Cheddar Cheese

Cheddar cheese is a relatively hard yellow to off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting cheese originally made in the English village of Cheddar, inSomerset. Cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom, accounting for 51% of the country's £1.9 billion annual cheese market. Cheddar cheese has been widely imitated, both in the United Kingdom and in other countries, including Ireland, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Canada and Iceland. In most countries 'Cheddar' cheese, in its various forms, is readily available, ranging from mild lower-fat cheeses to the more mature higher-fat and sharper cheeses. By European trading standards, however, only cheese produced and sourced in four of the counties of South West of England (Somerset, Devon, Dorset, and Cornwall) may be given the Protected Designation of Origin name "West Country Farmhouse Cheddar".