The five finest English supermarket cheddars
Can you really buy delicious real English farmhouse cheddar from your local supermarket?
It’s St George’s Day on Saturday, so I can’t help but feel a certain amount of pride where the very best of English foods are concerned. I’m sure cheese lovers up and down the country will agree a genuine handmade West Country farmhouse cheddar cheese is sheer food heaven.
But can supermarket cheddars really live up to our lofty expectations, or will they deliver nothing more than a rather pale and plastic imitation?
What makes a real English cheddar?
Let’s think about what makes a real English Cheddar. Of course, cheddar cheese originally hails from the village of Cheddar in Somerset. The caves at Cheddar Gorge provided the perfect humidity and ideal constant temperature for maturing the cheese. Traditionally, cheddar had to be made within 30 miles of Wells Cathedral.
Fast forward several hundred years and cheddar-style cheeses are now produced in many countries around the world. In fact, you’ve probably seen plenty of Canadian, Scottish or Irish cheddars as you amble down the diary aisle of your local supermarket.
Protected Designation of Origin
Only cheese produced in the English counties of Somerset, Devon, Dorset or Cornwall made using traditional methods of cheddaring, and using milk from local herds, can be given the highly prestigious EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status. Only then can they be classified as a genuine West Country Farmhouse Cheddar.
It’s these types of cheeses that we’re going to be on the lookout for in our local supermarkets. True, there's a certain amount of snobbery when it comes to supermarket cheese. After all, how can mass produced, pre-packed block cheese ever compete with the finest cheese in the land?
We’re going to attempt to dispel the myth that supermarket cheddars are always a little lacklustre in the taste stakes. You’ll discover where you can easily pick up some of the best cheddar the country has to offer along with your usual grocery shopping.
We’ve compared a wide selection of pre-packed and deli counter cheddar cheeses which are all made at West Country farmhouses and sold at well-known supermarket chains. Each cheese was tested in five different categories. Here’s our pick of the very best:
Best cheddar by itself
If you like to nibble cheese all by itself, what you need is a cheddar with a good, well-balanced flavour - a cheese which is tasty without being too overpowering. Tesco Finest Vintage Farmhouse Cheddar is the perfect winning candidate in this category.
It’s slowly matured to give a fruity, tangy flavour without packing too much punch. What’s more, this cheese was a Silver Winner at last year’s National Cheese Awards. Produced by Bakers Cheddar at Leaze Farm in Somerset and enjoying coveted PDO status, this cheese is bound to be a winner with you too.
Best cheddar on a cheeseboard
It may not be terribly adventurous but cheddar is always a great cheeseboard staple. Our winner in this category is Waitrose Keen’s West Country Farmhouse Cheddar which couples incredibly well with tasty wholemeal digestive biscuits and a good dollop of tangy chutney.
It’s fantastic to see top quality Somerset artisan cheddar available from Waitrose deli counters. The popular Keen’s Cheddar made at Moorhayes Farm in Somerset has a deep nutty flavour. The cheese is cloth bound and matured for a minimum 10 months to give it its wonderfully creamy but firm texture. This is a unique cheese you won’t want to miss.
Best cheddar with a glass of red wine
Cheese and a glass of red wine really is a food combination to die for. We’ve chosen an excellent Rioja Reserva which makes a fantastic accompaniment to fine full-flavoured cheeses. Our favourite in this category is Waitrose Quickes Traditional Extra Mature Cheddar.
Quickes Cheddar is made by the Quickes family at Home Farm in Devon, where cheddar has been cheddared for around 400 years. This farm has a fantastic reputation for producing some of the best cheddar in the country. You’ll find this cheese has a beautifully buttery flavour which we’re sure you’ll enjoy.
Best cheddar in a recipe
If you’re guilty of thinking that cooking with fine cheddar is a bit of waste, then please think again. Remember the finished dish is only ever as good as the ingredients you use. We baked some delicious cheese muffins and found that Sainsbury’s Green’s of Glastonbury Mature Cheddar gave us the tastiest results.
This is a great cheese for using in recipes because it maintains its powerful, pungent flavour. It’s made at the Green’s Family farm in Somerset and matured for a full 12 months to develop that unforgettable taste. Green’s has won has a host of awards for its cheddars so you can be sure you won’t be disappointed.
Best cheddar on toast
Our final taste test was a plain and simple cheese on toast. We have to concede some of the fine cheddars didn’t fare particularly well in this category. Keen’s Cheddar, for example, is undeniably scrumptious with a wholemeal digestive biscuit but frankly on toast its complex flavours border on unpleasant.
A far better alternative is Marks and Spencer Cornish Cruncher Extra Mature Cheddar. This cheese is made at the award winning Davidstow creamery and was itself given a Gold Award at the International Cheese Awards in 2009. Its powerful and creamy flavour make this quick snack really rather special.
We love English cheddar!
There’s no question genuine PDO status cheddar is far more widely available than you might imagine.
This is fantastic news for all cheese lovers but particularly for those who don’t have the luxury of a local speciality cheese shop. Or the time poor who would rather avoid the inconvenience of an extra trip to buy fine cheese.
Our only gripe is that try as we might we weren’t able to find the ever-popular Montgomery’s Cheddar in any of the supermarkets we visited. Maybe next time…
What’s your favourite brand of cheddar cheese?
Please share your favourites with other lovefood.com readers using the comments box below!
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