West Country Farmhouse Cheddar is the cheese made from cow's milk with creamy yellow color, and in either a cylinder shape or in a block form. After natural ripening, it has a nutty, full and rounded flavor with a hint of sharpness. China has implemented the geographical indications products protection for West Country Farmhouse Cheddar since May 2011.
Since the fifteenth century, West Country farmhouses have been famous for cheese manufacturing. West Country Farmhouse Cheddar may only be produced within the county boundaries of Dorset, Somerset, Devon and Cornwall in Britain. The milk used in the manufacture of the cheese predominately comes from cows raised by cheese producers and cows raised on farms in designated area.
West Country Farmhouse Cheddar is still produced according to the original method using the skills and traditions handed on in the area. The starter culture and chymosin were added to the milk. After coagulation, the clotted milk and whey were separated. The clotted milk was manually turned over, stacked and chopped. Then the clotted milk was fully mixed with salt and pressed into a mould. The pressed cheese needs to be sealed and packaged, and the maturity period of fermentation needs more than nine months. (Courtesy of the IP Protection Department of CNIPA)
(Editor Shao Jingjing)
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