Ingredient: Cheddar
Category: Dairy- Cheese
Season: All
Although Cheddar cheese is originally English, it is also widely produced in other countries, including Ireland, the USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada.
Central to the modernisation and standardisation of Cheddar cheese was Joseph Harding in the nineteenth century. For his development and propagation of modern cheese-making techniques, he has been described as the father of Cheddar cheese.
Harding was the inventor of the Cheese Mill, he was responsible for the introduction of this very English cheese into Scotland and North America. Joseph Harding's son, Henry Harding, was responsible for introducing Cheddar cheese production to Australia.
Character
Like many cheeses, the colour of Cheddar cheese is sometimes modified by the use of food colouring.
In parts of the United States and Canada, Annatto, extracted from the tropical achiote tree, is used to give Cheddar cheese a deep orange colour.
The origins of this practice have been long since forgotten, but the three leading theories appear to be:
To allow the cheese to have a consistent colour from batch to batch
To assist the purchaser in identifying the type of cheese when it is unlabelled
To identify the cheese's region of origin.
Cheddar cheese was traditionally packaged sometimes in black wax, but commonly in larded cloth, impermeable to contaminants but still allowing the cheese to breathe, though this practice is now limited to Europe and to artisan cheese makers.
Cheddar cheese comes in several varieties, including mild, medium, sharp, extra sharp.
USA varieties include, New York Style, Colby/Longhorn, white, and Vermont.
New York style Cheddar cheese is a particularly sharp Cheddar cheese, sometimes with a hint of smoke. It is usually slightly softer than milder Cheddar cheese.
Colby/Longhorn Cheddar cheese has a mild to medium flavour.
The curds are still distinct, often marbled in colour, varying from cream to yellow.
Cheddar that has not been coloured is frequently labeled as "white Cheddar" or "Vermont Cheddar", regardless of whether it was produced in the state of Vermont.
Cheddar cheese is one of several products used by the United States Department of Agriculture to track the dairy industry; reports are issued weekly detailing prices and production quantities.
The state of Wisconsin produces the most Cheddar cheese in the United States; other centres of production include upstate New York, Vermont, and Tillamook, Oregon.
Cheddar cheese is a good source of vitamin B12. A slice of vegetarian Cheddar cheese (40 g) contains about 0.5 µg of vitamin B12 (required daily intake for an adult is 2.4 µg).
Famous Cheddar cheeses from Somerset, UK include Keen's, with a strong tang, and Montgomery's, with an apple after taste and the unpasteurised Cheddar made by the Gorge Cheese Company in Cheddar itself.
A number of large commercial food companies have in recent years established brands in the UK for their Cheddar cheese (Pilgrim's Choice, Cathedral City, Davidstow etc.).
This move is considered by some to be a safeguard in case Cheddar cheese receives PDO status in the future.
Some companies have also considered relocating to Cheddar, Somerset, if this occurs. It is worth noting that Pilgrim's Choice cheese is already produced in Wincanton, Somerset, and would fall into the "Cheddar Presidia" category.
Cheddar is one of the most imitated of cheeses, and understandably so:
We import Cheddars from all kinds of places like New Zealand and Ireland, but the original English Cheddar is still the best – and in particular Farmhouse Cheddar, which is well matured (anything up to nine months) and stronger than the mild, younger Cheddars that are widely available.
A good Cheddar cheese should look amber yellow and fresh, without a greasy shine and it should feel firm but not hard.
It's clean and mellow flavour makes it very suitable for cooking, toasting, topping, for cheese sauces or simply for serving with pickled onions and beer for a ploughman’s lunch.
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