International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day

International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day
October 17, 2026

Before pasteurisation became widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, all cheese was made with raw milk.
We have a particular fondness for raw milk cheeses, not simply for tradition’s sake, but for the relationship they represent between the cheesemaker, the milk and the land. To work with raw milk takes knowledge and care. You must know your animals, your pasture and your milk, and understand how each can change with the seasons.
Many raw milk cheeses are farmhouse cheeses, made where the animals graze and are milked, sometimes just a few feet from where the cheese itself is made. There is a closeness to the source, and an understanding of the milk that comes through in the finished cheese.
Because raw milk retains its natural microbial diversity, it can develop a remarkable range of flavours and textures, shaped by the farm, the season and the hand of the cheesemaker. No two cheeses are quite alike, and that individuality is part of what makes artisan cheese so interesting.

We invite you to explore this fascinating and often misunderstood world. Come in, have a chat with one of our cheesemongers, and try a taste and see for yourself…

20 years ago in the British Isles you would probably have counted truly raw milk, as opposed to Thermised milk that is now termed unpasteurized – on the fingers of one hand.  La Fromagerie was built on the clear premise of raw milk cheese, butter and cream products.  In fact the first cheese and even today the cheese that informs the whole business is Beaufort Chalet d’Alpage, made with raw summer milk from the high alpine Maurienne pastures, in the heart of the famous skiing area of Savoie.

The simple and clear message that informs us about raw milk is that it is not tampered or changed, and the slow steady progress of heating, curdling and transforming into cheese takes a very skilled hand, but also an eye for detail, and a knowledge of handling milk in all the seasonal changes.

It all starts with the pasture and how the animals are nurtured to give their best and purest milk. A cheese is only as good as its milk, and the milk only as good as the pasture the herd enjoy.  You will not find many of the raw milk cheeses we have in our Cheese Rooms anywhere else in London or for that matter in Europe and beyond.  Our relationships with farms and cheesemakers goes back to the beginning of the business, and just as the cheeses are nurtured through each stage we also nuture the people we work with. 

Remember when you eat just 50grams of one of our raw milk cheeses, it’s the equivalent of a 300gram steak, with the added bonus of being pure, unadulterated with flavours and textures that are uniquely of its place.

As we celebrate raw milk, please come in and try our newest find from Leitrim Dairy, Drumcong, County Leitrim, Southern Ireland; their raw milk goat’s cheese Cnoc Liatroma, Supreme Champion at the Irish Cheese Awards.  Patricia was one of the lead judges and this cheese was on her table.   On tasting she knew it was a winner with its clean and defined taste, where the milk was sweet and so fresh it was the perfect example of raw milk cheesemaking at its best.  We have limited quantities, so do come in and try something unique, made simply to showcase the perfect milk.
Patricia Michelson