Supermarket shelves may be stacked with factory-made “Cheddar”, but Jamie Montgomery is fighting to revive and sustain true, artisan cheesemaking. His family have been making unpasteurised Cheddar on their Somerset farm since Jamie’s grandfather bought it in 1911, and they still make it in the traditional way, with milk that comes solely from their own Friesian herds. The truckles (just 10-17 a day) are wrapped in cloth, then matured for a minimum of 12 months to develop a rich, nutty flavour. Montgomery believes there is a real momentum of people wanting to get back to artisan foods.
“I love it when I am out doing tastings,” he says. “Children are especially rewarding: I give them Cheddar from a few different farms, and they know exactly the flavours they like; they absolutely get what it’s all about. But the biggest buzz is when I see an elderly person at a tasting, glancing at my cheese. If I coax them to try it, I can see in their eyes straightaway that it takes them back to a memory of cheese as it used to be. It makes the hairs stand up on the back of my neck every time.”