Clotted cream
Encyclopedia
Clotted cream is a thick cream
Cream
Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...

 made by indirectly heating full-cream cow's milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

 using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this time, the cream content rises to the surface and forms 'clots' or 'clouts'. It forms an essential part of a cream tea
Cream tea
A cream tea, Devonshire tea, Devon cream tea or Cornish cream tea is tea taken with a combination of scones, clotted cream, and jam....

.

Although its origin is uncertain, the cream's production is commonly associated with dairy farms in South West England
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...

 and in particular the counties of Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 and Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. The current largest commercial producer is Rodda's in Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...

, Cornwall, which produces up to 25 t (25,000 kg; 55,115.6 lb) of clotted cream each day. In 1998 the term Cornish clotted cream became a Protected Designation of Origin
Protected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 (PDO) by European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 directive, as long as the milk is produced in Cornwall and the minimum fat content is 55%.

Description

Clotted cream has been described as having a "nutty, cooked milk" flavour, and a "rich sweet flavour" with a texture that is grainy, sometimes with oily globules on the crusted surface. It is a thick cream, with a very high fat content (a minimum of 55%, but an average of 64%); in the United States it would be classified as butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

. Despite its popularity, virtually none is exported due to it having a very short shelf life
Shelf life
Shelf life is the length of time that food, drink, medicine, chemicals, and many other perishable items are given before they are considered unsuitable for sale, use, or consumption...

.

Clotted cream is often considered to be bad for health due its high saturated fat
Saturated fat
Saturated fat is fat that consists of triglycerides containing only saturated fatty acids. Saturated fatty acids have no double bonds between the individual carbon atoms of the fatty acid chain. That is, the chain of carbon atoms is fully "saturated" with hydrogen atoms...

 content. For comparison, single cream has a lower fat content of 18%. According to the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency
Food Standards Agency
The Food Standards Agency is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for protecting public health in relation to food throughout the United Kingdom and is led by a board appointed to act in the public interest...

, a 100 grams (3.5 oz) tub of clotted cream provides 586 kilocalories (2,451,824 J), roughly equivalent to a 200 grams (7.1 oz) cheeseburger.

History

Originally made by farmers to reduce the amount of waste from their milk, clotted cream has become so deep-rooted in the culture of South West England that it is now a tourist attraction. While there is no doubt of its strong association with Cornwall and Devon, it is not clear where it first originated. It is similar to Kaymak
Kaymak
Kaymak ; also kaymak, kajmak, kaimak or qeymağ, also geymar, gaimar, is a originally Serbian creamy dairy product, similar to clotted cream, made in Serbia, Turkey,...

 (or Kajmak), a Near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...

ern delicacy that is made throughout the Middle East, Southeast Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, India and Turkey. It is possible that it was introduced to Cornwall by Phoenicia
Phoenicia
Phoenicia , was an ancient civilization in Canaan which covered most of the western, coastal part of the Fertile Crescent. Several major Phoenician cities were built on the coastline of the Mediterranean. It was an enterprising maritime trading culture that spread across the Mediterranean from 1550...

n traders, who ventured to the area in search of tin
Tin
Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn and atomic number 50. It is a main group metal in group 14 of the periodic table. Tin shows chemical similarity to both neighboring group 14 elements, germanium and lead and has two possible oxidation states, +2 and the slightly more stable +4...

.

Whether or not it was brought to England from abroad, it has long been disputed whether clotted cream originated in Devon or Cornwall, and which county makes it the best. There is evidence that the monks of Tavistock Abbey
Tavistock Abbey
Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and St Rumon, was destroyed by Danish raiders in 997 and...

 were making clotted cream in the early 1300s. After their Abbey had been ransacked by Vikings in 997 AD, the monks rebuilt it with the help of Ordulf, Earl of Devon. Local workers were drafted in to help with the repairs, and the monks rewarded them with bread, clotted cream and strawberry preserves. The 1658 cookery book The Compleat Cook had a recipe for "clouted cream".

In the 19th century it was regarded as better nourishment than "raw" cream because that cream was liable to go sour and be difficult to digest, causing illness. An article from 1853 calculates that creating clotted cream will produce 25% more cream than regular methods. In Devon, it was so common that in the mid-1800s, it was used in the formative processes of butter
Butter
Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

, instead of churning cream or milk. The butter made in this way had a longer lifespan and was free from any negative flavours added by the churning.

It has long been the practice for local residents in South West England, or those on holiday to send small tins or tubs of clotted cream by post to friends and relations in other parts of the British Isles. Food regulations for perishable goods prohibit it being sent abroad.

EU directives

In 1993, an application was made for the name Cornish clotted cream to have a Protected Designation of Origin
Protected Geographical Status
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 (PDO) in the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 for cream produced by the traditional recipe in Cornwall. This was accepted in 1998. Cornish clotted cream must be made from milk produced in Cornwall. It must also have a minimum butterfat
Butterfat
Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain.- Composition :The fatty acids of butterfat are typically composed as follows :...

 content of 55%. The unique, slightly yellow, Cornish clotted cream colour is due to the high carotene
Carotene
The term carotene is used for several related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but cannot be made by animals. Carotene is an orange photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis. Carotenes are all coloured to the human eye...

 levels in the grass.

Preparation

Traditionally, clotted cream was created by straining fresh cow's milk, letting it stand in a shallow pan in a cool place for several hours to allow the cream to rise to the surface, then heating it either over hot cinders or in a water bath
Bain-marie
A bain-marie is a French term for a piece of equipment used in science, industry, and cooking to heat materials gently and gradually to fixed temperatures, or to keep materials warm over a period of time.- Description :...

, before a slow cooling. The clots that had formed on the top were then skimmed off with a long-handled cream-skimmer, known in Devon as a a reamer or raimer. By the mid-1930s, the traditional way of using milk brought straight from the dairy was becoming a rarity in Devon because using a cream separator
Cream separator
A separator is a centrifugal device that separates milk into cream and skimmed milk. Separation was commonly performed on farms in the past. Most farmers milked a few cows, usually by hand, and separated milk. Some of the skimmed milk was consumed while the rest was used to feed calves and pigs...

, which actively separated the cream from the milk using centrifugal force, before heating produced far more clotted cream for the same amount of milk: as a farmer's wife in Poundsgate
Poundsgate
Poundsgate is a small village in Dartmoor, Devon, England, located on the road between Ashburton and Princetown.The postal area of "Poundsgate" is a wide geographical area. There are a few cottages clustered around a popular stopping point for travellers, the Tavistock Inn, which is thought to date...

 said, "the separator saves a whole cow!"

Today, there are two distinct modern methods for making clotted cream. The "Float Cream method" includes scalding
Scalded milk
Scalded milk is milk that has been heated to . At this temperature, bacteria and enzymes in the milk are destroyed. Since most milk sold today is pasteurized, which accomplishes both of these goals, milk is typically scalded simply to increase its temperature, or to change the consistency due to...

 a floating layer of double cream in milk (skimmed
Skimmed milk
Skimmed milk , or skim milk is made when all the cream is removed from whole milk .Sometimes only half the cream is removed, this is called semi-skimmed milk....

 or whole) in shallow trays. To scald, the trays are heated using steam or very hot water. After the mixture has been heated for up to an hour it is slowly cooled over 12 hours or more, before the cream is separated and packaged. The "Scald Cream method" is similar, but the milk layer is removed and a layer of cream which has been mechanically separated to a minimum fat level is used. This cream is then heated in a similar manner, but at a lower temperature and after a set amount of time it is then chilled and packaged. In the United Kingdom the resultant cream is deemed to be equivalent to pasteurised for legal purposes. Unlike pasteurisation, however, there is no requirement for the temperatures to be recorded on thermograph charts. As the temperatures are lower than used in standard pasteurisation, much care is needed in ensuring high standards of hygiene.

Its principal high-volume Cornish manufacturer is Rodda's, a family-owned business based in Scorrier
Scorrier
Scorrier is a village in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It is about 2 miles northeast of the centre of Redruth and 3 miles south-east of the coast at Porthtowan, on the A30 road at the junction of the A3047 road that leads west to Camborne and the B3298 road south to Carharrack...

. Founded in 1890, the company was producing over 1000000 pounds (453,592.4 kg) per year in 1985, and in the run up to Christmas 2009 they were producing up to 25 tonnes (25,000 kg) of clotted cream per day. In the early 1980s, Rodda's signed deals with international airlines to serve small tubs of clotted cream with the in-flight desserts, and the company considers the annual Wimbledon tennis championships
The Championships, Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon , is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, considered by many to be the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London since 1877. It is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three Majors...

 one of their peak selling periods. As a by-product, for every 100 gallons (454.6 l) of milk used, 94 gallons (427.3 l) of skimmed milk is produced, which is then used in food manufacture.

One Devon manufacturer, Definitely Devon was purchased by Robert Wiseman Dairies
Robert Wiseman Dairies
Robert Wiseman Dairies plc is a large Scottish milk supplier and distributor. They are now one of the largest dairy businesses in Great Britain with seven major dairies . Robert Wiseman Dairies also distribute cream and orange juice...

 in March 2006, closing one of the two Devon dairies and moving all production to Okehampton
Okehampton
Okehampton is a town and civil parish in West Devon in the English county of Devon. It is situated at the northern edge of Dartmoor, and has an estimated population of 7,155.-History:...

. However, in 2011 Robert Wiseman sold the Definitely Devon Brand to Rodda's, who moved the production of Definitely Devon to Cornwall, which caused some controversy as the name was not changed,
prompting an investigation by Trading Standards
Trading Standards Institute
The Trading Standards Institute is the professional association which represents trading standards professionals in the UK and overseas.-History:...

.

Throughout Cornwall and south-west England clotted cream manufacture is a cottage industry, with many farms and dairies producing cream for sale in local outlets. As clotted cream is not regularly available outside south-west England, there are a number of ways to create an approximation. One example is to mix mascarpone
Mascarpone
Mascarpone |denaturation]], whey is removed without pressing or aging. One can manufacture mascarpone by using cream and tartaric acid, citric acid, or even lemon juice....

 with whipped cream, a little sugar and vanilla extract.

Outside Cornwall and Devon, clotted cream is produced in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

, Herefordshire
Herefordshire
Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

, Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered....

, and the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

.

Cream tea

Clotted cream is an essential part of a cream tea
Cream tea
A cream tea, Devonshire tea, Devon cream tea or Cornish cream tea is tea taken with a combination of scones, clotted cream, and jam....

, a favourite with tourists
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

 and Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

. It is served on scones
Scone (bread)
The scone is a small Scottish quick bread especially popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,Belgium and Ireland, but are also eaten in many other countries. They are usually made of wheat, barley or oatmeal, with baking powder as a leavening agent...

 — or the more traditional 'splits' in Cornwall — with strawberry or raspberry jam, along with a pot of tea. Traditionally, there are differences in the way it is eaten in each county: in Devon, the cream is traditionally spread first on the scone, with the jam dolloped on top; in Cornwall the jam is spread first with a dollop of cream. Cream teas spread to southern Australia
Southern Australia
The term southern Australia is generally considered to include the States and territories of Australia of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory...

 as early immigrants from Cornwall and Devon took their traditional recipes with them. In 2010, Langage Farm in Devon started a campaign for "Devon cream tea" to have protected designation of origin
Protected designation of origin
Protected Geographical Status is a legal framework defined in European Union law to protect the names of regional foods. Protected Designation of Origin , Protected Geographical Indication and Traditional Speciality Guaranteed are distinct regimes of geographical indications within the framework...

 similar to "Cornish clotted cream". One variation on a cream tea is called "Thunder and Lightning" which consists of a round of bread, topped with clotted cream and golden syrup
Golden syrup
Golden syrup is a pale treacle. It is a thick, amber-colored form of inverted sugar syrup, made in the process of refining sugar cane juice into sugar, or by treatment of a sugar solution with acid. It is used in a variety of baking recipes and desserts. It has an appearance similar to honey, and...

, honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 or treacle
Treacle
Treacle is any syrup made during the refining of sugar and is defined as "uncrystallized syrup produced in refining sugar". Treacle is used chiefly in cooking as a form of sweetener or condiment....

.

Confectionery

It can be used as an accompaniment to hot or cold desserts. Clotted cream, especially clotted cream from Devon, where it is less yellow due to lower carotene
Carotene
The term carotene is used for several related unsaturated hydrocarbon substances having the formula C40Hx, which are synthesized by plants but cannot be made by animals. Carotene is an orange photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis. Carotenes are all coloured to the human eye...

 levels in the grass, is regularly used in baking. It is used throughout the south-west of England in the production of ice cream, and fudge
Fudge
Fudge is a type of Western confectionery which is usually very sweet, and extremely rich. It is made by mixing sugar, butter, and milk and heating it to the soft-ball stage at , and then beating the mixture while it cools so that it acquires a smooth, creamy consistency...

.

Savoury dishes

Clotted cream is used in some savoury dishes. According to The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

"Like a rather special stock cube, a spoonful can work wonders in mashed potato, risotto, or with sauteed garlic mushrooms or scrambled eggs.".

Historical

Cabbage cream (which does not contain cabbage) was a delicacy in the mid-17th century: layers of clotted cream were interspersed with sugar and rosewater
Rosewater
Rose water or rose syrup is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals. Rose water, itself a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume, is used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Europe and...

, creating a cabbage effect when served. In 1881 it was said to have all the health-giving properties of cod liver oil
Cod liver oil
Cod liver oil is a nutritional supplement derived from liver of cod fish. It has high levels of the omega-3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA, and very high levels of vitamin A and vitamin D. It is widely taken to ease the symptoms of arthritis and for other health benefits...

, with the benefit of a better taste. It was a common accompaniment to junket
Junket (dessert)
Junket is a milk-based dessert, made with sweetened milk and rennet, the digestive enzyme which curdles milk. It might best be described as a custard or a very soft, sweetened cheese....

, a milk-based dessert which went out of fashion in the mid-20th century.

Notable usages

During the reception following the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer
Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer
The wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Frances Spencer took place on Wednesday, 29 July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral, London, United Kingdom. Their marriage was widely billed as a "fairytale wedding" and the "wedding of the century". It was watched by an estimated global TV...

 in 1981, one course was strawberries and Cornish clotted cream. Clotted cream at the time was mainly eaten in the south-west of England and was uncommon in London, so was brought to Buckingham Palace directly by Rodda's.

Literature and folklore

It was mentioned in The Shepheardes Calendar, a poem by Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser was an English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognised as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English...

 in 1579:

"Ne would she scorn the simple shepherd swain,
For she would call him often heam,
And give him curds and clouted cream."


As with many Cornish and Devonian icons, clotted cream has become entrenched in local folklore. For example, one myth tells of Jenny who enticed the giant Blunderbore
Blunderbore
Blunderbore is a giant of Cornish and English folklore. A number of folk and fairy tales include a giant named Blunderbore, most notably "Jack the Giant Killer"...

 (sometimes called Moran) by feeding him clotted cream. He eventually fell in love with her and made her his fourth wife. Another myth, from Dartmoor
Dartmoor
Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

, tells of a princess who wanted to marry an elven
Elf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...

prince, but according to tradition had to bathe in pure cream first. Unfortunately, a witch who wanted the prince for her daughter kept souring the cream. Eventually, the prince offered the princess clotted cream, which the witch was unable to sour.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK