Montgomery Cheddar

Montgomery's Cheddar has since 1911 been made at Manor Farm, where the milk from the 200-strong herd of Friesian cows that roam the 1,200-acre farm is used exclusively for making the cheese, considered by many to provide the benchmark for Somerset Cheddar.

The careful, measured approach to modernisation pioneered by Jamie Montgomery means engaging only those advances that will improve the make without compromising on the processes that define the cheese. As well as the time-consuming method of 'cheddaring' – the cutting, stacking and turning of the curds by hand to drain the whey away – Montgomery's uses a traditional 'pint' starter (as opposed to the powders favoured by industrial cheesemakers) and an old, slow peg mill, lending the cheese its characteristically brittle texture.

Each wheel is wrapped in muslin cloth and rubbed with lard before being stowed on the wooden shelves of the cellar for between 12 and 18 months, during which time they are carefully turned and tended. Once upon a time, all this was standard practice; today Montgomery's is one of only three farmhouse Somerset Cheddars left in the county to be made using these traditional techniques.