Cheese is a very common item imported into the British North American Colonies. But with so many varieties available today, it can be quite a struggle to discover which cheeses are well documented as being consumed in places like Annapolis.
Luckily for us, the order books of Wallace, Davidson and Johnson provide a very good insight into many of the goods which were being imported between 1771 and 1775.
On 25 April 1771, they ordered 5ct Double Gloucester cheese, 2ct Single Gloucester cheese and 2ct Cheshire Cheese.
Then on 4 August 1771, they ordered 5ct Double Gloucester cheese, 2ct Single Gloucester Cheese and 5ct Cheshire cheese.
And on 26 November 1771, they ordered 3ct each of Gloucester cheese and Cheshire cheese.
This is as far as we have progressed through their order books at the moment, but it is clear that, with no reference to any other types or styles of cheese, these are the three main types of cheese being imported into Annapolis in the early 1770s.
So what are these three different types of cheese which are no longer common features of the American market.
Following a cattle plague which all but wiped out the Old Gloucester cows, the area surrounding Gloucester was replaced with the Longhorn. By 1789, production of Gloucester cheese was estimated at more than 1000 tons.
There are two types of Gloucester cheese, single and double.
Single Gloucester cheese were typically the same diameter but half the height of Double Gloucester cheeses.
Double Gloucester cheese was a prized cheese, comparable in quality to the best Cheddar or Cheshire cheese, and was exported out of the County, where Single Gloucester cheese tended to be consumer within the County.
Single Gloucester was sometimes known as the hay maker’s cheese; as it was matured for a short time it was ready for eating by farm laborers during the haymaking season.
Double Gloucester cheese has a characteristic light orange hue given by the addition of annatto to the milk. This has been a traditional characteristic of the cheese since the 16th century when producers of inferior cheese used a coloring agent to replicate the orange hue achieved by the best cheese makers who were probably making the cheese from the evening’s milking to which was added the separated cream of the morning’s milking. During the summer months the high levels of carotene in the grass would have given the milk an orange color which was carried through into the cheese. This orange hue was regarded as an indicator of the best cheese.
Flavor levels depend on the age of the cheese. Most Double Gloucester is sold at about 4 months of age and has a firm close texture and a clean mellow, creamy or buttery flavor. Older cheeses will develop more complex and nutty flavors.
The first reference to Cheshire cheese is in 1586, where it is recorded as "more agreeable and better relished than those of other parts of the kingdom." From 1739, the Royal Navy only bought Cheshire cheese with London being the major market for Cheshire cheese.
Cheshire Cheese is sold at different ages and like all cheese, as it matures, its taste and texture will develop. Young Cheshire is naturally bright and white in color. It is a firm bodied cheese with a crumbly texture that breaks down easily in the mouth. It has a mild, milky taste and aroma and is clean on the palate with a very slightly tangy finish.
As Cheshire matures so it becomes firmer in texture and slightly darker in color. The flavors become more complex but the cheese remains clean tasting with no hint of bitterness. The crumbly texture remains but the cheese has a drier mouth feel.
Now it would be wrong to assume that all cheese was in fact imported into the Province. In fact an article in the November 11, 1773 issue of the Virginia Gazette relates that cheese production has recently been begun in Frederick County and they are producing the best cheese on the continent, perhaps in part due to the large influx of German immigrants. Unfortunately there is no detailed information about the style of cheese which is being made in that part of Maryland, though its German origins are clearly mentioned in the article.
Now it would be wrong to assume that all cheese was in fact imported into the Province. In fact an article in the November 11, 1773 issue of the Virginia Gazette relates that cheese production has recently been begun in Frederick County and they are producing the best cheese on the continent, perhaps in part due to the large influx of German immigrants. Unfortunately there is no detailed information about the style of cheese which is being made in that part of Maryland, though its German origins are clearly mentioned in the article.
The sale of country made cheese, in addition to imported English cheese, also shows up in Annapolis at the store of James Dick & Stewart in Church Street in their advertisement in the June 23, 1774 issue of the Maryland Gazette. They operated a store in Frederick Town and it is quite likely that the cheese mentioned is from that place.
So the next time you are seeking out a cheese which is appropriate for the 1760s and 1770s, be sure to pick up some Cheshire and Single or Double Gloucester cheese. You can't go wrong with those choices.
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