Hello Cheddar Cheesy1’s!

From this week I’m going to trial moving my posts to a Wednesday evening because this is the time I have the most visits & views. I have selected a cheese which is currently in my fridge at home and it is one of the biggest contributors to the cheese pavilion at the Royal Bath & West Show; Barber’s Cheddar. Made in Ditcheat in Somerset from the early 1800s this vintage 24 month aged Cheddar has the sharpness & strength you would expect but a creaminess as well. In the 1800s the milk was sold off and cheese was made to feed the farmers & families involved but as the popularity of the cheese grew so did the need to produce it. Production increased with the milk that was being sold was now redirected into cheese making as well as buying milk from local farms to. This meant that Maryland Farm could put all their energy into cheese production with traditional cheddaring techniques & a special starter culture being used to this day. The farm now incorporates 2,500 acres & they have a dairy herd of around 2,000 cows which are all looked after & cared for by Barber’s to ensure they understand the needs of the farmers & dairy industry. There aim is to protect & preserve their land, farm & area for the future generations to come.

The flavour that it produces is full & rich with a savoury edge but the overriding flavour is creamy and once you have had a bite you will be coming back for more! This cheese is perfect for a ploughman’s and brilliant for using in cooking & baking as it will maintain it’s flavour. You can head over to http://www.barbers1833.co.uk/recipes.aspx for recipes to help inspire you in the kitchen, and if you would like to purchase some then click the picutre below to take you over to the Baber’s Online Shop. I hope that this post also helps dispel the myths around ‘block’ cheddars because even though it is square, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t got a history & story.

So I think that it is safe to say that with Barber’s now in its sixth generation I’m sure that it will be here for people to enjoy for many years to come.

Cheesy1