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What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

smithsonianmag.com

41–50 of 57 posts

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get yourself some Cougar Gold, it's amazing. Yeah, I know, "it's in a can" but it doesn't matter. In fact, get a couple of cans and shove some into the back of your fridge to age for a year or three and it becomes even more amazing! https://creamery.wsu.edu/cougar-cheese/flavors/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar_Gold_cheese

I'm sold on the can, that's great. Thanks!

Yeah absolutely recommend all the WSU cheeses.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#42

Title should be: "What gives cheddar cheese its flavor?" I doubt most people would agree that it tastes 'so good' and nothing is said about why a fan would find that flavor good.

> I doubt most people would agree that it tastes 'so good' It's either the first or second largest selling cheese in the world (the 20th Century pizza boom has jumped mozzarella way up the rankings), so clearly it's quite popular.

I didn't say it wasn't popular. I said I doubted half the people on the planet would say that it tastes 'so good.' But doing some research, I was definitely underestimating how popular it is in India and even China.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All orange cheese is artificially colored (even in the UK) and has been for centuries. It's mostly annatto now. Historically it was things like beet or carrot juice. Natural cheese at most has a yellowish color (like butter, though a lot of that is also colored -- and again has been for a very long time). "Cheddaring" is a process (most famously used in the Cheddar region of England, but not exclusive to there), refe…

Cheddar isn’t orange. You might be thinking of Red Leicester in the UK. Having lived in the US, the cheddar there isn’t the same. I’d offer that I never had good cheese in the US outside of imported stuff.

I stumbled onto Red Leicester recently and was gobsmacked by how good it is.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So... the cheddar process, with much commonality with the way that any cheese anywhere is made? And?

And what? I've had cheddar cheese in the UK. I've had cheddar cheese in the US that was imported from Cheddar England. I've had cheddar cheese in the US that was made in the US. I have absolutely no idea what all the hand-wringing is about. What's wrong with American cheddar? Is there some sub-par brand out there that is sold in the majority of grocery stores in coastal America but not in the grocery stores in middle…

AFAICT non-Americans are confused by "cheese products" like Kraft Singles and think that that is what we think cheese is, rather than being well known as not cheese (and most people think is _less_ like cheese than it actually is). If you're not used to seeing "cheddar flavored cheese product" and don't look too closely you can confuse it for "cheddar cheese" and quite reasonably be pretty horrified.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#45
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That someone is even pointing this out should give most people in the US a cause for concern. Sadly most people in the US have no idea what real cheese or chocolate actually tastes like.

I dunno. Did you take a poll or something? There are tons of small local creameries and chocolatiers around.

If there are so many great local creameries around why then do you have Kraft and Mars products dominating most of the US stores? Oh I can answer that, it's because the US is a corporatocracy that only cares about profits.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#46
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That someone is even pointing this out should give most people in the US a cause for concern. Sadly most people in the US have no idea what real cheese or chocolate actually tastes like.

> Sadly most people in the US have no idea what real cheese... Oh? Interesting. > An Italian academic has caused more than a stir after saying the recipe for carbonara is American and the only place in the world to find bona fide parmesan cheese nowadays is Wisconsin. > Alberto Grandi, a professor of food history at the University of Parma, made the remarks in an interview with the Financial Times. https://www.thegua…

What Grandi actually wrote was that Parmesan Cheese, which was imported into the US by Italians, continued to evolve in Italy but not in the US. I have no way of verifying whether this is true but it wouldn't be terribly surprising if it was, and in any way, this doesn't imply any value judgement whatsoever.

Of course, the media are more interested in controversy, so they turn that into "bona fide parmesan cheese only exists in Wisconsin".

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#47
post #17

Title should be: "What gives cheddar cheese its flavor?" I doubt most people would agree that it tastes 'so good' and nothing is said about why a fan would find that flavor good.

Cheddar cheese is insanely popular. We like things because they react well with our tastebuds; they're looking into which chemical reactions give cheddar its specific flavor.

> insanely popular

in certain areas of the world.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#48

Anyone have recommendations for some cheddar to try? I haven't eaten it in years since I discovered dubliner, which basically just seems like cheddar but more delicious to me, but I'm sure I'm just uninformed.

There are better cheddars out there, but Kerrygold is widely available in the US. Get the product with the most aging, at least a year.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All orange cheese is artificially colored (even in the UK) and has been for centuries. It's mostly annatto now. Historically it was things like beet or carrot juice. Natural cheese at most has a yellowish color (like butter, though a lot of that is also colored -- and again has been for a very long time). "Cheddaring" is a process (most famously used in the Cheddar region of England, but not exclusive to there), refe…

Cheddar isn’t orange. You might be thinking of Red Leicester in the UK. Having lived in the US, the cheddar there isn’t the same. I’d offer that I never had good cheese in the US outside of imported stuff.

Sounds like you didn't get out much. Sometimes I wonder if it's a joke that I haven't been let in on, or just willful ignorance. I hear it not just with cheese, but also bread, beer, chocolate, etc. High quality versions of every single one of those can be found with _minimal_ effort. You have to deliberately choose not to notice all the breweries, bakeries, dairies, and chocolatiers.

"You can't get good ____ in the US!"

Which might be true if you only ever shop at a supermarket or your only exposure to food in the US is a meme, Hollywood production, or the crappy nonsensical 'American' aisles you have in your respective countries.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cheddar isn’t orange. You might be thinking of Red Leicester in the UK. Having lived in the US, the cheddar there isn’t the same. I’d offer that I never had good cheese in the US outside of imported stuff.

I stumbled onto Red Leicester recently and was gobsmacked by how good it is.

Me too! It was at it's "best before" date, with 50% off the price, so, why not? Wow!
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