What's happened to cheddar cheese?

Wizard_of_Id

I use the 'simply' grated cheese from Lidl and have no issues with it, it even burns without separating :T
The Aldi basic grated however does separate

Mr_Singleton

Charlton_King wrote: »

Why should I have to go to fancy farmers' markets and pay the prices they want there (have you SEEN them..?)

There are plenty of shops selling decent cheese..... personally I like Neils Yard.

Also how can you compare an artisanal product with a factory farmed one and expect the prices to be the same?

Nick_C

Charlton_King wrote: »

Why should I have to go to fancy farmers' markets and pay the prices they want there (have you SEEN them..?) to get what I think of as a standard product?
.

You have a choice. If you want very cheap food, then go to a supermarket. You will get something that has been produced on a very large scale with production methods being changed to cut costs, extend shelf life, and appear uniform.

If you want good quality food produced using traditional methods that tastes like it should, you have to be prepared to pay for it.

I use a local farm shop where the quality is excellent and they can often tell you which animal the meat had come from. The food tastes like the food my mother used to buy 50 years ago. But of course 50 years ago my parents didn't have a car, central heating, fitted carpets, mobile phones, subscription TV etc

LameWolf

elsien wrote: »

Have you ever tried toasting the appalling low fat stuff? It just evaporates leaving a crust and very little else.

You might just as well eat candle grease - the taste and texture is similar!_pale_

I get all my cheese from the local Farmers Market; it's all made with veggie rennet, and their extra, extra mature Cheddar is superb; does cheese-on-toast as one would like it, makes wonderful cheese sauce - and because it's so strong, you don't need to use a mountain of it.

suki1964

There is cheese , and there is cheese

Sure go ahead and buy your Cathredal city and the like, it's cheese, looks like cheese and kind of tastes like cheese

Then find a good artisan cheese and you find that the cheese you might have been very happy with, doesn't taste like how cheese should taste

I miss the choice I had in London but I can still find a good cheese here

Lidl do one, it's a NI extra mature ( duluxe range). Comes in wee little sticks but oh so good. We also have an award winning creamery not too far away and their cheddar is pretty good

When I'm making bog standard cheese on toast I don't butter the toast , toast the far side more then the cheese side, then use thin slices of cheese and toast on a very high heat

But you can't beat a Welsh Rarebit

Charlton_King

Well, sorry but there is a certain whiff of snobbery around here which promotes the idea that good food can't possibly be available at reasonable prices from everyday outlets...

...when that's exactly what used to be the case, actually.

Those who seem to be urging us on to drive miles to buy 'artisanal', lovingly crafted food at, let's face it, 'artisanal', lovingly crafted prices have got to get real. This is a moneysaving website and it's reasonable to expect people here to look for fair value for money in everything, food included.

To echo my earlier comment, we don't all drive Rolls-Royces...

suki1964

Charlton_King wrote: »

Well, sorry but there is a certain whiff of snobbery around here which promotes the idea that good food can't possibly be available at reasonable prices from everyday outlets...

...when that's exactly what used to be the case, actually.

Those who seem to be urging us on to drive miles to buy 'artisanal', lovingly crafted food at, let's face it, 'artisanal', lovingly crafted prices have got to get real. This is a moneysaving website and it's reasonable to expect people here to look for fair value for money in everything, food included.

To echo my earlier comment, we don't all drive Rolls-Royces...

Too right, I drive a 14 year old beetle and work in a veg processing factory earning NMW

It still stands that there are differences in prices and quality

It's not for nothing that these programmes on TV show that Asda's smart price cheddar tastes as good at what is perceived to be a better quality cheese

I'm no food snob, I buy supermarket cheddar every week. Come special occasions such as Christmas and we like to treat ourselves, we do upgrade and OMG, even a blind man would tell the difference

The thing is, we in the UK like cheap food. We have a price point that we are prepared to pay. Supermarkets know this and have alsready slashed the sizes of packets and portions. Cheese, well that's on the shelf within months rather then the years that a good cheddar needs to mature

Witless

For cooking (and, in my world, that includes melting) the best I've bought recently is Te$co value blocks of mild white or mature cheddar (£5.50 & £5.20 kg instead of the usual £8/9 +) - better than the 'branded' IMHO.

Suki's right though, for cheeseboard type nibbles L!dl range is superb: and as different as day is to night and, though more expensive, is well worth it.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Cheeseboard-and-Antipasti-9245.htm?articleId=8869
https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Cheeseboard-and-Antipasti-9245.htm?articleId=8868

Deffo not for cooking with though!

The Brie looks well worth a chance too - not my usual, but I could be tempted.

https://www.lidl.co.uk/en/Cheeseboard-and-Antipasti-9245.htm?articleId=7703

Charlton_King

Yes but I think we in the UK also seem to like weak government.

Successive ones have been in the pockets of the food 'industry', whether it's to do with sugar/salt levels, warning labels, portion/packet sizes or whatever.

This kind of thing is an entirely predictable commercial 'drive'... and any decent goverment would step in with at least some degree of restraining regulation. But no, successive government ministers have been persuaded, over expense account-bought dinners of course, that it's better not to 'interfere in the market'.

Spineless creatures.

It should not be possible for this stuff to call itself 'Cheddar'. A staple of the British menu has disappeared - to be replaced by a shoddy, government-sanctioned fraud.

fuddle

Personally, I think money saving is about being savvy and getting quality at a good price. The clever consumer is to be celebrated in my eyes.

Personally I don't think supermarket branded cheeses are cheap anyway. Supermarket own make of cheese has been dire quality, rubbery in texture and had added colourants since I've been a food consumer so I've noticed this long before a couple of years ago.

There has been a time in my life when any cheese buying has been a luxury but these days I am able to make my choice in what I and my family consume. I'm a savvy shopper but I'm no food snob. I am, however, a reluctant consumer whose main focus is on good quality, least refined, natural ingredients that add value to my health and digestion. That's my choice but I have to say I pays my money and I makes my choice in my life and I use my eyes and my intelligence to help my buying choices. Let there be 'weak governments' because if it's cheddar labeled as cheddar but really isn't cheddar and I can afford to make a different choice I will do.

Read the labels OP. You will be likely shocked at what you're choosing to fuel your body.