A former Coronation Street star has penned a recipe book about the wonders of cheddar cheese.
Sean Wilson, who is known for his 20-year stint on the soap opera as Martin Platt, went from the cobbles into a Michelin-star kitchen before settling into life as a cheesemaker in the Trough of Bowland.
He has now penned his second book, ‘Cheddar Gorged’, inspired by two cheddar cheeses made in Somerset, which includes 60 recipes from across the world, the history of cheddar cheese and how it has become what it is today, as well as some of his poetry.
Sean said: “Everybody in the UK, unless they are a vegan, will probably have cheddar in their fridge.
“It has become a global cheese, you can get it in New Zealand, you can get it in Alaska.
“They know it can go on toast, it can go on bolognese or on a pizza and a jacket potato but then we struggle which I find amazing.
“It is so ubiquitous, but we don’t know what to do with it.
“Not only that but we don’t know its history, we don’t know why it has ended up on the shelf, and we don’t know the passion of some of the companies behind it.
“All of this is information I have learnt and I can cook so it seemed a no-brainer when I met with the publishers for us to put this book together.”
The Corrie star started cooking in the Michelin Star Northcote kitchen after finishing on the show, which saw him introduced to friend and Lancashire cheesemaker Bob Kitching.
After some months cooking at Northcote, Sean moved on to host a show on BBC Radio Lancashire when he met Bob again who invited him to the factory and taught him his trade.
Now after 17 years, he has made a name for himself in the cheese industry, producing award-winning blue cheeses and Lancashire cheese.
Sean added: “Sometimes you wonder why you are doing things, I was there in the kitchen thinking, why am I here? Why have I just left the studio at Granada TV and why am I here in this kitchen?
“I wasn’t a chef and knew I didn’t want to be but I wouldn’t have met Bob otherwise.
“Lisa Goodwin-Allen’s introduction of us paved out the next 17 years for me really.”
Since the pandemic, Sean said his cheese is no longer on the shelves of supermarkets, as is the case with many other artisan cheese companies.
Despite this, Sean has continued to create the cheeses but with the cost of living having a drastic increase of about 85 per cent in costs, he has decided to put the Lancashire cheese on the back burner and concentrate on the award-winning blue cheese.
Sean released his first book, The Great Northern Cookbook, in 2012 and had an accompanying Channel 5 TV series released in 2013.
Cheddar Gorged is his second book and was released on Monday, October 10.
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