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Cheese, Potted
Put half a pound of cheese, Cheshire, Glo'ster, or Stilton, cut into small pieces, into a marble mortar, with one ounce and a half of fresh butter, a tea-spoonful of sifted loaf sugar, a tea-spoonful of made mustard, and a little cayenne, curry powder, or anchovy powder. Pound these ingredients well together, and as soon as the mixture becomes a smooth paste, put it into a jar, cover it with clarified butter, and tie it up closely. A little sherry may be added or not. Potted cheese is good spread on bread and butter, and is more digestible than when eaten in the usual way. Dry cheese may be used for it. If very dry a larger proportion of butter will be required. If the butter used is sweet, and it is covered quite closely, it will keep good for two or three weeks. Time, about twenty minutes. Probable cost, 1s. 2d. per pound. Sufficient for six or seven persons.
A Victorian way of using up dry ends of cheese, and one that still works: the result is essentially a cheese spread, richer and smoother than anything sold in a tub.
- The hinge: cheese at room temperatureCold cheese will not pound or process into a paste; it crumbles and then greases. Leave the cheese and butter out for an hour first, and the mixture comes together smoothly in a minute or two.
- Mortar or machineA marble mortar and pestle gives the best texture, but a food processor is faster. Pulse rather than run it continuously — overworking warms the fat and the paste turns oily and separates.
- The cheesesCheshire, Gloucester and Stilton are all still available; any firm, well-flavoured cheese works. Avoid pre-shredded cheese, which is dusted with an anti-caking coating and can taste chalky.
- Loaf sugarLoaf sugar was cut from a moulded cone and "sifted" means crushed and sieved fine. Use a teaspoon of caster or granulated sugar.
- Made mustard"Made" mustard is mustard mixed to a paste, as opposed to dry powder. English mustard from a jar is the closest match; Dijon is milder and will need a little more.
- Clarified butter sealMelt butter gently, skim the foam, and pour off the clear fat leaving the milky solids behind. Pressed level and sealed with about a quarter-inch of clarified butter, the paste is protected from air, which is what slows the flavour going stale.
- StorageThe recipe credits its 'two or three weeks' to sweet butter and a close covering, in the conditions of an unheated larder. Keep it in the refrigerator and eat within a week or two; discard it if the surface under the butter shows mould or smells sharp and yeasty.
- Quantities and yieldHalf a pound of cheese with an ounce and a half of butter makes roughly a cup of paste — enough for six or seven at tea, as stated. The recipe leaves the sherry optional and unmeasured; add it a teaspoon at a time, since too much will loosen the paste.
Potting was the English answer to preservation before refrigeration: cooked meat, fish or cheese was pounded with butter, packed tight to exclude air, and sealed under a layer of clarified fat. Potted cheese belongs to the same family as potted shrimps and potted beef, and appears in English cookery books from the eighteenth century onward, sometimes as a way of using cheese that had dried out. Cassell's is arranged alphabetically, so this entry sits among the other cheese entries, with the price per pound noted as a matter of course — a reminder that these books were written for households counting shillings. The claim that potted cheese is "more digestible" than plain cheese reflects the period's preoccupation with digestion rather than any modern understanding.