Red Leicester
Cheese
Top 10 pairings
Red Leicester is a firm, dense English cow's-milk cheese, instantly recognisable for its deep russet-orange colour — coloured throughout with annatto — and its moist, crumbly, flaky body. Cheddar-like but milder and more open in texture, it is mellow, sweet-savoury and faintly nutty, sharpening and drying as it ages.
Picking a good onedrag
Firm, flaky, mellowDried, mould on the paste, rancid
Wrapped wedgeEveryday bestRaw or pasteurised: check the label. NHS: hard cheese is safe in pregnancy. US CDC: pregnant, 65+ and immunocompromised people avoid raw-milk cheese unless steaming hot.
Cut faceEven orange, the face a shade duller
Smell at the cutMellow, a little quieter at the face