How Wallace And Gromit Helped Revive 2 Classic British Cheeses
Wallace and Gromit are kind of a big deal in the U.K. The Nick Park-directed claymation movies and television series center on the charming duo of a farmer and his beagle dog. The animated movies captured the hearts of people all over the world when the 1995 hit, "A Close Shave," won an Oscar, among many other awards (via Wallace and Gromit). Today, there's even a bronze statue of Wallace and Gromit in Preston, which is also the hometown of Nick Park, who created the lovable characters (per Atlas Obscura). And in the same feature-length movie, "A Close Shave," Wallace proclaimed his love for cheese, so people have known Wallace is a turophile ever since.
But which kinds of cheese do Wallace and Gromit love so much? There's a great variety of British cheeses, and it's likely that you know at least some of them. For example, the Welsh Caerphilly is mild and tangy; Derby cheese is dense in texture and has a buttery flavor; and of course, there are many varieties of the popular Cheddar cheese, which all vary in strength (per Reader's Digest). But two other British cheeses were re-popularized by this animated pair, marking a significant increase in sales for the two brands.
Wallace and Gromit renewed interest in Wensleydale and Stinking Bishop
Examiner Live revealed that Wallace mentioned Yorkshire Wensleydale as his favorite cheese in the Oscar-winning "A Close Shave" from 1995. Due to the fact that the creamery making the cheese was in a bad financial situation, mentioning their cheese in the movie helped the sales, and many people believed that it saved the creamery in the process. However, a representative of the creamery said that although Wallace and Gromit helped raise awareness about the cheese, it didn't save the creamery per se. The love goes on, as Wallace and Gromit are now often seen on the labels of Wensleydale cheese. The producers claim that Yorkshire Wensleydale cheese is creamy, crumbly, and full-flavored, and the milk comes from local farms (per Wensleydale).
In 2005, an entire decade later, another Wallace and Gromit movie, "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit," helped to re-popularize a cheese called Stinking Bishop. Once this pungent cheese was mentioned in the movie, the producers, Charles Martell and Son, found themselves in a bittersweet situation: they struggled to meet the high demand for this cow's milk cheese that's washed in perry — also known as fermented pear juice (via Love Food). And for their next animated adventure, we hope Wallace and Gromit will promote other fine cheeses: how about a blue cheese called Leeds Blue or the creamy and delicate Swaledale Traditional as their next curd-packed obsession?