{{Short description|English semi-soft cheese}} {{for|the pear cultivar|Stinking Bishop (pear)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox cheese | name = Stinking Bishop | image = A slice of Stinking Bishop cheese.jpg | othernames = | country = United Kingdom | regiontown = | region = Gloucestershire | town = Dymock | source = Cow | pasteurised = Yes | texture = Smooth, creamy, semi-soft | fat = 48% | protein = | dimensions = | weight = | aging = {{circa|4}} months | certification = }} '''Stinking Bishop''' is a washed-rind cheese produced since 1972 by Charles Martell and Son at Hunts Court Farm, Dymock, Gloucestershire, in the west of England. It is made from the milk of Old Gloucester cattle.
==History== By 1972, just 68 heifers of the Old Gloucester breed were left in the world. Charles Martell bought up many of the surviving cows, and began to produce cheese from their milk, not initially for its own sake, but to promote interest in the breed. With a revival of interest from other farmers in the endangered breed, overall Gloucester cow numbers began to recover, increasing to around 450 by 2016. Martell's own herd of cows had expanded over the years; it still remained relatively small for a dairy herd, at 25 head by 2015, meaning that the Gloucester milk needed to be combined and pasteurised with the milk of Friesian cattle from other nearby farms, for cheese production to be economically viable.<ref name=ted>{{cite web |title=Stinking Bishop |url=http://www.teddingtoncheese.co.uk/acatalog/de339.htm |website=Teddington Cheese |access-date=25 December 2016}}</ref>
Stinking Bishop is an artisanal, handmade cheese, so it is not marketed through supermarkets. {{As of|2017}} it had over 130 stockists<ref name="martell">{{Cite web|date=15 March 2017|title=Invite the Bishop!|url=http://www.charlesmartell.com/news/blog/Invite-SB/|access-date=22 March 2017|website=Charles Martell & Son - Cheesemakers and Distillers}}</ref> across the UK, retailing in artisan food stores and delicatessens, as well as in Harrods and Selfridges.
==Characteristics== The colour of Stinking Bishop ranges from white-yellow to beige, with an orange to grey rind. It is moulded into wheels {{convert|2|kg|spell=in}} in weight, {{convert|20|cm}} in diameter, and {{convert|4|cm}} deep. Only about 1,000 wheels, or {{convert|20|t|lb|spell=in}} are produced each year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article312460.ece |title=A history of the Stinking Bishop |first=Terry |last=Kirby |newspaper=The Independent |location=London |date=14 September 2005 |access-date=24 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051106013118/http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article312460.ece |archive-date=6 November 2005}}</ref>
The distinctive odour comes from the ripening process, during which the cheese is rind-washed: it is immersed in perry (the traditional pear cider of the region) made from the local Stinking Bishop pear{{snd}}from which the cheese gets its name{{snd}}every four weeks while it matures. To increase the moisture content and to encourage bacterial activity, salt is not added until the cheese is removed from its mould.<ref name="ted" /> The fat content is 48 per cent. thumb|250px|right|A slice showing typical maturation at room temperature
== Popular culture == The cheese was brought to international attention by the animated comedy ''Wallace & Gromit''. In the 2005 animated film ''The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'', Gromit uses it to revive Wallace. Demand for the cheese subsequently rose by 500 percent,<ref>{{cite news|date=30 December 2005|title=Farmer's vow as film boosts demand|agency=Press Association|newspaper=The Scotsman|location=Edinburgh|url=http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2479612005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624045428/http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2479612005|archive-date=24 June 2006}}</ref> forcing the cheesemaker to hire more staff and increase production.<ref>{{cite news|last=Morris|first=Steven|date=13 September 2005|title=Stinking Bishop lives in fear of the Wallace & Gromit effect|newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2005/sep/13/foodanddrink.filmnews}}</ref> It was also referenced again at the end of Episode 4 of ''Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'', where Wallace samples an even more pungent{{snd}}fictional{{snd}}variant of Stinking Bishop, called "Stinking Archbishop".<ref>{{multiref2|1={{cite book |last1=Connor |first1=Alan |title=Pointless Facts for Curious Minds: A new kind of quiz book |date=26 October 2023 |publisher=Ebury Publishing |isbn=978-1-4735-3366-0 |page=33 |quote=Stinking Archbishop, which features in ''Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention'', sadly remains fictional.}}|2={{cite magazine |date=7 December 2019 |title=My Haven: Wallace & Gromit |page=3|magazine=Mail Weekend Magazine}} }}</ref>
Chef Andrew Zimmern, host of the TV show ''Bizarre Foods'' (Travel Channel), in an episode about the U.K., samples Stinking Bishop cheese during a visit to the Borough Market in London.{{cn|date=May 2022}}
In the 2011 Channel 4 show ''King Of...'', host Claudia Winkleman and her two guests Chris Evans and Sarah Millican adjudicate on contenders for the King of Cheese; Stinking Bishop was awarded the title by Winkleman and Evans (with Millican expressing dislike for cheese in general).<ref>{{cite Hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |title=Covid-19: Employment Levels |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-07-08/debates/3942CD52-B678-46DB-BC66-C10B74A17CD9/Covid-19EmploymentLevels |house=House of Commons |date=8 July 2020 |column= 961 |speaker=Mark Harper |position=Member for Forest of Dean |volume=678}} [https://hansard.parliament.uk/debates/GetDebateAsText/3942CD52-B678-46DB-BC66-C10B74A17CD9 Direct link to plain text]</ref><ref>{{Cite episode| title=Holidays, jobs, cheese |host=Claudia Winkleman | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkDZPBP9yi8 | series=King of ...| publisher=Channel Four Television Corporation | station=Channel 4 | date=17 June 2011 |series-number=1 | number=1| time= 17:55 – 23:27}}</ref>
== Awards == * 2010, Gold Medal Winner at the British Cheese Awards<ref>{{cite web|title=Stinking Bishop|url=http://www.britishfinefoods.com/shop-all-departments/cheese/soft-cheese/stinking-bishop|website=britishfinefoods.com|access-date=21 May 2018}}</ref>
==See also== * List of British cheeses {{portalbar|Food|England|United Kingdom}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{cite web |url=http://www.charlesmartell.com/products/stinking-bishop/ |title=Stinking Bishop |website=Charles Martell & Son – Cheesemakers and Distillers|date=11 January 2022 }} * {{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4950563 |title=Stinky Cheese Maker Shuns ''Wallace & Gromit'' Spotlight |work=All Things Considered |publisher=NPR |date=7 October 2005}} {{subject bar|auto=y|d=y}} {{Cheeses of the United Kingdom}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stinking Bishop Cheese}} Category:English cheeses Category:Cow's-milk cheeses Category:Washed-rind cheeses Category:Products introduced in 1972 Category:Gloucestershire cuisine