NPR showcased several mighty themes lauding the cheese of my dreams: Cheddar!
This one in particular brings tears of joy to my eyes: Cheddar Jerusalem
Cheddar’s where it’s at, man! I love my local artisanal cheddars, forged deep in America’s Dairyland (motto: Smell our dairy air) but have also been wowed by the cheddars of Vermont, New York, Oregon, and of course the ancient homeland and mother to all cheddars, England!
I’m currently nibbling a 5 year old Wisconsin white cheddar, with fresh cherries and nectarines as accompaniment, wishing I was out in a pasture, singing to the cows, encouraging them to produce milk fit for that queen of cheeses. (Actually I could walk about 1/2 mile and be out in a pasture among cows, but the mosquitoes are rather bad, and it’s rather comfy by the computer, with my cheese near me. So never mind that bit.)
I have to admit a love of cheddar. As I grow older I find I like it sharper and sharper. When I was a wee lad only the mildest would do, not I crave it very sharp and good and aged.
Herkimer County (NYS). Canadian Black Diamond. River Rat Cheese (Thousand Islands, NY). Tilamook Special Reserve (Oregon). The older (4 years?) and sharper the cheddar, the better.
My travels have led me past Schultz’s Cheese Haus near Beaver Dam, WI several times over the past two months. They have cheddars aged up to 15 years, but I find I like 11-12 years the best. That sharp bite of the cheese “crystals” combined with the remaining creaminess is just sublime.
I love thinly sliced cheddar and slices of apple with major grey’s chutney on wasa crisp bread, personally. Has to be one of the more aged versions so it is extra extra sharp and has the little crunchies of taste lurking to contrast with the sharp sweet of the apple and the sticky sweet of the chutney.
While cheddar isn’t my #1 (that’s Emmenthaler), there are some very good cheddars out there. We were very impressed by the Truck Driver Cheddar from the Vermont Cheese House. Palantine makes some excellent flavored cheddars.
For more widely available cheese, Cabot’s Serious Sharp is good, as is their Vintage Choice.
I had some nice 20-year-old and 12-year-old from Springside Cheese in Oconto a month or so ago. They’re also one of the few places I’ve found on the Green Bay-to-UP run that always has fresh curds.
The 20-year-old was interesting. It had gone back to being creamy, losing a lot (but not all) of its crunch. Yum yum cheddar!
I’m also thrilled that nowadays I can get a hearty selection of Carr Valley cheeses here in da UP.
Qadgop - can you recommend some local cheddars? I go to Wisconsin a few times a year, and I’ve never been able to figure out where all the really good cheddar is, like Vermont’s Grafton Village cheddars or an English farmhouse cheddar. I’m guessing stopping by those “cheese shops” on the side of the highway is probably not the best place to find the good stuff.
I’m not Qadgop, but this is not true at all. I’m not going to vouch for EVERY cheese shop in Wisconsin, but you can get damn good cheese at some of them. The place I mention above - Springside Cheese - is in a strip mall next to a gas station on a small highway, and has some of the best curds I’ve ever had.
