"The most devoted followings of all our cheeses" - Q&A with the makers of Katy's White Lavender
Our cheese of the month for November is this delightful and surprising cheese, Katy's White Lavender, made by Shepherds Purse in Yorkshire. We interviewed MD Caroline Bell, the daughter of Judy Bell who founded Shepherds Purse in 1987.
Tell us about the origins of the cheese, including who it is named after
The idea came from a member of our team back in the early 2000’s who loved cooking with lavender. She made lavender scones using our Yorkshire Feta, as it was known then (it's now Mrs Bell's Fine Fettle), and the combination worked beautifully.
Mum was always willing to be creative and try something new, so we developed it into a cheese in its own right, and Katy's White Lavender was born.
It's named after my sister Katie, who runs the business with me and leads our production team. Somewhere along the way, a design decision changed the spelling, so she's a Katie but her cheese is a Katy! More than 20 years on, it has one of the most devoted followings of all our cheeses.
Adventurous eaters love it too, as do keen cooks looking for something new for salads, and anyone who wants a cheeseboard that gets people talking.
For those who haven't tried it, how would you describe the flavour and texture?
It's a fresh, white ewe's milk cheese in a salad style, crumbly but moist. The ewe's milk gives a clean, gently sweet, meadowy flavour, and the lavender adds a soft floral finish rather than taking over. People sometimes expect it to taste of soap or perfume. It doesn't, and that moment of surprise is usually when they're won over.
Do you have a favourite way to eat Katy's Lavender?
My new favourite is with roasted carrots. For Sunday lunch a couple of weekends ago, I crumbled Katy's White Lavender over them for their last ten minutes in the oven. It worked brilliantly, with the carrots and with the whole meal, the flavour combination of the lavender with thyme and rosemary with the roast chicken worked beautifully.
It's also lovely crumbled over a summer salad with apple or pear, or on a cheeseboard with oatcakes and honey.
And the team's favourite surprises everyone: a square of good milk chocolate alongside it.
What else might surprise people about how this cheese is made?
It's made by hand in small batches at Leachfield Grange, using fresh ewe's milk from our suppliers. We mature it for at least two weeks, then our cheesemakers roll each cheese by hand in dried lavender flowers, so the fragrance works gently into the cheese rather than being mixed through. And we have a few secrets for getting the flavour balance just right.
Tell us about Shepherds Purse – where are you, how did it start, what are your focuses?
We're at Leachfield Grange near Thirsk in North Yorkshire. My mother, Judy Bell, started Shepherds Purse here in 1987. A pharmacist by training, a farmer's wife and a mother of four, she began making cheese from sheep's milk because she believed in its nourishing qualities, particularly for people who couldn't tolerate cow's milk. She went on to pioneer sheep's milk cheese in the UK, helped lead the revival of British specialist cheese, and was awarded an MBE for her services to the farming community and rural economy.
Today Katie and I run the business with a team of around 30. We make ewe's, cow's and buffalo milk cheeses, including Yorkshire Blue, Mrs Bell's Blue and Harrogate Blue. We're an independent, creative group of cheesemakers and producers. Our aim is to nourish people's health, wellbeing and enjoyment of life, and to do the same for the communities, animals and landscapes our cheeses come from.
What makes Katy's Lavender special compared with other cheeses?
It asks something of you as a taster. Most cheeses you simply eat. With this one, the smell of lavender, or even the idea of it, brings up memories and expectations before you've taken a bite: a grandmother's garden, a bar of soap, a holiday in Provence. Those expectations shape what you taste. That's why it's brilliant at tastings and pairing sessions: it shows how much of flavour happens in the mind.
The cheese itself is gentle, with clean, sweet ewe's milk and a soft floral finish. It has avid fans, and it has converted and delighted plenty of sceptics, competition judges included.
Mum was always willing to be creative and try something new, so we developed it into a cheese in its own right, and Katy's White Lavender was born.
What type of cheese customer tends to love this cheese?
Often it's people who say they don't like flavoured cheese, because the reality is so far from what they expect.
Adventurous eaters love it too, as do keen cooks looking for something new for salads, and anyone who wants a cheeseboard that gets people talking. It's also a gentle introduction to ewe's milk for people who have only ever eaten cow's milk cheese. Katie's Lavender is our cheese of the month for November 2026 - and available to buy with Cheese on Towcest (at a market) or at The Cheese Place, Brackley Road, Towcester.
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