Cheddar Day

#CheddarDay

Cheddar Day is February 13th

Who doesn’t love the rich, cheesy deliciousness that is cheddar? On National Cheddar Day you can celebrate the single ingredient that is bound to make you drool. Life without cheddar cheese would be incredibly boring. It’s the perfect zest to every dish: burgers, loaded fries, grilled cheese, mac and cheese, baked potatoes, or even straight out of the bag. It’s no wonder that almost all of the best foods have cheddar baked right in. You can spend this holiday eating guilt-free!

History of Cheddar Day

Cheddar cheese was first invented in back in the 12th century in the Village of Cheddar in Somerset, England. It didn’t get brought to the U.S. though until in the late 1800s by a man named Peter Mcintosh. He was a Canadian man working in in Washington when he was scouted and brought to Tillamook for his expertise in cheese making. Luckily for us, he also had an amazing recipe for making cheddar cheese. Those early cheese farmers created what is known today as the Tillamook County Creamery Association, famous for making the best cheddar cheese among other things. In 2019, Tillamook coined February 13th to be National Cheddar Day in honor of celebrating their 110th year as a business in making cheese.

Fun facts about cheddar cheese

Cheddar cheese originally had to be made within 30 miles of Wells Cathedral
Cheddar was matured in caves in the Cheddar Gorge
More than half of cheese sales in the UK goes to cheddar cheese
Cheddar is the most popular cheese in America

How to Celebrate Cheddar Day

If you’re located in the Pacific Northwest, you can go to the Tillamook Creamery from 8am-6pm on February 13th to sample their new products in celebration
If you live in L.A., Denver, Dallas, Washington D.C., or Atlanta, you can win a free 2lb. Block of their cheddar cheese if you are one of the first 1,000 people to use the hashtag #NATIONALCHEDDARDAY
Have a party either at work or at home and have a cheese board displaying all the different types of cheddar and things to pair it with (crackers, wine)
Make some of your favorite recipes using cheddar cheese
Go out to lunch or dinner somewhere that has a cheese platter for you to try different cheddars.
Buy different brands of cheddar cheese and see if you can taste the difference and find your favorite brand

Almost everyone loves cheese! It is a staple in so many of our American dishes and it is loved overseas as well. Coming together and celebrating something that we all love and enjoy is just another reason to make connections and new memories. People have been bonding over food since the beginning of time, and National Cheddar Day is the perfect way.