Cheshire vs Cheddar: What's the Difference?

Cheshire vs Cheddar: what's the difference?

Cheddar and Cheshire cheese are two of the best-known traditional British cheeses. However, in terms of taste and texture, they are quite distinct varieties with different textures and flavours.

Cheshire cheese is a crumbly white cheese with a fresh, salty taste that has acidic notes.

Cheddar cheese varies in colour from buttery yellow to deep orange, depending on its age, and has a rounded and complex flavour.

So, why are these traditional cheeses from the same small island so different?

The reason for their differences lies in their places of origin and the cheese-making methods that have developed around them.

Read on to find out more about two traditional British cheeses.

Cheeses from Cheddar gorge and the Cheshire plain

Both Cheddar and Cheshire cheese are made from the milk of cows grazing on lush pastures in temperate maritime climates.

Cheshire's climate is influenced by the warm and wet environment of the Irish Sea just beyond nearby North Wales, while Cheddar Gorge in the West Country neighbours the Bristol Channel.

Cool summers and warm winters ensure long grass seasons and rich creamy milk, but the soil of Cheshire meadows hides a secret that changes the taste of the cheese produced there.

Far beneath those fields lie vast salt deposits, left behind millions of years ago as the salty water of ancient seas evaporated. Traces of salt leech into the Cheshire topsoil, the grass and ultimately the cow's milk, giving Cheshire cheese a subtle salty tang.

Cheddar has its own salty kick too, but this salt is added during the cheese-making process and is more savoury and umami than Cheshire's natural fresh saltiness.

The differences in Cheddar and Cheshire cheese making

Cheddar and Cheshire cheese are produced in different ways to create distinct tastes and textures from the same raw material.

The Cheddaring process

The traditional cheddar-making process can be lengthy and famously involves storing cheese in the caves of Cheddar Gorge in Somerset, which offer stable ambient temperatures and dry conditions.

The Cheddar cheese maker stacks and restacks whole cheeses to remove as much liquid as possible.

It can take years to produce a hard, dry-aged Cheddar with fully developed mature flavours, while younger cheddars have a mild taste.

Making Cheshire cheese

In contrast, Cheshire does not go through an ageing process.

It is made quickly, retaining high levels of moisture, creating its distinctive crumbly texture.

The Cheshire cheese is produced when the whey drains from the curd without the pressing and turning involved in making hard Cheddar.

British Territorial cheeses

Many traditional British cheeses are known as territorial cheeses. This protected designation is granted when cheese is produced using conventional methods in the region of Britain where it originated, and is applied to some Cheshire and Cheddar cheeses.

British territorial cheeses are further divided into two groups: crumbly cheeses and hard cheeses.

The crumbly cheeses

Cheeses produced in the same way as Cheshire cheese include those made in neighbouring counties, Lancashire, Wensleydale and Caerphilly from North Wales.

The crumbly cheeses are quick and cheap to produce, making them popular with the low-income population of industrial and mining areas.

Crumbly cheeses don't travel well and tolerate shorter storage than hard cheese. The fragility of Cheshire cheese has made its wider distribution difficult, and it is not as well-known as many of the hard cheeses, such as Cheddar.

Cheshire cheese and the other crumbly cheeses still have a Northern identity and are eaten much more widely in their places of origin than in the south of England.

The Hard Cheeses

Cheeses produced in the South of England and the West Country, such as Cheddar, Red Leicester, and Double Gloucester, were often allowed time to mature and develop complex flavours. This more extensive storage was reflected in a premium price, and the cheese was sold to a more affluent population in southern England.

One of the reasons why Cheddar is so ubiquitous is that, like all hard cheeses, it is easy to transport, allowing farmers to create and sell more cheese with excess milk.

Unlike Cheshire, which remains a specialty cheese, Cheddar is now mass-produced worldwide. Cheddar Cheese is often coloured orange with annatto extract to ensure the consistency of colour preferred by the mass market.