Cheddar cheese vs. American 'cheddar' cheese?

I would kill to find good sharp cheddar here in Hungary. I can find a UK import, but not as good as a top notch American equivalent. How the heck do you do a good grilled cheese? Wait, that just reminded me of a cheese toasty sandwich I got under a bridge near the Globe Theater in London. Hands down the best grilled cheese (cheddar) i have ever had .... to this day.

Unpopular opinion warning: First, I think few have any standard to judge "Cheddar" cheese. Yes, you could probably find a cheddar made in Cheddar, but the only company operating started in 2003, so about all you can say is that "Cheddar" is a process not something specific to a "domain" or Terroir.

To that end, Yes, many places make great "Cheddar" cheese, sure the bay area thinks much of themselves, but Vermont, Oregon, and Wisconsin do a much more than average job, in fact producing World class cheddars.

Paul, popular or not ..... very true.

Cheddar actually isn’t a protected category. It’s made everywhere and any cheese can use the name legally. There are lots of protected products in Europe, such as Champagne and parmesan, but the laws don’t apply in the US.

Cheddar is not a protected name legally unlike Stilton, which cannot legally be made in Stilton.

Champagne was invented in England but legally can only be called Champagne if made in Champagne.

I thought the difference was that American cheddar is orange : )

I'm not sure if there are objective criteria to define "cheddar-ness" but I think good is a matter of personal taste. For most people I know, it comes sliced in a package with a blue and red label. Anything else is showing off.

The spouse of my Pilates instructor is an international judger of cheese - not sure of the correct term. I will ask on Monday, and should have an answer by Friday.

Whenever I hear “American” cheese, I think of Kraft singles, or similar sliced cheese used on sandwiches for little kids, or that you need to melt easily. I certainly wouldn’t call it cheddar, or even real cheese. Then again, I am from Wisconsin and we have pretty high standards when it comes to cheese. I did eat plenty of “American” growing up until I developed a taste for the good stuff like cheddar and Colby.

No disrespect to SF, but Wisconsin is the Cheese State. My wife and I regularly go to Monroe, WI, mainly to visit cheese stores and stock up. Even Michigan has two well known "cheese towns", Pinconning, and Linwood, which make and sell a lot of cheese. My wife's favorite cheese is a Coby cheese (similar to cheddar), and it has to come from Linwood. Last month I stocked up with Raclette cheese (hard to find, but a cheese store in Pinconning had some).

CindyB: Speaking of cheese, I am sorry your cheeseheads did not get their team into the playoffs...

CindyB, I think the OP was referring to American brand cheddar, not American cheese (which IMO barely qualifies as cheese, but is a "cheese-like product" like Velveeta or Kraft singles).

AFIK, Cheddar has never been a protected designation like Parm Reggiano or Stilton, and quality can vary from excellent to gawd awful depending on brand and regardless of place of origin. Also, there are orange English cheddars just as there are white North American ones. To a certain degree it may be a matter of taste. Some like it sharp and crumbly, others like it milder and smoother.

My preference is for a sharp aged cheddar. Our current favourite is a 5 yr old white, made in from an Ontario company thats been making it for over 140 years. It's as good, if not better than some of the aged cheddar we've had in England.

George Carlin did a great bit about Kraft Singles -- the board is sitting around for the presentation on this new product and their response is that they think we will have to put the word 'food' right on the label so buyers will know what it's supposed to be: pasteurized processed cheese FOOD.

Otherwise they might think it's a nightlight.

Yes, Bay Area people think a lot of themselves, but only because they merit it. All the Vermont and Wisconsin ad infinitum cheeses that you love and praise are available in our traiteurs and comptoirs along with the best of Humboldt County and every other prized cheese-making area in North America, and of the UK and the EU and South and Southeast Asia and East Asia and Oceania. We're not as strong as we might be on the Baltics and Eastern Europe -- I've seen better in Chicago and Phila -- but in my case that doesn't matter since I don't like most of what comes from anywhere farther north than Paris.