I am sick to the back teeth of going to cheese counters, thinking “Oh - I’ll be adventurous today and buy a cheddar I’ve never tried before,” then getting the stuff home to find that it’s sweaty/rubbery/bland/mouse-flavoured. I’ve wasted a fortune on rubbish in my time. And I don’t want any Australians/Canadians/Scots/New Zealanders telling me that their nation produces cracking stuff. All I can say to that is that you must be keeping the good stuff yourself and sending the crap over here. What I want from cheddar cheese is very simple. Firm texture but not too dry. A bit moist even. Salty and very tangy, but very clean-flavoured and free of off-tastes. The saints preserve me from “mild cheddar.” Proper cheddar should make your gums ache. It should, of course, never be served straight from the fridge. Proper cheddar cannot come from a rectangular block - that is factory trash.
I am overjoyed to report that, after a lifetime’s searching, I have at last discovered a source of good cheddar. The manna in question can be found (and purchased in their farm shop) at Quickes farm in Newton St Cyres in Devon. They do a mature, an unpasteurised and a vintage (three years old), as well as an oak-smoked and a herby one. They are all superb - just the stuff to eat with huge hunks of crusty buttered bread and to wash down with good, hearty, malty, hoppy real English beer.
BTW I have no affiliation whatsoever with Quickes!
I confess that I know not to what you refer. But if “Velveeta” is a brand name of some form of cheese then all I can say, without necessarily prejudging the particular stuff in question, is that, in common with all branded cheeses I’ve come across, the name augurs badly.
I’m glad you mention Ritz crackers as they typify that abomination of a genre that takes up so much shelf-space in supermarkets, namely the “biscuit-for-cheese.” If you really can’t take the crusty buttered bread, then your only real alternative is to eat your cheese with Bath Olivers.
No I don’t know what it is and I’m not entirely sure that I need you to elucidate. Two other vile confections we have here (or used to, at least in the days of my youth) are “Kraft Cheese Slices” and “Dairylea.” The former often found itself, usually disagreeably still half-raw, on top of a wimpyburger, for which privilege you’d pay an extra shilling. The latter comes in little greasy triangular pats wrapped in foil that you can’t easily remove if the “cheese” inside is anything approaching room temp.
My cheese thread’s an hour old now and I haven’t had a single good cheddar recommendation. Guess I’ll have to wait till the Brits wake up in the morning…
Remarkable, I’m sure I haven’t heard the words “Cheddar” and “adventurous” in the same sentence before - and there in lies your problem - buy some dolcelatte (or however you spell it) or Y-Fenni of something else not made of reconstituted polymerised epoxy milk products.
I live in Wisconsin, America’s Dairyland, and home to some great award-winning cheese (you didn’t say anything about Wisconsinites bragging, so I will). In fact, we are known to the rest of the country as “cheddarheads” or “cheeseheads” because, well, we like cheese.
I don’t know what brand or type or farm of cheese that’s the best - I guess I’m not that much of a cheese gourmet - but I never have any problem finding good cheese, mostly from area farms.
Two other vile confections we have here (or used to, at least in the days of my youth) are “Kraft Cheese Slices” and “Dairylea.” The former often found itself, usually disagreeably still half-raw, on top of a wimpyburger, for which privilege you’d pay an extra shilling. The latter comes in little greasy triangular pats wrapped in foil that you can’t easily remove if the “cheese” inside is anything approaching room temp.
