Interview: Book & Bucket Cheese Company
Book & Bucket is an award-winning cheese company based in Dorset. This family-owned business creates small batch, artisanal cheese using sheep and cow’s milk from local farms. Gullivers sells a selection of Book & Bucket cheeses on the deli counter in the Farm Shop. You’ll also find some of the cheeses used in our café menu.
The quality of Book & Bucket’s produce is outstanding, with a variety of their cheeses winning gold stars at the 2023 Great Taste Awards. Their principles are also impressive. The team are passionate about supporting local farming and have built long-lasting relationships with the farmers who supply their milk.
We spoke with founder and self-taught cheese maker, Peter Morgan, about his process and ethos, plus tips for the ultimate cheeseboard.
Your company’s name, Book & Bucket, is said to link to your process of cheesemaking. Could you talk a little more about this?
As a self-taught cheese maker I sought the advice of a number of people in the industry. I was advised to read as many books as I could, and the rest is bucket science. Essentially meaning to make small batches and when you make something that’s good enough to eat, then make it in a bigger bucket. We now have three 500ltr buckets (or cheese vats).
You launched Book & Bucket Cheese Company before the pandemic. Why did you decide to make the leap?
I had been managing another company for nine years, and decided it was time to challenge myself and take the leap. Of course, at that point, Covid was unheard of, and eight months later the world changed. But, as a new company, we were able to adapt and continue to grow.
What have you learned about business or cheese (or both!) during this time?
The goalposts in work and life will always keep moving, and you need to accept this and adapt.
Like Gullivers, you’re passionate about farming and have worked with farmers to develop cheese with them during lockdown. Why is this work so important to you and what more could we all do to support local farming in the future?
How and where we get food from is the fundamentals of everything we do. Everyone needs to understand that healthy and sustainable food has a cost, but without the farmers we starve.
Processed food is cheap for a reason, and educating our children that we should eat fresh and seasonal food is so important. We buy directly from the farm, the milk is fresh and the farmer is paid a fair price. That is the only way to protect the future of the industry.
What should most people probably know about cheese but don’t?
That cheese is not just for a cheeseboard. We work closely with chefs to have a range that can be used for cooking, not just eaten on its own. The Smoked Huxley is an example of this. It’s a great alternative to smoked bacon in dishes, from pasta to pizza toppings.
Speaking of cheeseboards, what do you have on yours and why?
I like to have a few different styles of cheese. Firstly, something many don’t put on a cheeseboard: parmesan! Honestly, you must try it. Then a blue and brie (our Shakespeare cheese, being sheep milk, ticks an extra box) and a rindwash, pungent cheese. Not your typical cheeseboard, but being around cheese all day, I like to try as many different British styles as I can.
What’s next for Book & Bucket?
We are getting ready for a busy Christmas, so lots going on for that. We also have a new Truffle Brie called Cranborne Dark Sky launching in November. And, lastly, the World Cheese Awards where we are going for the elusive Super Gold to complete our collection!
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Head in store to Gullivers Farm Shop where you can find a selection of Book & Bucket’s delicious cheeses at the Deli counter. Or grab a table in Gullivers Café to sample the Wordsworth cheese on a portion of the Gullivers’ 50/50 meatballs and atop our seasonal specials: Mexican spiced pumpkin soup and Butternut squash risotto.
Find out more: @TheBookAndBucketCheeseCompany and The Book & Bucket Cheese Company website