What makes cheddar cheese taste so good? • Hacker News Board

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#51

Post by Turing_Machine » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 3:57 AM UTC

OnlyMortal wrote: post #35

Turing_Machine wrote: post #8

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.

Red Leicester is also artificially colored.

> Having lived in the US, the cheddar there isn’t the same.

Which "cheddar"? The budget Kraft stuff? Higher-end stuff like Tillamook? Artisanal cheddars, of which there are many?

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#52

Post by Turing_Machine » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 4:00 AM UTC

twiceaday wrote: post #42

Turing_Machine wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Where does it say that "half the people on the planet" say that?

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#53

Post by Kon-Peki » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 4:22 AM UTC

plorkyeran wrote: post #44

Kon-Peki wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> 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

Just to be clear to non-Americans, we don't think that "cheese products" are real cheese. There are a number of welfare programs that help low-income Americans buy food; for example WIC [1]. If you take your WIC card to a grocery store and scan it in, the grocery store computer system will refuse to sell you "cheese products". You are not allowed to use government money to buy fake cheese! The computer will beep at you, the store clerk will say "sorry, you can't buy this, it's not real cheese", you will be embarrassed, and you will never, ever, ever make that mistake again!

There are enough people who buy that stuff (or else nobody would manufacture it). But it isn't because they are confused and think it is cheese.

[1] https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/about-wic

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#54

Post by archagon » Sat, Dec 30, 2023, 10:10 AM UTC

thot_experiment wrote: post #14

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.

1) Kingdom Cheddar, found at Costco.

2) Barber’s Sweet Red Cheddar, found at Whole Foods.

Two of my favorite cheeses of all time.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#55

Post by OnlyMortal » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 9:01 PM UTC

deadlydose wrote: post #49

OnlyMortal wrote: post #35

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.

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…

I lived in Delray Beach in Florida. The only choices at the time (2001) were Publix, which was poor, and Crown Liquor, which was where I bought bread. Wholefoods wasn’t good.

As a beer drinker, Heineken was the only beer I’d buy (note I lived in NL) though there was a microbrewery by the Boca mall that was ok.

I also lived in BE so I’ve experience with chocolate. I am English though. At the time, Godiva was considered good in the US.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#56

Post by kulahan » Tue, Jan 02, 2024, 9:30 PM UTC

Tainnor wrote: post #47

kulahan wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wrong. I'm talking about total amount eaten. It's one of the top 3 globally.

Re: What makes cheddar cheese taste so good?

#57

Post by Tainnor » Thu, Jan 04, 2024, 7:13 PM UTC

kulahan wrote: post #56

Tainnor wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> insanely popular in certain areas of the world.

Wrong. I'm talking about total amount eaten. It's one of the top 3 globally.

Not a contradiction, certain areas skew the statistics, but Cheddar isn't really all that popular in, say, Italy, France, Switzerland or Spain which are all known for their own local cheese production.