The Big Cheese

Cabot Creamery

Box 128

Cabot, Vt. 05647

(800) 639-4031

Catalogue Available, MasterCard, Visa

An amazing thing happened at the 1989-1990 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay, Wis. A New England cheese took best Cheddar. Even more surprising, it was a white New England Cheddar. The award, which traditionally goes to a local cheese of another color, went to a sharp Cheddar made by Cabot Creamery, a dairy co-op owned by 400 farm families in Vermont.

And no wonder: For 50 years Cabot has been making its natural cheese by hand, using no chemicals or preservatives. I think their best cheese is the Hunter’s Super Sharp, an old-fashioned Cheddar that has been picked from the stock of extra sharp Cheddars (which have been aged for 14 to 24 months) because it has a little extra kick. Known to some as “truckers” or “rat trap” cheese, this is not a chaste cheese. The texture is crumbly, the flavor has a unique tang, and you never quite know what to expect. The cheese tends to differ from one batch to the next.

A 3-pound block of this champion cheese costs $25.50 including shipping and handling.