Well, this is timely: Cheddar matured in a haunted cave. The Witch of Wookey Hole was not a good witch—she caused crop failures and other local disasters—but the tasty wheels aged in her Somerset hideout redeem her. Despite the spooky back story, Wookey Hole Cheddar, a clothbound wheel, is serious cheese from the U.K.’s premier Cheddar region. There is actually some evidence for the witch, which I’ll get to. But what cheese lovers need to know is that an importer is now bringing in this cheese in whole wheels, not precuts. And I’ll tell you why that matters.
Read moreSenior-Citizen Cheddar
One of the biggest hits in my World Cheese Tour class last week was Deer Creek’s Imperial Buck, a four-year-old bandaged Cheddar from Wisconsin. It was so creamy, so mellow, so well balanced between savory and sweet. My experience with traditional bandaged Cheddars is that they rarely improve after 18 to 24 months. They start to dry out and lose their allure. How did this cheese manage to stay so moist and inviting for so long?
Read moreCanadian Cheddar Welcome Here
If you want to show Canada some love right now, seek out this award-winning Canadian Cheddar. I was surprised to find it at a local shop recently; we get so few cheeses of any type from our northern neighbor.
Read moreI Say It’s Cheddar
Okay, curd nerds. How many clothbound goat Cheddars can you name? Several producers make goat Cheddar in rindless blocks. But a wheel aged in cheesecloth so it can breathe and develop a rind, like a traditional cow’s-milk Cheddar? That’s a rare thing. Thanks to Quicke’s, the English Cheddar specialist, we can taste the magic that happens when experts apply classic Cheddar techniques to goat’s milk. Quicke’s Goat’s Milk Clothbound is irresistible.
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