Hey, people, calls out the young man in front of Neal’s Yard Dairy, right next to Borough Market, the historic fruit and vegetable market. He hands out samples of Montgomery Cheddar to passers-by. “Aged for 18 months. You won’t come across anything better than this today. Help yourself.” He’s asked what makes this Cheddar so special. “You tell me,” comes the good-natured response. “That’s something you’ll have to find out yourself.”

The pale yellow hard cheese has a smooth structure and a distinct flavoursome taste. Cheddar, one learns, took its name from the town of Cheddar in the English county of Somerset and has been produced there for 800 years. Only cheese made by following the old recipe and made of milk from the cows in the region may be called Cheddar. “The secret to good cheese is good, natural feed. Only then do cows produce high quality milk,” comments James Montgomery, whose family’s business near Yeovil is the origin of highly valued Montgomery’s Cheddar.

In principle, production is quite easy, he adds. After bacteria and rennet are added to the raw milk it is heated carefully, it’s poured into large vats and is stirred for several hours. The addition of salt then controls the growth of the bacteria. After about five hours the crumbly mass is put into special moulds and stored temporarily, allowing the remaining whey to drain off. The cheese is then stacked for months of aging.

The longer Cheddar ages, the stronger it tastes. “Traditional producers such as James Montgomery allow it to age for up to two years,” adds the expert of Neal’s Yard Dairy informatively. “Try it as a grilled cheese sandwich with a glass of red wine. Delicious!” What’s the difference to industrially manufactured Cheddar? “It is made of pasteurised milk and ages for at most three months. The difference in taste is immense. Supermarket cheese can be compared to a small car. Montgomery’s Cheddar is an Aston Martin.”

Shops that sell Montgomery’s Cheddar

• Neal’s Yard Dairy, 6 Park Street, London SE1 9AB, Tel. 020/76 45 35 54, http://www.nealsyarddairy.co.uk/

• Borough Market, Stoney Street, London SE1, http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/,
Thu 11 am – 5 pm, Fri 12 noon – 6 pm, Sat 9 am – 4 pm

• Paxton & Whitfield, 93 Jermyn Street, London SW1Y 6JE, Tel. 020/79 30 02 59, http://www.paxtonandwhitfield.co.uk/

• Selfridges Food Hall, 400 Oxford Street, London W1A 2LR,  http://www.selfridges.com/