Alex James (musician) - Cheesemaking

Cheesemaking

James has recently become notable for his production of cheese. After his runaway success with Blur, he moved to the Cotswolds, purchasing a farmhouse and renovating it into a burgeoning cheese farm. The 200-acre cheese farm in Kingham, Oxfordshire, now produces award-winning cheeses. James has, to date, produced three cheeses: Blue Monday, Farleigh Wallop and Little Wallop. All three are distinct in their flavour: "Blue Monday" (named after his favourite New Order song) is a creamy Shropshire blue, sharp with a very faint sourness; "Little Wallop" is a soft goats’ milk cheese, washed in Somerset cider brandy and wrapped in vine leaves; and "Farleigh Wallop" is a goats cheese made in complete 115g rounds with sprigs of thyme. The latter was voted Best Goats Cheese at the 2008 British Cheese Awards, where James himself was a judge in 2010. James is now focused on developing an entire cheese range entitled ‘Alex James Presents’ that has hit shelves in 2011. The range will aim to promote technologically advanced cheeses, re-packaging cheese for the modern world.

Alex James Presents

James's new range hit the shelves of Asda in 2011. The flavour combinations include 'cheddar and tomato ketchup', 'cheddar and salad cream', and 'cheddar and tikka masala'. The Guardian accused James of 'releasing bizarre flavour mash-ups in sliced, processed, plasticky form'.