Mostly, Americans think of American cheddar, when asked what kind of cheese would they like? Is there a difference? Yes, American cheddars are typically dyed (with natural annatto seed) and have a taste profile that is salty and acidic. When you combine salt and acid you have the flavor sensation of sharpness. English cheddars (or farmhouse cheddars) are usually never dyed, and they have lemony, horseradish notation on the palate. Are all farmhouse cheddars of the same callibur? No, Montgomery’s Cheddar is considered “King” of this traditional English cheese. Lets go back to the beginning and learn a little more about why they are the best.

North Cadbury, specifically, is where this famed farmhouse cheddar calls home. James Montgomery(champion cheesemaker) and Steven Bridges are the collaborative cheesemaking team, and Manor farm is the place where it all happens.

Cheddar is a town in England, but actually, you won’t find any cheddar in the town of Cheddar! You will find a gorge, a natural site that brought many travelers through this area of the country. When in Cheddar…enjoy the local cheese. It was just that, local. All these cheeses were coming from nearby Somerset, made with the traditional recipe and applying the technique that was dubbed “cheddaring”. To “cheddar” a cheese, the curds are cooked twice and then broken apart into very tiny curds to expel as much whey as possible. Farmhouse cheddar will always arrive to your local market in a huge drum, weighing from 40 to 55 pounds. These cheeses are aged a minimum of 6 months. But the best cheddars will be well over a year old.

What makes Montgomery’s cheddar stand out above the rest is that they are the last cheesemakers still using a slow peg mill to break up the curds during the “cheddaring” process. This peg mill whips and shreds the curds rather than cutting them evenly. This process is believed to ensure that the curds knit back together much more quickly and deliver a better texture when pressed. Seventy years ago, the Montgomery family began making cheese. Today they still use the same culture strain to begin the cheesemaking process that they did three generations ago. Manor Farm has 140 Fresian cows that graze in its pastures. The milk that these ladies give is not pasteurized before the cheesemaking process begins, giving us all the taste of the land to enjoy with every bite.

I grew up in a small town in northern  California, a town that had four or five state-inspected butcher shops and now we have one. When I talk to the butcher and others, they told me that butchers shops and slaughter plants had to close due to increased regulations and fewer customers. But now, the customers are coming back, only this time, they want local meat. But we lost the infrastructure and now regulatory and economic hurdles are preventing a re-growth of the industry. 

– Tyler Dawley, rancher

A vertical market refers to any company that has total control over a product from inception to consumption.  Scary, huh?  Companies like Smithfield and Purdue are now in total control over the farms, slaughter houses, processing centers, shipping and sales.  Obviously this is great for them, huge profits, no middle men and nobody to call them out on quality and rearing practices.  The market has shifted very dramaticly in the past couple years.  Smaller producers and farmers are getting shut down or bought out either by these large companies or by increased federal inspection standards.  Most family owned businesses can’t afford the resources to meet extremely stringent federal inspections.  By a quirk in the system federal inspectors are not allowed to give advice on how to meet this standards, unlike state inspectors who are allowed to help in meeting their standards.

But the people who really suffer from this are at either end of the supply chain; the farmer and the consumer.  If a small scale farmer decides he wants to sell to a chain store the only option is to go through facilities owned by his very large competitors who set their prices so low that he can barely make ends meet.  This creates a tumbling effect that starts with low profits on the farm and a mediocre life. His children won’t contiue the business and leave the farm to find more gainfull employment, and we get another farmer forced to sell to a conglomerate.  With all small producers being forced out of the game the average consumer is left with the garbage you see at your local mega mart.  Even butcher shops, the ones that still exist, are not about to hurt their profit margine to help a smaller, hence more expensive, farmer.  In the end the consumer ends up with “the other white meat” and chicken that looks like silly putty.  

 What can be done to fix this?  Well, unfortunately there are no quick cures as long as people want convenience over quality.  Thankfully that trend seems to be changing with the 20-30 year old demographic.  Small time farmers are becoming mini celebrities in certain circles and people are flocking to get a piece of the agrarian lifestyle. The vertical market won’t come crashing down overnight, but we are slowly making steps to change consumers perceptions of how to shop and source their food.

My first days working behind a cheese counter led me into the arms of another cheese, an old Gouda that was unlike any I had ever had. I loved this cheese and I couldn’t get enough. I liken this relationship to one that is cheap and sinister, one you know is not good for you but you can’t help but cater to its every whim. All the while, ignoring the relationship that just longed for my attention. 

Off in another cheese case, Fontina d’Aosta, waited patiently for the day that I would notice him. Fontina was a cheese that I was not very impressed by. Nothing special. Americans are most familiar with a soft, tasteless cheese that they might use on an Italian hoagie.  I was a fool, blinded by the over-processed cheese world that we live in. The true Fontina was nothing like the cheese I thought it was…

Fontina is the hometown of the famed cheese, nestled into the base of Mont Fontin. The Piedmont region of Italy produces many noteworthy cheeses, but true Fontina is known best. It is a raw cow’s milk cheese that is aged for 4-6 months and semi-firm in texture. The real deal is something special. Fontina d’Aosta is a mountain cheese, which means that it is durable. Having to survive a trip down the steep sides of the Alps, this cheese needs to be able to handle a bumpy ride. Wheels of Fontina range in size, and those sizes are substantial, anywhere from 17 to 25 pounds.

Early spring brings the lush pastures of this mountainous area and the cows are led out to graze. Eating the cheese of pasture-fed cows delivers notes of what the cow’s diet consisted of. The terrior, or the sense of the land, is transposed onto the finished product. In the instance of true Fontina, fruits and nuts are delivered to the palate, as well as grassy notes that some might refer to as earthy. Want to know how to tell if it is the real deal you are about to mange? Authentic Fontina from the Valle d’Aosta has a large purple stamp depiciting a mountain with its name across the center of the wheel.

Many cheeses from the Alps have a similar characteristic in that they melt beautifully. France, Switzerland and Italy all have their own versions of a melted cheese dish that evolved from a need for a warm, substantial meal to see these folks through the winter. For the Italians it is fonduta, and Fontina is the traditional cheese used. Unlike the French and Swiss versions, fonduta is enriched with butter and eggs and then poured over polenta. Ridiculously good!

Fontina d’Aosta was there all along. Just under my nose. And I paid him little attention. When the moment was right he seized the opportunity and stole my heart. My true love affair cheese!

Years ago my family was sent a Christmas package from Norway which included, among many other foodstuffs, a rock hard and shriveled leg of lamb.  I’d grown up eating salamis and other cured meats but this was a first for me.  I was instructed to slice it very thin and just let it melt in your mouth, and an instant love affair was formed.

Traditionally Fennelar is made with a salt/sugar/saltpeter mixture and allowed to cure for a couple days and then it is hung to dry inside the barn.  Some sources say to smoke the leg after curing but I have yet to notice any smoked flavor so I ignored the peanut gallery on that one.  While I was on a roll throwing tradition out the door I also decided to only cure with salt for a couple days while pressing the leg under weight, same process as most traditional hams.  I decided to omit the sugar because I wanted to preserve the flavor of the great spring lamb that my friend Nat from Mint Creek Farms sourced for me. Saltpeter is usually used in most cured products to give them that nice rosy hue.  Well, I could care less about hue and there is sufficient evidence out there that the nitrates in saltpeter aren’t that great for you.

Fast-forward about 30 days and magic has happened.  Surprisingly I hit almost no speed bumps on this cure.  The flavor is spot on from what I remember as a kid and I instantly had a big smile on my face when I cut the first slice.  This will definatly not be the only time I make this.  It’s a product that is very hard to find in the US and once you try it I guarantee you’ll want your own leg to chew on!