A Super Tasty Little Mature Number (Coastal Rugged Mature Cheddar)

Member Name: DavyMichelle

Product:	Coastal Rugged Mature Cheddar
Date:	04/07/09 (70 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, Cheap on Offer, Only Need a Little

Disadvantages: Crumbly

Coastal Rugged Mature Cheddar is one that we tried recently as it was available at a really good price. It was only £1.50 for a large 360g block, which is better than half price! Normally it retails for between £3 and £4 for a block, though it's presently unavailable in Tesco at the minute so I can't give you an exact price. Hopefully it'll be back in stock really soon though as it's one that I'd like to have again in the future.

The first thing I noticed about this cheddar cheese is that it's a lot crumblier than most cheddars. It's got the usual mild yellow colour to it, with a slightly smudgy and creamy texture about it. But I also found that it was very easy to break in my hands, and I found I could cut it with a butter knife even. For best results, this cheese needs to be grated really. You can slice it, but you have to slice it quite thickly to avoid a crumbling mess.

The smell is really strong but very pleasant too. This is a mature cheddar, so as you might expect it's probably not for the faint hearted (or nosed). The flavour is very strong, and I found I only needed a very small amount of this in my dinner to get a good flavour. The advantage is that I found I used less of this on my pasta than if I'd used our usual milder cheese. So that cut out a little of the fat content for me.

I liked that there was an aftertaste of creaminess, and almost a lemon edge to it as well. I love it when a cheese has one flavour as you eat it, and leaves another equally nice but different flavour after you've swallowed like this does. For me this was more than just another cheap cheese we got on offer, it was a new taste experience.

I think this is a nice strong, quality cheddar that I hope to see returning to Tesco soon. The texture is slightly awkward to handle, but I think that's something to consider rather than mark the product down on. If you're going to use this in chunks with apples for a dessert, in wedges on thick bread or sprinkled grated onto pasta dishes then the slightly crumbly nature won't affect you. The taste will definitely satisfy your cheesey tooth though.

Summary: Highly Recommended