Two points here

1) We usually buy bog standard orange Cheddar. Don't know why. Mam used to buy it and so we just carried on buying similar stuff.

Anyway, my dad recently picked up bog standard Red Leicester by mistake. No probs, can't be that different.

Exactly the same! I seriously cound't tell the difference in taste. The only difference seems to be that the Red Leicester is a darker colour.

Can you taste the difference with supermarket standard cheese or is it just my taste buds?




2) I was making Italian and was looking for a cheap block of Parmesan. Picked up the wrong cheese but I really like it.
Grana padano - It's softer and more tangy than Parmesan.... and cheaper

Cheap cheese is OK for cooking but you wouldn't want to eat it. I say this as a proud devotee of almost all economy brand items. Cheese is the exception. It is worth paying extra for cheese that actually tastes of cheese. It is better to look out for a quality cheese on special offer than to buy the cheap stuff.

Much of what is sold as Cheddar isn't really Cheddar at all. It is just generic mild cheese with a high fat content and no flavour. It wouldn't surprise me if they dye the same stuff red and call it Red Leicester. Real Cheddar is hard and does not feel rubbery when you press the packet. Real Cheddar is strong and crumbly. "Mild Cheddar" is nonsense. If I want a mild cheese I will buy a cheese that is meant to be mild (like Edam), not a half-arsed version of a strong one.

Apparently cheap cheese is often bulked out with a cheese susbtitute... it was on that programme "Britain's most disgusting food".

Im quite picky with cheese. I tend to buy cheddar as hubby likes it - but i buy good cheddar. I like to be able to taste it, and for it not to taste rubbery.

My dad has been round our house lately doing some work, and my mum keeps shipping him over with some cheese (and cake). But the cheese is horrid. Its tasteless and cheap .... and it isnt a brand i recognise.

I refuse to eat it. I feel bad as i dont have money to waste, but i would rather go without.

Mild cheddar, it's the future.

Urgh yes i saw that programme too, it was horrible wasnt it! I thought the cheese substitute was only used in the wholesalers though, for sandwich shops and the like, not supermarkets!

Did you see those 'bangers' aswell, only 5% meat which is why they had to call 'em bangers and not sausages!

Grana Padano, Pecorino Romano and Parmesan are all fairly similar and interchangeable

I've been trying out the Tesco 'Value' and sainsbury 'Basic' ranges to save some money and generally pleased with them, except for the cheese........I ended up throwing it away, it was vile.

Especially in Sainbury they seem to their 'regional cheeses' on special offer every few months.........worth stocking up because it lasts for ages until you open it. I like the white crumblies........Cheshire, Lancashire, Wensleydale.........buy a few packs of them and give the 'Basic' Cheddar a miss !

MY taste buds are messed up from heavy smoking, but I can tell the difference between cheap red leicester and that cheap orange cheddar.

I'm a cheesaholic too and I just find the concept of "Value mild cheddar" to be one of the most ghastly concepts in food.

There are few things more depressing than the cheese isle in British supermarkets where 90% of the items are varieties of cheddar (though to be fair, things are getting better over recent years). Compare to stores in France or Spain where there are endless varieties you have never heard of.

The problem is that good cheese is expensive so I have to be really careful on how much I buy.

Too be honest the only time when I wold eat cheese by its self would be at Christmas when the cocktail sticks come out



I saw that. I think the substitute is more for the fast food type market so they can cut it with regular cheese for cheesy chips, parmos etc.


Try ASDA's. It's a taste test challenge

Mild cheddar is tasteless plastic.

You should have at least notice some difference, surprised you didn't - even with the 'value' cheeses which are often the same product as the not so 'value' range.

Iceland mature cheddar and extra mature cheddar is pretty good.

I do like many other cheeses, but they have to have strong flavours, none of this mild rubbish.

The vast majority of cheese on sale is actual cheese and not pumped full of substitute - there are one or two - but even the basic value ranges are all cheese. It's catering you'll find a lot of substitute.

I think my taste buds may be shot. I'm not far off Lister from Red Dwarf

LOL

Having a dutch son in law has introduced me to the delights of real cheese

Old Amsterdam and Edam

Forget English cheddar

Edam is another mostly tasteless cheese. Yes, even when in the Netherlands.

Good English, Scottish and Irish cheddar is very nice. However I like many other cheeses too, but they do need to have taste and not just tasteless plastic / rubber that is mild cheddar or Edam.

i like strong cheddar with a firm nutty texture...tickler is very good but quite expensive in ratio of price to volume.

Only ever buy strong cheeses.

Went to Cheddar Gorge a couple of years ago and visited the Cheddar Gorge Cheese company shop. Got some some really nice vintage cheddars and pickles.

http://www.cheddargorgecheeseco.co.uk/shop.php

I know, I was being sarcastic.

LOL - I see. Well I didn't see there was no smiley!

But the French snobbily do not sell English cheese, yet we sell theirs. A real shame.

Totally agreed. You want Cheddar?? Check out Tickler Cheddar.

THIS is cheese!! Woof!

Noooo, cheese slices are tasteless plastic. Who on earth buys that junk?

Even the Tesco value stuff tastes more like cheese than that mush.

The cheap cheese has its place -- mostly as filler in a ham and cheese toastie