Cheddar cheese

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Cheddar

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Country of origin England
Region, town Somerset, Cheddar
Source of milk Cows
Pasteurized Frequently
Texture hard/semi-hard
Aging time 3-4 months depending on variety
Certification No

Cheddar cheese is a pale yellow, sharp-tasting cheese originally made in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset. Cheddar-style cheeses are produced in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Canada, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia (where it is sometimes called Tasty cheese) and Sweden. Much of this cheese is mass-produced and quality varies enormously. The strong flavor develops over time, with a taste diverse enough that food packaging will usually indicate a strength ("mild" to "strong/sharp/mature/old"), or the maturation period. A pipe roll of King Henry II records the purchase of 10,420 pounds (avoirdupois pounds and troy pounds did not exist then, probably tower pounds or about 3650 kg) at a farthing per pound (£3 per tonne).

Cheddaring refers to an additional step in the production of cheddar-style cheese where, after heating, the curd is cut into cubes to drain the whey, then stacked and turned.

Cheddar cheese has become too widely produced to have a 'protected designated origin'. However, the European Union recognises 'West Country Farmhouse Cheddar' as a protected designation of origin. To meet this standard the cheese must be made in the traditional manner using local ingredients in four designated counties of south-west England. However, the Slow Food Movement, encouraged and advised by Neal's Yard Dairy, has recently created a 'cheddar presidia', affirming the existence of only three cheeses that can truly be called Cheddar. Their claim is that Cheddar must be made in Somerset, and that it must be made using traditional methods. The specifications go way beyond the West Country Farmhouse Cheddar PDO. Some of these specifications include only being made with raw milk, only using traditional animal rennet, and wrapping in cloth.

Like many cheeses, the colour of cheddar is often modified by the use of food colourings. Annatto, extracted from the tropical achiote tree, is frequently used to give cheddar an orange colour. The origins of this practice are clouded, 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, or to identify the cheese's region of origin.

Cheddar was traditionally packaged in black wax, though this practice is now limited to Europe and to artisan cheesemakers. In the United States, cheddar cheese comes in several varieties, including mild, medium, sharp, 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 flavor. The curds are still distinct, often marbled in color, varying from cream to yellow. Cheddar that has not been coloured is frequently labelled as "white cheddar" or "Vermont cheddar", regardless of whether it was produced in the state of Vermont.

A bowl of cheese curds

Cheddar 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 in the United States; other centers of production include upstate New York, Vermont, and Tillamook, Oregon.

Cheddar is also a good source of vitamin B12 and therefore recommendable for vegetarians. A slice of vegetarian cheddar cheese (40g) contains about 0.5 µg of vitamin B12 (required daily intake for a grown man is 2.4 µg).

Record sized cheddar cheeses

White House historians assert that U.S. president Andrew Jackson held an open house party where a 1,400 pound (635 kg) block of cheddar cheese was served as refreshment . A cheese of 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) was produced in Ingersoll, Ontario in 1866 and exhibited in New York and Britain; it was immortalised in the famous poem "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese Weighing over 7,000 Pounds" by James McIntyre, a Canadian poet. A still larger Wisconsin Cheddar cheese of 34,951 pounds (15,853 kg) was produced for the New York World's Fair in 1964. It required the equivalent of the daily milk production of 16,000 cows.

External links

[Food and Drug Administration]
[ILoveCheese.com]
[Andrew Jackson's 1,400 lb Cheddar]
"[Ode on the Mammoth Cheese Weighing over 7,000 Pounds]" - full text of the poem, with notes

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