Here in the U.S., the 4th of July, 2023 was, of course, a national holiday. On Manor Farm, the land on which the Montgomery family has been making cheddar in southwest England for over a century, it was pretty much just another Tuesday. While the day itself might not have been that noteworthy in Somerset County, that morning’s cheese, it turns out, was something really special! We just opened up this 19-month-old, cloth-wrapped wheel, born, we might say, on the 4th of July, and wow is it good! Tessie Ives-Wilson, a long-time ZCoBber who happened to be part of the team that cut into the wheel, texted me, “Horseradish and cream, delightful!” Tessie and I have been tasting together for nearly 17 years now, so it’s no surprise that her assessment matches my own!
One of the challenges of making, buying, and selling craft foods is that they’re never exactly the same from one day to the next. That’s also the beauty of them. I love that natural variability and the sense of discovery that goes with diving into any new adventure in artisan eating. That’s certainly the case with Montgomery’s cheddar—the family has been making it at Manor Farm since 1910 when Jamie Montgomery’s grandfather, Sir Archibald Langman, began the work.
(In Britain, 1910 was the year that George V ascended to the throne. Here in Ann Arbor, Emma Goldman had come to town—115 years ago this week—on Saturday, February 19 to speak a few blocks up from the Deli, at 109 N. Main, on “The Influence of Drama on Anarchism.” She made the front page of the Michigan Daily the next day. We could use her spirit, insight, insistence on art and beauty, and powerful speaking skills right now!)
To this day, Jamie uses only the milk from his own herd of about 200 Holstein Friesian cows and sticks with the old-fashioned traditional starter cultures which take much longer to use but yield much more flavorful cheese (much the same concept as our commitment to long rise times in the breads at the Bakehouse). He uses an old, rough-toothed “mill” that rips the curd up for a more complex flavor and interesting eating experience. And he’s constantly tasting and testing the cheese with a critical eye, a habit that, surprisingly, is not very common amongst cheesemakers.
Like I said, the Somerset Montgomery Cheddar on the counter right now is remarkable. Big long finish, with a wonderful mouth-filling flavor. Really nutty with a nice hint of salinity. It’s really terrific with a big chunk of our True North bread from the Bakehouse. Because we have only one wheel made on that day, and because every day is a bit different, if you like English farmhouse cheddar, you might want to swing by and score some Somerset Montgomery Cheddar ASAP.
