West Country Farmhouse Cheddar

What is West Country Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese?

Cheddar comes from the village of Cheddar in Somerset, in southwest England. The caves of Cheddar Gorge, on the edge of the village, held the steady temperature and humidity that suited maturing cheese, and the cheese traditionally had to be made within 30 mi (48 km) of Wells Cathedral. The name cheddar itself is not protected, so in 2007 the name West Country Farmhouse Cheddar was registered in the European Union and, after Brexit, in the United Kingdom. It may only be produced in Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall, using milk from those counties.

The Somerset dairyman Joseph Harding shaped how the cheese is made today. He introduced new equipment, including a revolving breaker for cutting curd, and the Joseph Harding method became the first modern system for cheddar production built on scientific principles. He has been called the father of cheddar. His family carried the cheese further still: Harding and his wife brought it to Scotland and North America, and their sons took production to Australia and New Zealand.

Curds and whey are separated with rennet, normally taken from the stomachs of newborn calves. Then comes cheddaring, the step the cheese is named for. After heating, the curd is kneaded with salt, cut into cubes so the whey drains, then stacked and turned. Maturing happens at a constant temperature, which often calls for special facilities, and some cheddar still matures in the caves at Wookey Hole and Cheddar Gorge. Slow Food's cheddar presidium goes further than the protected designation and asks for raw milk, animal rennet and a cloth wrapping.

The paste runs from pale off-white to deep yellow. Traditional farmhouse cheddar is firm and slightly crumbly, and a well-aged wheel carries large crystals of calcium lactate, which start to form after about six months. The flavour is sharp and pungent, sometimes a little earthy; that sharpness tracks the level of bitter peptides in the cheese. Harding described good Somerset cheddar in 1864 as close and firm in texture yet mellow, rich with a tendency to melt in the mouth, its flavour approaching that of a hazelnut. Wheels were once sold in black wax, though larded cloth was more common because it kept contaminants out while letting the cheese breathe.

Cheddar is the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom, taking 51% of a cheese market worth £1.9 billion a year. Extra-mature or vintage cheddar needs 15 months or more, and some versions are smoked. A United States Department of Agriculture researcher calls cheddar the world's most popular cheese and the most studied in scientific publications.