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oliver | 25 July 2009 |
I’d like to take a moment to enlighten you all about cheddar.
Cheddar is, of course, a very familiar cheese recognised the world over. It is the default cheese found in fridges across Britain and Ireland, and is the most prominent on supermarket shelves. Surely, such a common and ordinary cheese deserves no place on a website dedicated to artisan ‘foodcraft.’ Such an assumption could not be further from the truth.
Modern processed cheddar is a poor comparison to the authentic cheddar produced in the West Country (made in the south west regions of England of Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall). Cheddar owes its name to a small village in Somerset which has been famous for its distinctive cheese since 1170. What distinguishes real cheddar from all of its imitators is its unique flavour, which can only be created through a mixture of local ingredients and traditional methodology. This process has been recognised by the EU as the distinctive process required to make authentic West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese – earning cheddar from this region Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. This really emphasised that the craft required to make top quality, authentic cheddar cheese was the same that was required of other iconic food products, such as Parma Ham from Italy and Champagne from France.
The milk used for the cheese can only come from cows reared and milked in Somerset, Dorset, Devon and/or Cornwall. The reason for this being that cows who graze on the grasslands here produce a distinctive flavour of milk which in turn produces that authentic cheddar flavour and texture. It must also be made using traditional methods, which means it has to be made using a technique called ‘cheddaring’ where the curds are separated, cooled and then cut, turned and stacked by hand. It then has to be matured for at least nine months before it can be sold.
It is this process that makes authentic cheddar such a unique cheese, and one that has to be tasted to be fully appreciated. I challenge everyone who reads this blog to buy two pieces of cheddar, one industrially processed (even to a ‘very high’ or ‘extra mature’ standard) and the other being an authentic cheddar cheese with guaranteed PDO status. You will think you are trying two completely different cheeses.
This may deter those who have grown up on bland and characterless cheddar – it is indeed part of its popularity. However, people mistake cheddar’s blandness to be the reason behind its versatility, but this is a misconception. What makes cheddar so versatile, and enjoyed by so many people – even those who do not call themselves cheese eaters – is the nature of the cheese itself. Authentic cheddar, though full of character and flavour, will still make an excellent addition to a sandwich or biscuit, a fantastic topping to a pizza or the foundation of a cheese rue. But instead of being bullied and forced into the background of whatever it is being combined with, which is the common experience of processed cheddar, West Country Farmhouse Cheddar becomes an integral part of the combination. It has the ability to add a richness and depth that is truly sensational, it combines with other flavours so easily and yet never loses its own integrity. I urge you once more to try it yourself and taste the difference – you will not be disappointed.
This will, I hope, spark a long discussion around defamiliarising certain food products – taking the produce that we experience on a daily basis and demonstrating how far removed from the craftsmanship it has become. If any foodies or producers out there would like share their thoughts on produce made or bought that really demonstrated the gap between the processed stuff we find on store shelves and the artisan produce that is begging for decent exposure.
