Juliet Harbutt


Juliet Harbutt is a New Zealand cheese expert. She is an author, judge, consultant, campaigner, speaker, educator and tour guide. She acted as consultant to Prince Charles and Alex James when they were developing their own cheeses. In the 1990s she worked with Tesco in devising their cheese classification system. In 2000 she created The [Great British Cheese Festival].

Career

In the 1970s Harbutt opened a café deli, The Parson’s Nose in Wellington, New Zealand. In 1983, while travelling around Europe, she attended cookery classes in Paris, where she discovered a passion for cheese, saying it was “a revelation to someone who had grown up with block cheddar.” She also visited Steven Spurrier’s wine shop Les Caves de la Madeleine.
After selling The Parson’s Nose she moved to England in 1983, where she co-founded Jeroboams – the Wine and Cheese Shop, in South Kensington, which was “largely responsible for introducing London to a whole new cheese concept.” After realising that “selling cheese was not enough” she sold the company to her partner in 1991, moved to the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire, where she ran cheese-related masterclasses and events and began to publish books.
She acted as a cheese consultant for clients that included Tesco, Harrods and Marks & Spencer. She has judged cheese competitions in Switzerland, France and America. She is a member of the Guild des Fromagers - Confrerie de Saint-Uguzon and Chevaliers de Tastefromage. In 1992 she was given the title Confrerie des Chevaliers du Taste-Fromage de France. She has been a visiting lecturer at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy. She has helped many people design and launch their own cheeses, including the then Prince Charles and her Cotswolds neighbour, Alex James.
Highlights include:
  • 1989 – helped establish the UK's Specialist Cheesemakers Association
  • 1994 – founded the British Cheese Awards, including devising a system for classifying cheeses by the type of rind and the fat content. She sold the awards to the Royal Bath and West of England Society in 2015.
  • 1994 – created the New Zealand Cheese Awards
  • 1998 – developed Tesco's cheese classification system
  • 1998 – joined the Slow Food movement, setting up the Cotswold Convivium
  • 2000 – created The Great British Cheese Festival
In 2016, after 35 years in England she moved to Hawke's Bay, New Zealand where she established Hunter Gatherer Tours.

Cheese making and selecting

Harbutt made two cheeses with Alex James: Little Wallop and Farleigh Wallop, the latter won the Best Goat’s Cheese award at the 2009 British Cheese Awards.
She created the Simply the Best range, a selection of award-winning artisanal English cheeses, including Creamy Lancashire, Smoked Lyburn and Double Gloucester.

Publications

The Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association Guide to the Finest Cheese of Britain and Ireland Pub. Specialist Cheesemakers’ AssociationCheese: A Complete Guide to Over 300 Cheeses of Distinction Pub. Mitchell Beazley The Wine and Cheese Collection with Roz Denny and Stuart Walton Pub. Anness Publishing A Cook’s Guide to Cheese with Roz Denny. Pub. Hermes House Cheese: A Feast of International Dishes with Roz Denny. Pub. Hermes House Cheese: A Comprehensive Guide to Cheeses of the World Pub. Anness Publishing The World Encyclopaedia of Cheese with Roz Denny. Pub. Anness Publishing British Cheese Directory Pub. Juliet HarbuttThe Cheese Lover’s Kitchen Handbook with Roz Denny. Pub. Southwater Cheese: A Visual Guide to 400 Cheeses with 150 Recipes: A Directory of the World’s Best with Roz Denny. Pub. Southwater Cheeses and How to Use Them with Roz Denny. Pub. SouthwaterWorld Cheese Book Pub. Dorling Kindersley Leith’s Easy Dinner Parties contributor. Pub. Bloomsbury Illustrated Cook’s Guide to Cheese: A Comprehensive Visual Identifier to the Cheeses of the World with Kate Whiteman. Pub. Southwater Wine and Cheese: A Complete Guide to the World of Wine and Cheese with Stuart Walton. Pub. Anness Publishing The Illustrated Cook’s Book of Ingredients contributor. Pub. DK Publishing
She has written for magazines, including Bon Appétit, Cheese Buyer Magazine, Speciality Food, Dish.co.nz, and NZ House and Garden.

TV and radio

Harbutt has made regular radio appearances. She has also appeared on BBC 1's Eat Your Words, Ready Steady Cook, Saturday Kitchen, The Hairy Bikers' Food Tour of Britain, Come Dine with Me and BBC 4's The Food Programme - A Life Through Food.

Awards