Cheddar Cheese:
General
It is a relatively hard yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originally made in the English village of Cheddar, in Somerset. Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom (UK), accounting for 51% of the country's £1.9 billion annual cheese market.
Cheddar cheese is produced in many places, both in the UK and in other countries, including Ireland, the United States (US), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Iceland. In most countries, Cheddar cheese in its various forms, is readily available, ranging from mild lower-fat cheeses to the more mature higher-fat and sharper cheeses. Only cheese produced and sourced in the English counties of Somerset, Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall may be given the Protected Designation of Origin name "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar".
Process
Cheddaring refers to an additional step in the production of Cheddar-style cheese where, after heating, the curd is kneaded with salt, then is cut into cubes to drain the whey, then stacked and turned. Strong, extra-mature Cheddar, sometimes called vintage, needs to be matured for up to 15 months. The cheese is kept at a constant temperature often requiring special facilities. As with production of other hard cheese varieties in other regions worldwide, caves provide an ideal environment for maturing cheese. The curds and whey are separated using rennet, an enzyme complex normally produced from the stomachs of new-born calves (in vegetarian cheeses, bacterial-, yeast- or mould-derived chymosin is used).
Character
The ideal quality of the original Somerset Cheddar was described by Joseph Harding in 1864 as "close and firm in texture, yet mellow in character or quality; it is rich with a tendency to melt in the mouth, the flavor full and fine, approaching to that of a hazelnut". Cheddar, made in the classical ways, tends to have a sharp, pungent flavour, often slightly earthy. Its texture is firm, with farmhouse traditional Cheddar being slightly crumbly.
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