Whenever you eat a chunk of tasteless cheddar, take a moment to curse the man responsible: Hitler. Subjecting us to decades of cheerless cheese may not have been his primary goal, but, 72 years on from the end of the second world war, British cheese is only just getting over the aftershocks.
Before the war, Britain had more than 1,600 farmhouse and regional speciality cheese makers, but, from 1940 to 1954, the Ministry of Food ordered that cow’s milk could be used only to produce long-life, easily transported, factory-made cheddar. It transformed the British cheese scene. As described in Donald Thomas’s history of the black market, The Enemy Within, the rich could still buy under-the-counter South American roquefort or expensive goat’s-milk cheeses, but, for everyone else, the only cheese available was so-called “government cheddar”.
Little wonder that cheddar (much of it rubbery, uniform, mass-produced, vacuum-packed and devoid of flavour) remains by far Britain’s most popular cheese. It accounts for more than half of sales in what is, according to analysts Kantar Worldpanel, a £2.8bn-a-year market.
Yet in the past few years, Britain has become more adventurous. Since the 90s, there has been a resurgence in small-scale manufacturing and traditional cheese-making techniques, which create big flavours. And Britain is, gradually, embracing them. According to the British Cheese Board, the cheese manufacturers’ professional body, more than 60% of cheddars are mature, where, historically, we ate mild cheese.
Naturally, the choice of cheeses available in our supermarkets has evolved accordingly. But can any of the own-brand vintage cheddars rival those (a notional 10 for this test) handmade in cheddar’s West Country heartland? Do extra-mature supermarket cheddars boast a depth and complexity? Or are they, as many historical examples were, still a spiky, aggressive endurance test?
Morrisons, The Best Somerset cheddar crunch, 350g, £3.50
It is pale. It has visible lesions. There is a powdery residue on its surface. These may read like medical notes for a very ill patient, but in the world of vintage cheddars (typically aged for at least 18 months), they are positive signs. Not that this example is quite first-rank. It is full-flavoured, but lacks pin-sharp definition or decisive acidity. (It’s more a faint prickle.) It tastes somehow dulled and muzzy, a bit (to overextend the medical simile) like a sedated patient coming round from an operation. 5/10
Sainsbury’s, Taste the Difference mature Barber’s cruncher cheddar, 400g, £3.50
Cracked and mottled with calcium lactate (the white crystals that give such cheddars their gentle crunch), this looks the rugged part. You might expect this from Somerset maker Barber’s, which has been in the handmade-cheddar game since 1833. The texture is firm but creamy, not as crumbly as you might imagine. The flavour – for all it flashes with dank, funky characteristics – is rich, rounded and profoundly savoury. As that fades, lactic top notes gently tweak your salivary glands. 7/10
Tesco, Finest Somerset extra-mature cheddar, 350g, £3
Despite its crags and crevices, the texture of this cheddar from Wyke Farms, Britain’s largest independent cheese maker, is very smooth – it’s like Pierce Brosnan in dairy form. Like a lot of mature cheddars, it initially (and curiously) tastes floral and funky – ripe and somehow mushroomy – but that soon gives way to a sweet nuttiness which is almost gruyere-like in its intensity. The pleasant acidic tingle that follows is as calm and precise as the surf left in an Olympic waterskier’s wake. 7/10
Waitrose, Cornish quartz cheddar extra mature, 300g, £3.50
Dairy Crest’s Cornish creamery, Davidstow (which produces Cathedral City), may lack the romance of smaller West Country outfits, but it can make powerful cheese. This smells superbly ripe, and is bewilderingly musty and herbaceous at first, but then delivers an almighty thwack: a reverberating sub-bass shudder of dense, intense savoury flavours. It might all be a bit too much but for its late, assertive, controlled acidity. It acts like smelling salts, bringing you back from that umami-addled delirium. 8/10
Aldi, Specially Selected vintage reserve West Country crunchy cheddar, 285g, £2.25
Matured for a mighty 25 months, this is sweet, creamy and boldly savoury, but, as you would expect, it is constantly throwing out curveballs: tart lactic twists and esters reminiscent of everything from mouldering grapes to damp roses (a characteristic many mature cheddars share). It fills your nasal cavities with enigmatic excitement. Yet, somehow, it never quite coalesces. Those flavours feel short-lived. It does not move through the gears with the smooth power of the best cheeses. 6.5/10
M&S, Three-year-old Cornish cruncher, 300g, £5
As pale, crumbly and craggy as an old man’s chin, this Davidstow creation claims a “rugged crunch” it does not possess. But this flavour rollercoaster has everything else going on. It delivers waves of spicy, sourly funky, borderline blue cheese flavours that – for all it tastes like enzymes getting buck wild in humid cellars – is, foremost, a sumptuously rich, full-flavoured savoury cheese, edged with acidic notes, which stay just the right side of testy. It is edgy, it may bring a light sweat to your brow, but it is also great cheese. 9/10
Asda, Extra Special Wyke Farms extra-mature cheddar, 200g, £2.15
This cheese’s extra-mature status is borderline (it is aged for 12 months; the British Cheese Board defines extra-mature as “around” 15 months), which may explain why, while it has its interesting, farmyardy aspects – initial flavours and aromas of lavender and damp hay, say – it is a little meek. Its texture is surprisingly putty-ish and although it is rich, buttery and full in its nutty, lactic flavours, it plateaus at a fairly modest level. In contrast, the M&S cheese builds into a humdinger. 6/10
Co-op, Irresistible Somerset vintage cheddar, 200g, £2.39
So full of crags and fissures that passing climbers may be tempted to throw on the crampons and ascend its north face. The flavour – this is another Wyke Farms contender – is good, too: really dry, sweet, deeply savoury and nutty in a distinctly gruyere-like way. Its acidity comes through gradually, along with some gamey and ripe flavours (think of butter turning in the middle of a hot summer) that prevent it becoming cloying. It’s an interesting, satisfying cheese. 7/10
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