Cheddar. We all know it, some of us can't live without it, some of us can't live with it. Some of us find the flavor profile boring, maybe that's because the plastic-y manufactured white and orange cheddars mass produced or maybe it's because that's what we think all cheddar is. Well folks that is most certainly not the case.
For a cheese to be considered a cheddar, it has go through a process called cheddaring where after the curd is heated/cooked, it is kneaded with salt and then cut into cubes and stacked and turned and re-stacked and turned to help drain the excess whey hence making a cheddar cheese very dense.
So for this week, I chose a cheddar from Oregon and from Canada.
From Oregon, I chose Tillamook County Creamery because well they have been making cheddars with the same recipe for over one hundred years. Tillamook crafts quite the extensive list of cheddars, young, old, orange, white, and more. My favorite by far is their 3 year vintage extra sharp cheddar which is biting and tangy yet creamy and smooth. Crumbly with the classic crystallization -- this is the sort of cheese that can be dressed up and served on a cheese plate or dressed down and combined with pasta to make mac n'cheese or heated and grilled between two pieces of bread to make a yummy grilled cheese.
And from Canada, I chose the Old Quebec Vintage Cheddar aged for a minimum of three to four years. Crafted with heat treated cow's milk meaning that it is partially, not fully pasteurized, giving the cheese that raw bite that is characteristic of raw milk cheeses. Classic, clean, crisp, cheddar flavors present in the white creamy paste. It has that fantastic butterscotchy-ness that develops in an aged crumbly, crunchy cheese. Overall, a great cheddar from Quebec with a powerful tang that surely will awaken your taste buds in all the right sorts of ways.
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