Cheddar (Tesco ‘Finest’ Vintage)
One assumes from their continued presence on the supermarket shelves that Cheddars below strength 5 have their audience. I confess I remain bemused by that prospect. To feel a little sullied, tormented, abused by a Cheddar’s formidable dominance of my mouth is surely the very essence of the experience of eating a Cheddar.
This Cheddar, though, is rated strength 5, so clears the first hurdle; how then does it fare? Well, it is a tolerable entry-level Cheddar at an excellent price point. It exhibits all the hallmarks of the breed: hard but slightly crumbly, and marbled with some salt crystal veins, though these are quite sparse. The texture is a little smoother and more uniform than the very hard, very flaky nature of a truly excellent ultra-mature Cheddar.
The flavour is mostly mediocre and the cheese benefits from a prolonged sojourn outside the fridge before consumption; with such assistance, it performs acceptably. It is relatively rich, flavoursome and almost sweet, but not exceptionally farmy or strong. It does not torch my tastebuds with its fearsome authority, which is a disappointment. I would primarily use this cheese to grate on pasta; eaten on crumpets, or even solitary if you are desperate and have nothing better to hand, it is a reliable ally.
It is almost impossible for a strength 5 Cheddar to be bad, and this is not. That said, any serious cheese-shop Cheddar will crush this cheese’s milquetoast flavour under its farmy boot. There are many, many better Cheddars to be had – but, to be fair, usually at twice the price. This is a reliable everyday flavoursome cheddar. The “Vintage” prefix is perhaps excessive – in my view, this is the bare minimum flavour acceptable for a cheddar.
For its accessibility and price-to-tastiness ratio, I would rate this cheese 7.5 out of 10.
I love cheese. Most of all I love the strongest Cheddars available; ewe’s or goat’s cheese are also often hits.