Stinking Bishop

About this item

***WARNING: This cheese will be very pungent when it arrives to you. This does not mean that it is spoiled, that's just how it smells.***

Made by Charles Martell in Gloucestershire, England, Stinking Bishop is a coveted full fat pasteurized cows’ milk soft cheese made with vegetarian rennet. The rind is washed in pear cider (perry) which gives it its characteristic flavor, brown/pink rind and pungent smell. 

A monastic type of cheese which owes its origin to the Cistercian order of monks who once farmed the pastures of Hunts Court Farm whence it was launched in 1994. As with many monastic cheeses, this variety is matured in humid cave-like conditions. The rind is washed in perry because the 100 or so varieties of perry pear known nationally are peculiar to this part of Gloucestershire and its border areas. One of these varieties is ‘Stinking Bishop’, a name which seems appropriate for this cheese. The Stinking Bishop pear was in turn named after a local mid 19th Century farmer called Frederick Bishop. He earned himself the nick-name 'Stinking Bishop' because of his riotous behavior. He once took a cow to market and determined to drink the proceeds before he went home - he did, and then when the kettle was too slow to boil he shot it!