I recently got the chance to try an extra mature farmhouse cheddar from a West Country farm, North Downs Dairy Company. West Country is a small group of farmers based in England. You cannot be a West Country Farmhouse cheddar unless you are produced in one of 4 counties in southwest England. This cheese falls under a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) (you find the PDO logo on the package). So if you see the West Country name you know exactly where your cheese is coming from.
One of the unique things about this cheese is that it is made by hand. It has been aged for over a year to give it a fulltaste. Indeed the taste was strong. It had a certain nuttiness to it and an aftertaste that will keep it's flavor in your mouth long after you swallowed the last bite. I am not a fan of really sharp cheese, so the reason I actually bought this cheese is because I thought it would go well in macaroni & cheese. And sure enough it made some really good macaroni & cheese that had some really character to it. Click here for my recipe for macaroni & cheese.
The ingredients of this cheese were simple, just pasteurized cow's milk, salt, starter cultures, and vegetarian rennet.
Fore more information visit their website at : http://www.farmhousecheesemakers.com/
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