Our first series explores how local chefs, restauranteurs, artisans, brewers and distillers are crafting some of the best food and drink you may or may not have heard of, furthering Northern Ireland’s culinary scene and adapting to serve local communities over the crisis period.
You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.
Anthony Bourdain
We caught up with Cheesemaker & Proprietor, Mike Thomson, of Mike’s Fancy Cheese to explore the intricacies of cheese-making in Northern Ireland. Mike is a ‘young buck’ with true entrepreneurial spirit, alongside a penchant for making some of the best cheese this island has to offer.
During our interview, a plethora of people came through the shop doors demanding their daily dose of his famous Young Buck bleu cheese, as wheels of the mouldy goodness are seen quietly ageing through his cheese room window, where all the magic happens.
Here’s what ‘magic Mike’ had to say:
Tell us about Mike’s Fancy Cheese – what makes you so fancy, Mike?
We had the name before we had the shop. I could say we’re half accidental cheesemakers, half accidental cheesemongers, as it’s true I got into this business by accident.
That started when I stumbled into a job at Arcadia – the artisan delicatessen in South Belfast – just after I left school. That’s where my love for cheese began. I was writing a wee, stupid cheese blog at that time. That’s when I realised that every cheese has a person behind it, which intrigued me.
I enrolled in a cheese-making course over in Nottinghamshire, where I was able to take up a particular interest in studying and making Irish cheese, with the thought I’d eventually come back to Belfast. I spent 2-3 years over there doing the course and working for and learning from as many people as possible.
When I got back over, we started chatting to a couple dairy farmers. The most important thing for us was finding a good milk supply. We wanted to focus on working with just one herd. Most milk produced in Northern Ireland is done with small herds, so making cheese locally became ideal for us. We found our farmer; we found our herd, but we were skint.
However, we received tremendous support from the community and were crowdfunded through Seedrs. And that’s when Young Buck was born! We also wanted to make quality Irish cheeses more accessible to the general Northern Irish public, so that’s when we chose to open a cheese shop in Belfast City Centre.
Is there an advantage to working with one herd?
Yes. Young Buck is a raw milk cheese, which pretty much has to be made with a single herd. Animal husbandry is critical to the cheese because you’re not pasteurising, you’re just using what nature gives you and letting natural fermentation take its place. We’ve been working with the same farmer in Newtownards since day one.
How has MFC been able to adapt to Covid-19?
We’re quite fortunate as a cheesemaker to have a shop in a big city. Over in Britain, the crisis has been difficult for many cheesemakers, as they tend to be more rural and may or may not have a retail shop, so it was difficult for many of them to stay in business (find out more at #SaveBritishCheese).
Luckily for us, Young Buck is easier to preserve, so we didn’t have that immense pressure to sell. We were able to stay open for most of the pandemic. The fact that we only sell local products also helped us as it was easy to maintain regular supply.
We took the focus off of making cheese for a few weeks and concentrated everything online. You wouldn’t believe the demand for cheese once initial restrictions lifted and we were able to reopen after those first weeks – it was a madhouse in here! We were very proud and humbled by the support of the local community and their demand for great cheese to get them through this difficult time.
We were running out of certain inventory fast. To counter that, we got creative, promoting our subscription box, which helped balanced out our supply and introduced customers to new products.
Speaking of ‘local’, tell us about some of your products.
We have a vehement focus on selling and promoting local products from local grocers – local eggs from Saintfield, bread from Grateful Bread and we offer the only other Northern Irish artisan cheese, Ballylisk, as well as their milk and butter products. We also sell local charcuterie from Ispini. We feel it is our duty to give back to the local ecosystem and promote Northern Ireland wherever possible. In many ways, we are more than a cheese shop, but part of a growing and vibrant community dedicated to the craft of making great food and drink.
Expanding out a bit further, we offer an assortment of cheeses from across Ireland. We have several Irish cheddars from Cork and Wicklow, Cavanbert from County Cavan, Cnoc Dubh goat’s cheese from Galway, sheep’s cheeses from Carlow and alpine cheeses from Templegall. We like to keep it simple, promoting quality products from various producers across Ireland’s burgeoning cheese-making and craft food industries.
Speaking of food and drink – what’s this I hear of beer and cheese pairings?
Prior to the pandemic, we were hosting beer and cheese nights here in the shop for people to enjoy and mingle. We’ve since transitioned this online, collaborating with local breweries to build pairing packages for takeaway. It provided people with some craic in a time when there wasn’t much to be had.
Do you feel there will be a ‘buy local’ culture in NI like we’re seeing emerge in other places?
Covid has shown that once you see people get away from that reliance on restaurants, there’s an increased demand for local products.
The problem is the financial system is geared towards helping craftsmen and wholesalers get on the shelves at Tesco or Lidl – our economic culture has not evolved to promote small business in the way it has in other cities and this is very hindering. However, with an unstable economic future, we may see more people ‘go local’ and an increased demand in Northern Irish products as our markets change.
We also will likely have a larger population moving back here over the next few years, bringing a wealth of different expertise back to our wee corner of the world. Belfast is a cheap place to live and, from that perspective, it’s a great place to start a business because you don’t have to pay yourself too much at the beginning to stay afloat. This has to be attractive to entrepreneurs from here and abroad and I hope it’s done correctly in prioritising ‘local’.
If you could have a smorgasbord of cheese with one person, who would it be with, why and what would you be drinking?
One of my maddest cheese experiences is attending the annual Bra Cheese Festival in Italy. We meet up with these guys from Berlin we sell cheese to. We don’t get to see them very often, but when we do, it’s always the most amazing craic. I’d like to crack open a few craft beers with them right now, with a warm cheese pretzel and a bit of Young Buck! The festival is really just an excuse for a good piss-up and to eat a shit load of cheese!
Describe the personality of your staff in one sentence
Patience is a virtue.
Would you trust someone that doesn’t like cheese?
I’m accepting of all people from all walks of life. Actually, on second thought, no I’m not…
Tell us about Young Buck
Young Buck is a raw milk blue cheese – Stilton style. We didn’t want to do an aged cheddar as it was too expensive to store and maintain for a business just starting up. We had concerns about doing a soft cheese because we weren’t sure if the market was there and it has a shorter shelf life. We knew we’d want to make a cheese that can last and travel well, as we planned to ship it out all across the UK and Ireland. It’s such a pleasant cheese to make – I love the process.
As for the name, we took the same approach you might with having a child, “You’ll know the name when you see him or her.” We had a long list of names we came up with on our fridge and Young Buck was the one we just couldn’t get tired of.
What would you like to see more of in NI’s food and drink culture?
We need more small business-friendly policies. The licensing to start a business in food and beverage is crippling – these laws need to be relaxed if we want our food and drink culture to thrive and catch up with other places. I want to see more local producers and businesses coming together to create a flourishing food and drink scene.
What’s your message for the community during this time?
Eat more cheese! We want cheese to be accessible and cherished by everyone and for locals to venture out and try new things. Sure we’re ‘fancy’, but we are about building a community around excellent local products that everyone from every walk of life can enjoy. Cheese is as addictive as heroin, so it can get you through any kind of crisis and, I promise you, you will come out happier on the other side!