A hard, pasteurised cow’s milk cheese, the flavour and colour of which depend on the maker and the age of the cheese. The technique of "cheddaring" is a combination of milling and turning the curds. This is a versatile cooking and eating cheese which is mass produced throughout the world. Varieties of cheddar include Charnwood, and Applewood and Windsor Red. It is worth hunting for farm-made cheeses, as these can be delicious. Because Cheddar failed to protect the name, it is now manufactured in factories all over the world and the name is said to cover 80% of all American cheese. Considered to be the most widely eaten cheese in the world.
Air potato. An intrusive, but one of the most widely consumed varieties of yam cultivated in the Pacific Islands, Asia and West Africa. Uncultivated versions may be bitter and even poisonous (as in Florida).
Cheese is made form the curds of milk of, most commonly, the cow, sheep or goat, separated from the whey by means of the use of rennet or a vegetarian rennet subsistute. The resulting product may be formed and made into soft cheeses or pressed and shaped into hard cheeses or cooked and pressed and made into waxy cheeses. They are ripened for different periods and the variety is enormous. As a general rule of thumb cheese should be served at room temperature.
Cheesecake is a wonderful concoction of cream cheese and cream flavoured with any of a number of aromas, but classically with vanilla, and set on a crumb base made with crushed buscuits (US: cookies), sugar and butter.
A chef's knife is a large knife with a smooth, unserrated blade cutting just about everything in the kitchen that does not require a serrated knife. One good kitchen knife or chef's knife can suffice and it is worth investing in a good one. The blade needs to be curved as the knife may be used in some instances by rocking the blade across items which are being cut up, using the blade as a fulcrum. The blade should be big enough that the handle is carried a sufficient distance from the chopping board that you don't graze your knuckles when rocking the knife or cutting or slicing. A large blade is very efficient for cutting vegetables and herbs up very small.
A sharp-flavoured cooking apple, originating in Essex in 1870 and raised by a mechanic called William Saltmarsh.
The Chelsea bun, a currant bun made from a strip of rich dough which is then spread with currants, brown sugar and butter and then rolled. The roll is deliberately rather square in shape than round. The roll is then cut into individual buns, placed in a deep baking dish and spread with yet more sweet glaze. It was first made at the Bun House in Chelsea in the 18th Century. We were fortunate to be guinea pigs in the experiments of Jessica Lawrence, who produced repeated attempts to better the famous Chelsea Buns made by Fitzbillies in Cambridge whilst we were on a damp holiday together in the Lake District.
