< Back to Main Blog Posted: July 2025

The Home of Britain's Best Cheddar

Great home cooking is rarely about fancy ingredients. There is so much joy to found in really good quality staples: handmade bread, fresh eggs and, everyone’s favourite, cheese. And when we say cheese in Britain, we mean Cheddar. This humble Somerset cheese is a key ingredient in so many of our favourite dishes at COOK: Cod Mornay, Lasagne al Forno, Cottage Pie, Macaroni Cheese and so many others. So we use the best. And for that we go to Barber’s.

Barber’s have been making cheese on their Somerset farm since 1833, making them the oldest surviving Cheddar-makers in the world. They are the sole guardians of the last remaining traditional cheese starter cultures. Seven generations on, they have their own herd of cows and work with over 150 local dairy farmers in the West Country, and their cheese is revered all over the world.

Some of team popped down to visit them again last month. They were gracious hosts, giving us a tour of where the magic happens, an insight into their sustainability, and a lovely lunch at the local pub (which, naturally, featured a little cheese). And the location could not have been more perfect: a family farm in a village, nestled in the lush countryside of Somerset.

In modern cheesemaking, fermentation, which separates the curds and whey, is carefully monitored, high tech and scientific process, but Barber’s have incorporated a traditional hands-on aspect into the production. ‘Cheddaring’ is the turning and stacking of the Cheddar curd, to release whey and achieve the required texture and taste, and it's still all done by hand. Then, it’s on maturation for up to 24 months, where the cheese develops its signature flavour.

We learned how their cows spend, on average 200+ days a year grazing outside – which far surpasses the UK average. As well as being great for animal welfare, it means their carbon footprint per litre of milk is just 40% of the global average. Another impressive step is their have eliminated soya from their supply chain. Commonly used as feed for cattle, soya is often grown in areas that were once rainforests in South America. They also maintain over 1,500 miles of hedgerows on their farms, and take their role as custodians of the countryside very seriously indeed.

You can find out more on their website and if you see some of Barber’s 1883 Vintage Reserve Cheddar in the shops, don’t hesitate. It’s staggeringly good.

< Back to Main Blog Posted: July 2025