Cheshire Cheese

An English cheese dating back to the 12th century making it one of the oldest English cheeses produced. Made from cow's milk, Cheshire has a fine texture that is moist and becomes somewhat crumbly. The flavor, which sharpens as the cheese ages, provides a mild and slightly salty flavor that comes from the soils around the Cheshire region. White Cheshire is produced with an ivory to white color, while Red Cheshire has a deeper peach to orange color that is created from the annatto dye added to the cheese. Blue Chesire is a cheese produced until the late 1990's that was crumbly in texture and was made with a natural blue fade throughout the cheese. Since the Cheshire has a texture that is open it easily allowed for the blue molding to occur as it aged in cheese cellars, becoming dry and crumbly as it matured. The blue variety has a sharp flavor with the salty flavor present in White and Red Cheshires. The Cheshire cheeses are often served as a snack, an appetizer cheese or with fruit. It is also used in baked foods and goes especially well with egg dishes. The traditional use for Cheshire cheese is as an ingredient in Welsh Rarebit.