Durrus is an Irish, semi-soft cheese with a washed, yellowish-grey rind.
Inside, the cheese is dotted with small holes, and has a buttery texture with complex aromas.
It is made in two sizes: 380 g rounds (5 cm x 10 cm) and 1.5 kg wheels (18cm x 6 cm.)
The cheese is made from raw milk from cows that has been curdled with animal rennet, and aged 4 to 5 weeks.
Nutrition
45% fat
History Notes
Durrus Cheese was created by Jeffa Gill. She had worked in the fashion industry in Dublin in the early 1970s. She bought a farm in 1973 in West Cork on Sheep’s Head peninsula. She created Durrus in 1979, with milk from her eight cows.
In 1988, she switched to using milk from a neighbour’s Friesians.
Durrus Cheese company headquarters. Coomkeen, Sheep’s Head peninsula, West Cork, Ireland. Jonathan Billinger / geograph.co.uk / 2013 / CC BY-SA 2.0
Sources
Bedell, Geraldine. An Irish Round. Manchester: The Observer. 9 March 2003.
Fletcher, Janet. Irish cheesemaker fashions a dandy. San Francisco Chronicle. 11 March 2004.
RTÉ One: The Afternoon Show. Interview with Kevin Sheridan: Christmas Cheese Boards. 12 December 2007. Retrieved February 2009 from http://www.rte.ie/tv/theafternoonshow/2007/1212/cheese509.html