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Diane Bilkey – Deli Team Leader

Early morning and the deli counter at the Great Cornish Food Store is a blank canvas waiting to be filled. I love it that way.

Turning it into an eye-catching display every day has become something of an art form for my team and me.

 With more than 40 Cornish varieties to choose from, on no two days does the counter ever look the same. I admit to being a little obsessive about the cheese counter.

Crackers for Gouda and Kern

When Rick Stein featured Vintage Cornish Gouda on TV there was a run on it and there was similar demand for Cornish Kern when it was declared the Supreme World Champion cheese.

You can’t suddenly make more of a cheese that takes months, even years, to mature so we had to ration it. Sometimes we even had to keep it under the counter like it was contraband!

My team works very much in harmony with the chefs as they prepare so much of what we sell on the deli.

It’s much more than cheese. Each day the counter is laden with homemade pates and dips, cold meats and a range of pies, savouries and desserts.

My own adventures in food began as a teenager in Kent when I helped out in my parents’ corner shop.

Later after I’d moved to Cornwall I ran deli counters for major supermarkets.

One of the things I like most about my job is helping customers create bespoke wedding cakes out of whole rounds of tiered Cornish cheeses. Not everyone likes cake and this is a lovely alternative for the big day. They are hugely popular and we always get great feedback afterwards. I think they’re really good value too.