Where To Get The Best Quality Cheddar Cheese

Cheddar cheese is produced widely throughout the globe and is available in almost all English speaking places. To go over the history of this brilliant cheese, it is noteworthy to mention that is first originated in a village in England with the same name. Cheddar is a small village in Somerset. When speaking about the history of cheese making England is the richest in its share of history as it has been making cheese since the early 12th century. In fact it was her majesty Queen Elizabeth I herself who discovered in the 17th century that the town of Cheddar is located West of Wales just below the Mendip hills which provided this very delicious kind of cheese.

This cheese is prepared using the French cheese Cantal making procedure. The name of this cheese was associated with the village of its origin from the early times. This popular cheese is now the most widely produced and preferred kind in the whole of Canada. It was distributed from the British Isles throughout the commonwealth which led its way to Canada in the 19th century.

But in the earlier days the true flavor of Cheddar Cheese was cloaked due to the presence of certain disagreeable bacteria. Until came Joseph Harding, who understood that this was largely because the cheese could not be refrigerated properly in those times that led to the growth of such microbes. He was the man to invent the technique of ‘cheddaring’ also known as “to cheddar” which helped to suppress the undesirable growth of such bacteria.

This process involves rapid acidification of the cheese, which is achieved by stacking and turning the curds at high degrees of temperature while draining. This gives the cheese a somewhat stringy texture that is similar to white meat of poultry. Then the curds are broken into tiny bits and salted to terminate their acidification and to reduce the whey. Finally the desirable bacteria that attribute cheddar its unique flavor and taste are selectively added to it.

Cheddar cheese is not just one kind but also has several distinctions in flavors based on their aging; the various types of cheddar cheese are listed below:

Old cheddar: this variant has a strong and sharp flavor and is aged for minimum nine months to two years. It has a granular texture and is somewhat dry and firm.

1. Extra old cheddar cheese: this specific type has the most pronounced flavors as it can be ripened for two years or even ten years maximum.
2. Medium cheddar: they may be ripened for about four to nine months at most and have a medium flavor. They melt in your mouth when eaten and have a fairly firm-texture, they also give a faint taste of hazelnuts.
3. Mild cheddar: this is a very mildly flavored cheddar cheese that is aged for about three months or so.
4. Fresh and un-pressed cheddar cheese: this popular snacking type of cheese which is most suitable for serving in a hors d’oeuvre tray is simply un-ripened curd from which cheddar is made by aging. It comes straight out of the cheese vats and available at most cheese makers’ store.