alive. As the aging population dies off, many of the younger generation aren\u2019t interested in what went on before. It\u2019s a select few these days who want to keep the traditions going, and iconic Welsh food and drink has got to be kept in production.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Susan\u2019s commitment to Welsh food and heritage isn\u2019t going unnoticed. Her family\u2019s cheeses are award winning and in November 2022 at the conclusion of an award ceremony hosted in Newport, Wales, a wheel of Blaenafon Cheddar\u2019s Pwll Ddu\u2014a cheddar flavored with leeks, mustard, and Welsh ale\u2014was presented to a representative from Norway as a passing of the baton to the 2023 host country. \u201cIt was a privilege,\u201d Susan recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her passion for Wales and its producers is immediately clear to all who meet her. Whether she\u2019s dressed up at an event or behind an apron in her Blaenavon shop, Susan almost certainly has a welcoming smile on her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think we sell cheese at Blaenafon Cheddar, we sell smiles. That\u2019s what we say,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

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Visiting Wales<\/strong> <\/h2>\n
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\"Sheep<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Wales is a year-round delight and arriving via train or a flight into Cardiff is an excellent place to begin. Spend some time in the Welsh capital and enjoy an introduction to local fare on a tour with <\/em>Loving Welsh Food<\/a> before heading an hour north to Blaenavon to say hello to Susan. While bus service around Wales does exist, your best bet is to rent a car to navigate the roads at your leisure. Do meander through the towns and villages of Brecon Beacons\u2014and keep an eye out for the wild ponies who roam and graze where they please. An overnight stay at <\/em>Swn yr Afon<\/a> in Brecon is a treat (especially come breakfast time), as is dinner at the <\/em>Angel Hotel<\/a> in Abergavenny. For more insights on how to eat and drink your way through Wales, reach out to Susan through <\/em>Blaenafon Cheddar<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u00a0 Storefront – Photo courtesy Blaenafon Cheddar Co. High on a hilltop just south of Brecon Beacons National Park\u2014a lush landscape with miles of walking trails, sheep-studded meadows, and expansive dark skies\u2014sits the town of Blaenavon, Wales. Behind a red-trimmed storefront on Broad Street, you\u2019ll find Blaenafon Cheddar Company, where Susan Fiander-Woodhouse practices her craft. … Okumaya devam et “How Blaenafon Cheddar Tells a Fascinating Story of Welsh Food and Drink”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3046\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}