What was on special offer at our Supermarket today, was Lake District Mature Cheddar.
I sincerely hope that it remains on special offer for quite some time to come, because it is simply divine.
If you forgive it for being packaged in a common or garden plastic bag (which to be quite honest, how else would you imagine it to be packaged and remain at a reasonable price) that has rendered it a tad sweaty, it has stomped it's way up there to second on my list of desirable strong Cheddar cheeses. I'm afraid in first place has to remain Coastal Cheddar from Ford Farm which is worthy of a handful of superlatives in describing it.
Lake District Mature Cheddar looks promising as you extract it from it's sweaty home. It is interestingly cracked, which speaks of a crumbly nature. It looks creamy, but with those tell-tale flecks of salt that just make your mouth water.
However, the majority of its stomping up my cheese chart happens when you pop some into your mouth. Instantly, you get the tang of the salt, with the creaminess that soothes your palate. Then you're hit with a sweetness yet an intense savouriness that leaves your tastebuds dancing, trying to work out which one is the more prevalent - you just have to have some more.
Goodness, if ever there was a cheese to eat with biscuits then this is it. Also, I'm going to be doing a Macaroni Cheese towards the end of the week - oh boy, it's going to be good. :)
To learn more about the Lake District Mature Cheddar, call in at "The Land of Milk & Bunny".
An Alternative Review
ReplyDeleteNow, don't get me wrong. Lake District Mature Cheddar is a very acceptable cheese. It has a rich, creamy flavour and a good salt tang to it and the crumbly texture would lend itself exceptionally well to all manner of crackery comestibles.
But......and this is where I get accused of being a cheese nazi........is it Cheddar?
In my view, Cheddar cheese has certain qualities which distinguish it from all other cheeses and which make it, unmistakeably, Cheddar. We'll start with the texture of the cheese. Cheddar is a 'hard' high fat cheese which should be dense and clean cut in the face of the cheese knife. The texture is also an important clue as to the suitability of the cheese for toasting. A proper cheddar toasts beautifully and holds it's form whereas a softer crumblier cheese tends to split when heated before making concerted efforts to escape from the toastie onto whatever bit of clothing or furniture would be the most inconvenient at the time.
Where flavour is concerned, I'm looking for a deep, mature tang with salty tones. Where cheddar really hits the mark, however, is in the rich fruitiness which balances the salt, adding another dimension entirely. This fruity element is one that I find lacking in almost all of the mass produced cheeses and this is unfortunately the case with Lake District mature.
As I've mentioned, I certainly won't be found turning a lump of Lake District mature away, in fact, I think it's one of the nicer mass market cheeses, along with the Coastal Cheddar referred to my Mrs Eatwell. What I'd really like though is to find that when I open a pack of something which the packaging describes as Cheddar, for there to be Cheddar contained therein.
Does that make me a picky bugger or does anyone agree?
So come on, everyone, what makes a Cheddar cheese, cheddar - in your opinion?
ReplyDelete