Cheddar

Take Cheddar in your hands. Squeeze it a little. A good piece pushes back, dry outside, faintly oily the moment it warms under your fingers. That oiliness is the fat coming through — 34 grams of it in every 100, and fat is what carries flavour, what makes cheese taste like something instead of just tasting salty. Look at the colour. It should be even, pale straw to deep amber, no grey rim, no wet sheen. Smell it close: sharp, a little sour, a little nutty, never like ammonia. Break a piece and listen — proper aged Cheddar cracks; it does not bend.

Now, some people say the sharper the cheese, the older it must be, and the older it is, the better it melts. No! Age gives Cheddar bite and crumble, not stretch. Long ageing dries the cheese and makes its texture brittle, so heat pulls the fat out unevenly instead of letting it flow smoothly. That is exactly why people ruin their grilled cheese with expensive vintage Cheddar and get an oily, grainy mess instead of a smooth pull. For melting, choose young, mild Cheddar. Save the sharp, crumbly one for the board, eaten cold, in thin slices, with nothing shouting over it.