National Cheddar Day is a holiday that’s observed on February 13th and celebrates the sharp-tasting natural cheese that originated in the English village of Cheddar, Somerset in the 12th century. Nowadays, cheddar cheese is the most popular cheese in the United Kingdom and is the second most popular cheese in the United States-second only to mozzarella. What makes cheddar such a popular cheese is that it can be used to make such delicious dishes as mac & cheese, cheddar cheese fries, potatoes au gratin, and cheeseburgers.

The History Of National Cheddar Day

National Cheddar Day is a holiday that was first created back in 2019. This is when Tillamook-a farmer-owned cooperative founded in Oregon-created this holiday to celebrate its 110th birthday and to help spread the word about the pleasures of cheddar cheese.

Facts About Cheddar Cheese

Anyone celebrating this holiday is probably a pretty big cheddar cheese fan, so we decided to go ahead and find out some more information about this cheese that people might be interested in learning. The following facts are all cheddar cheese-related and are interesting enough for every cheddar fan to be interested in them.

Cheddar Was Reported To Have Been Discovered By Accident

According to local legends, cheddar cheese was first discovered by a milkmaid who lived 800-years ago. According to the story, she left a pail of milk in the Cheddar Gorge caves and then returned later to find that the milk had turned into cheddar cheese.

Queen Victoria Received Cheddar As A Wedding Present

Back in 1840, Queen Victoria of England was gifted a giant wheel of cheddar for her wedding. This cheese wheel weighs a thousand pounds-which is about 15-times larger than the weight of an average wheel of cheddar cheese.

The Number Of Cheese Producers In England Waned After The World Wars

As the result of the UK government taking control of the milk supply during WWI and WWII, the number of cheese producers in England fell from about 3,500 prior to WWI to fewer than 100 after World War II. Britain used the milk from rationing during these wars to produce what was called Government Cheddar.

U.S President Andrew Jackson Served A Lot Of Cheese

Another thing that we learned during our cheddar cheese research is that U.S President Andrew Jackson once held an open house party at the White House where he served a lot of cheddar cheese. How much cheese did he serve? He served a 1,400 block of cheddar. Unfortunately, we don’t know how many crackers he served.

Observing National Cheddar Day

The best way to observe this holiday is by getting the highest quality cheddar cheese you can find and using it to make something delicious. You can use it to make ham and cheddar cheese sandwiches, Irish nachos, broccoli, and cheddar cheese, beer and cheddar soup, cheddar quesadillas, or cheddar cheese straws. While celebrating this holiday, be sure to use the hashtag #NationalCheddarDay on your social media accounts to spread the word about it to everyone around the world.