Cheese, Cheese and more Cheese: All About Cheese

Yesterday was National Cheese Day, and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to write a blog post all about cheese.

I adore cheese. Love was not a strong enough verb to describe my affection. I will never adopt a diet that prohibits cheese because I just can’t do it. There isn’t a single cheese I will not try; I love them all, from a creamy brie to a garlic and herb roulé, and a strong, crumbly Stilton. Stinking Bishop, which is apparently the most pungent cheese, has not made it to my tried and tested list yet, but there’s time.

The Cheese Basics

In case you’re interested, cheese is made from pressed curds of milk. The milk can come from cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep, packed in a muslin cloth, and then left to mature. The maturing time, the temperature and any spices or flavourings added during the process all affect the flavour of the cheese. Let’s not forget, where the cows come from and the type of grass they eat also affects the flavour. Cheese from Orkney cows tastes different from cheese from cows raised in Devon.

The Most Popular English Cheeses

According to Taste Atlas dot com, the most popular English cheeses are:

Drum roll, please…

10. Shropshire Blue – described as a cross between Cheshire and Stilton, it is an orange cheese with blue veining.

9. Devon Blue – a semi-hard artisan cheese made from raw milk. It’s white with fine veining and great with cider.

8. Oxford Blue – a creamy cheese made with cow’s milk. It has extensive veining with a powerful aroma.

7. Wensleydale – ah, the beloved cheese of Wallace (as in Wallace and Gromit). Wensleydale is pale yellow, firm, but crumbly, with a slightly acidic flavour.

6. Red Leicester – this is a type of cheddar that is coloured with annatto. It’s very mild and creamy, but also sweet.

5. Double Gloucester – Made from milk and cream (hence the name double) keeps for ages. It’s nutty, creamy, citrusy, rich and buttery.

4. Applewood – this is a cheddar from Somerset. It’s not actually smoked, but artificially flavoured with smoke and paprika.

3. Cheshire – this is one of the oldest types of cheese and is mentioned in the Doomsday Book from the eleventh century. It’s white and crumbly and great with a salad.

2. Stilton – often referred to as “The King of English Cheeses”. It can come in white, blue and mature. It’s quite acidic and crumbly, but lovers of strong-flavoured cheese will adore it.

1. Cheddar – good old cheddar unsurprisingly tops the list. Extra mature cheddar is a staple in my house. First produced in the village of Cheddar in Somerset in the twelfth century, the colour can vary from white to pale yellow. Cheddar has a nutty flavour with a melt-in-the-mouth texture.

My Favourite Cheese

I don’t think I can choose. The list above excluded so many delicious cheeses from around the world: mozzarella, goat’s cheese (oh, so delicious when warm and served with a beetroot salad), Camembert, gruyere, feta, parmesan, ricotta… the list is endless.

I can tell you my least favourite type of cheese—those processed slices. The rubbery stuff that squeaks against one’s teeth should be banned.

Do you have a favourite cheese, or do you hate the stuff? Let me know in the comments.