Cheddar cheese
Template:Pp-semi Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox cheese
Cheddar cheese (or simply cheddar) is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white (or orange if colourings such as annatto are added), and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset, South West England.<ref name=curdswhey>Template:Cite news</ref>
Cheddar is produced all over the world, and cheddar cheese has no Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). In 2007, the name West Country Farmhouse Cheddar was registered in the European Union and (after Brexit) the United Kingdom, defined as cheddar produced from local milk within Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall and manufactured using traditional methods.<ref>"West Country Farmhouse Cheddar”, gov.uk.</ref><ref>Brown, Steve; Blackmon, Kate; and Cousins, Paul. Operations management: policy, practice and performance improvement. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2001, pp. 265–266.</ref> Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) was registered for Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar in 2013 in the EU,<ref name="Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which also applies under UK law.
Globally, the style and quality of cheeses labelled as cheddar varies greatly, with some processed cheeses packaged as "cheddar". Cheeses similar to Red Leicester are sometimes marketed as "red cheddar".
Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in the UK, accounting for 51% of the country's £1.9 billion annual cheese market.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It is the second-most popular cheese in the United States behind mozzarella, with an average annual consumption of Template:Convert per capita.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The United States produced approximately Template:Convert of cheddar in 2014,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the UK produced Template:Convert in 2008.<ref name="indy">Template:Cite news</ref>
HistoryEdit
Cheddar cheese originates from the village of Cheddar in Somerset, southwest England. Cheddar Gorge on the edge of the village contains a number of caves, which provided the ideal humidity and steady temperature for maturing the cheese.<ref name=indy/> Cheddar traditionally had to be made within Template:Convert of Wells Cathedral.<ref name=curdswhey/>
The 19th-century Somerset dairyman Joseph Harding was central to the modernisation and standardisation of cheddar.<ref name="History"/> For his technical innovations, promotion of dairy hygiene, and volunteer dissemination of modern cheese-making techniques, Harding has been dubbed "the father of cheddar".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Harding introduced new equipment to the process of cheese-making, including his "revolving breaker" for curd cutting; the revolving breaker saved much manual effort in the cheese-making process.<ref>Transactions of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, 1866-7 volume 1, Aberdeen</ref><ref>Christabel Susan Lowry Orwin, Edith Holt Whetham, "History of British Agriculture, 1846–1914", Agriculture (1964), page 145</ref> The "Joseph Harding method" was the first modern system for cheddar production based upon scientific principles. Harding stated that cheddar cheese is "not made in the field, nor in the byre, nor even in the cow, it is made in the dairy".<ref name="History">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Together, Joseph Harding and his wife introduced cheddar in Scotland and North America, while his sons Henry and William Harding were responsible for introducing cheddar cheese production to Australia<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and facilitating the establishment of the cheese industry in New Zealand, respectively.
Template:AnchorDuring the Second World War and for nearly a decade thereafter, most of the milk in Britain was used to make a single kind of cheese nicknamed "government cheddar" as part of the war economy and rationing.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> As a result, almost all other cheese production in the country was wiped out. Before the First World War, more than 3,500 cheese producers were in Britain; fewer than 100 remained after the Second World War.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
According to a United States Department of Agriculture researcher, cheddar is the world's most popular cheese and is the most studied type of cheese in scientific publications.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
ProcessEdit
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During the manufacture of cheddar, the curds and whey are separated using rennet, an enzyme complex normally produced from the stomachs of newborn calves, while in vegetarian or kosher cheeses, bacterial, yeast or mould-derived chymosin is used.<ref name=telegraph /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
"Cheddaring" refers to an additional step in the production of cheddar cheese where, after heating, the curd is kneaded with salt, cut into cubes to drain the whey, and then stacked and turned.<ref name="telegraph">Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Strong, extra-mature cheddar, sometimes called vintage, needs to be matured for 15 months or more. The cheese is kept at a constant temperature, often requiring special facilities. As with other hard cheese varieties produced worldwide, caves provide an ideal environment for maturing cheese; still, today, some cheddar is matured in the caves at Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge. Additionally, some versions of cheddar are smoked.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Kelly Jaggers, Moufflet: More Than 100 Gourmet Muffin Recipes That Rise to Any Occasion, p. 104.</ref>
CharacterEdit
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 flavour full and fine, approaching to that of a hazelnut".<ref>Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural Society for the Year 1864, page 232, volume 14 1865, Albany</ref>
Cheddar made in the classical way tends to have a sharp, pungent flavour, often slightly earthy. The "sharpness" of cheddar is associated with the levels of bitter peptides in the cheese. This bitterness has been found to be significant to the overall perception of the aged cheddar flavour.<ref name="Karametsi 8034–41">Template:Cite journal</ref> The texture is firm, with farmhouse traditional cheddar being slightly crumbly; it should also, if mature, contain large cheese crystals consisting of calcium lactate – often precipitated when matured for times longer than six months.<ref name="Phadungath">Template:Cite thesis</ref>
Cheddar can be a deep to pale yellow (off-white) colour, or a yellow-orange colour when certain plant extracts are added, such as beet juice. One commonly used spice is annatto, extracted from seeds of the tropical achiote tree. Originally added to simulate the colour of high-quality milk from grass-fed Jersey and Guernsey cows,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> annatto may also impart a sweet, nutty flavour. The largest producer of cheddar cheese in the United States, Kraft, uses a combination of annatto and oleoresin paprika, an extract of the lipophilic (oily) portion of paprika.<ref name="df">Template:Cite book</ref>
Cheddar was sometimes (and still can be found) packaged in black wax, but was more commonly packaged in larded cloth, which was impermeable to contaminants, but still allowed the cheese to "breathe".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Original-cheddar designationEdit
The Slow Food Movement has created a cheddar presidium,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> arguing that only three cheeses should be called "original cheddar". Their specifications, which go further than the "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" PDO, require that cheddar be made in Somerset and with traditional methods, such as using raw milk, traditional animal rennet, and a cloth wrapping.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
International productionEdit
AustraliaEdit
As of 2013, cheddar accounts for over 55% of the Australian cheese market, with average annual consumption around Template:Convert per person.<ref>"Australian Dairy Industry" Template:Webarchive. dairyaustralia.com.</ref> Cheddar is so commonly found that the name is rarely used: instead, cheddar is sold by strength alone as e.g. "mild", "tasty" or "sharp".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CanadaEdit
Following a wheat midge outbreak in Canada in the mid-19th century, farmers in Ontario began to convert to dairy farming in large numbers, and cheddar cheese became their main exportable product, even being exported to England. By the turn of the 20th century, 1,242 cheddar factories were in Ontario, and cheddar had become Canada's second-largest export after timber.<ref name="thewalrus.ca">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cheddar exports totalled Template:Convert in 1904, but by 2012, Canada was a net importer of cheese. James L. Kraft grew up on a dairy farm in Ontario, before moving to Chicago. According to the writer Sarah Champman, "Although we cannot wholly lay the decline of cheese craft in Canada at the feet of James Lewis Kraft, it did correspond with the rise of Kraft’s processed cheese empire."<ref name="thewalrus.ca"/> Most Canadian cheddar is produced in the provinces of Québec (40.8%) and Ontario (36%),<ref name="cdc-ccl.gc.ca">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> though other provinces produce some and some smaller artisanal producers exist. The annual production is 120,000 tons.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Canadian cheddar cheese soup is a featured dish at the Canada Pavilion at Epcot in Walt Disney World.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Percentage of butterfat or milk fat must be labelled by the words milk fat or abbreviations B.F. or M.F.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
New ZealandEdit
Most of the cheddar produced in New Zealand is factory-made, although some are handmade by artisan cheesemakers. Factory-made cheddar is generally sold relatively young within New Zealand, but the Anchor dairy company ships New Zealand cheddars to the UK, where the blocks mature for another year or so.<ref name=Ridgway77/>
United KingdomEdit
Only one producer of the cheese is now based in the village of Cheddar, the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Co.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name "cheddar" is not protected under European Union or UK law, though the name "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" has an EU and (following Brexit) a UK protected designation of origin (PDO) registration, and may only be produced in Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, using milk sourced from those counties.<ref name="PDO">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cheddar is usually sold as mild, medium, mature, extra mature or vintage. Cheddar produced in Orkney is registered as an EU protected geographical indication under the name "Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar".<ref name=OJEU>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> This protection highlights the use of traditional methods, passed down through generations since 1946 and its uniqueness in comparison to other cheddar cheeses.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar" is protected outside the UK and the EU as a Geographical Indication also in China, Georgia, Iceland, Japan, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Ukraine.<ref name=Origin>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Furthermore, a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) was registered for Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar in 2013 in the EU,<ref name="Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar"/> which also applies under UK law. It is protected as a geographical indication in Iceland, Montenegro, Norway and Serbia.<ref name=Origin/>
United StatesEdit
The state of Wisconsin produces the most cheddar cheese in the United States; other centres of production include California, Idaho, New York, Vermont, Oregon, Texas, and Oklahoma. It is sold in several varieties, namely mild, medium, sharp, extra sharp, New York style, white, and Vermont. New York–style cheddar is particularly sharp/acidic, but tends to be somewhat softer than the milder-tasting varieties. Cheddar that does not contain annatto is frequently labelled "white cheddar" or "Vermont cheddar", regardless of whether it was actually produced there.Template:Citation needed Vermont's three creameries produce cheddar cheeses – Cabot Creamery, which produces the 16-month-old "Private Stock Cheddar"; the Grafton Village Cheese Company; and Shelburne Farms.<ref name="Ridgway77">Ridgway, Judy. The Cheese Companion. Running Press, 2004, p. 77.</ref>
Some processed cheeses or "cheese foods" are called "cheddar flavored". Examples include Easy Cheese, a cheese-food packaged in a pressurised spray can; also, as packs of square, sliced, individually-wrapped "process cheese", which is sometimes also pasteurised.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Cheddar is one of several products used by the United States Department of Agriculture to track the status of America's overall dairy industry; reports are issued weekly detailing prices and production quantities.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
RecordsEdit
U.S. President Andrew Jackson once held an open house party at the White House at which he served a Template:Convert block of cheddar. The White House is said to have smelled of cheese for weeks.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The real-life event was mentioned several times in The West Wing, with the White House staff participating in "Big Block of Cheese Day", a fictional workday on which White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry encourages his staff to meet with fringe special interest groups that normally would not get attention from the White House.
A cheese of Template:Convert was produced in Ingersoll, Ontario, in 1866 and exhibited in New York and Britain; it was described in the poem "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese Weighing over 7,000 Pounds"<ref>Wikisource:Ode on the Mammoth Cheese Weighing over 7,000 Pounds</ref> by Canadian poet James McIntyre.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 1893, farmers from the town of Perth, Ontario, produced the "mammoth cheese", which weighed Template:Convert for the Chicago World's Fair.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was to be exhibited at the Canadian display, but the mammoth cheese fell through the floor and was placed on a reinforced concrete floor in the Agricultural Building. It received the most journalistic attention at the fair and was awarded the bronze medal.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A larger, Wisconsin cheese of Template:Convert was made for the 1964 New York World's Fair. A cheese this size would use the equivalent of the daily milk production of 16,000 cows.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Oregon members of the Federation of American Cheese-makers created the largest cheddar in 1989. The cheese weighed Template:Convert.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed
In 2012, Wisconsin cheese shop owner Edward Zahn discovered and sold a batch of unintentionally aged cheddar up to 40 years old, possibly "the oldest collection of cheese ever assembled and sold to the public". The old cheese has extensive crystallization on the outside and is "creamier and overwhelmingly sharp" on the inside.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Further readingEdit
- Binnie-Dawson, John (2025). A Genealogically Led History of Cheddar Cheese
See alsoEdit
- List of cheeses
- Colby, Red Leicester – cheeses similar to cheddar that also contain annatto for a sweet and nutty flavor and an orange colour
- Wedginald – a round of cheddar made famous when its maturation was broadcast on the Internet
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
- Template:Usurped (non-commercial site commissioned by UK Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport)