About The Cheese Tasting Company
Meet cheesemonger and author Ned Palmer.
Ned Palmer, ‘the UK’s leading expert on cheese’ according to noted gourmet Tom Watson, is the author of the best-selling A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles, published in 2019 and shortlisted for the André Simon, Fortnum and Mason's and Guild of Food Writers awards in 2020. Ned published his second book A Cheesemonger’s Compendium of British and Irish Cheese in 2021, and is currently working on a third, A Cheesemonger’s Tour of France.
Ned began his career as a cheesemonger at Borough Market in November 2000 when he tried a piece of Trethowan’s Gorwydd Caerphilly. Cheesemaker Todd Trethowan quickly sent Ned to work at the great British cheese shop Neal’s Yard Dairy, largely to stop the ceaseless flow of cheese questions. Ned worked there for six years on the retail counter, looking after cheese in the cellars and traveling around Britain meeting cheese makers.
In 2014 Ned set up the Cheese Tasting Company to bring cheese to the people, and still travels around Britain and the rest of Europe visiting cheesemakers, hearing their stories and tasting their cheeses to bring the best and most fascinating examples to share with you and your friends.
Online Events
We now offer Virtual Cheese Tastings via Zoom or whatever platform you prefer. You and your guests can join Ned from wherever you are in the UK or around the world
We will send you and your UK based guests a selection of fabulous cheeses, biscuits and drinks and then at the appointed time, Ned will lead you through tasting the cheeses and share the story of their history and the people who make them today. For guests outside the UK we can often provide details of local cheesemongers and help you to source their cheese and wine so they can share, or compare and contrast.
These events normally last around ninety minutes, including plenty of time for questions and discussions. Every tasting includes plenty of useful info about choosing and serving cheese, and matching with drinks, as well as loads of the fascinating and fun stories about cheese and cheesemakers and the history of cheese which have made Ned a bestselling author..
In-Person Events
From a wonderful selection of cheeses served by experienced mongers as part of a larger event, to bespoke luxury tastings where author Ned Palmer shares his enthusiasm and knowledge with you and your guests, The Cheese Tasting Company's events are always Inspirational, fun and delicious.
Tastings can take place at your offices or at an outside venue. Ned is also happy to bring his tastings to groups of family or friends along with the best artisanal cheeses from the British Isles and the continent.
Whatever the tasting, The Cheese Tasting Company can also provide superb and unusual wines and beers, or sparkling wines and spirits to compliment the cheeses and create fresh new taste sensations.
For groups from four to four hundred a tasting can be a unique event in itself, or a very delicious talking point for your guests.
Types of events
From classic cheese and wine tastings to an elegant dinner or cheese station, we can design the perfect scenario for your event.
A stunning selections of cheeses available buffet style for your event.
"Working with Ned is a joy.
The things he knows about cheese astound me and he has a flawless palate for flavour matching"
Jonny Garrett, Jamie Oliver Foundation.
Vive la France!
Charles de Gaulle famously said it was impossible to govern a country with 246 different cheeses. And perhaps he was right. Every French cheese carries an essence of the place where it's made - its history, identity and landscape. Sometimes that's a physical thing, as the hard texture of Comté echoes its rugged Alpine home. Other times it's about power and politics - Brie swelling to royal dimensions due to its proximity to the French court, or Camembert gaining national status after being supplied in patriotic boxes to First World War soldiers.
In A Cheesemonger's Tour de France, Ned Palmer travels to ten regions, meeting the remarkable cheesemakers who preserve France's greatest patrimony, its treasured cheeses. As he explains the mysteries of terroir and why each of those different varieties taste as they do, he shows that a French cheeseboard offers genuine insights into la Belle République.
From the blog
