Cheddar has some serious history behind it. The cheese has been produced in the UK since the 12th century and was aged in caves in Somerset; at that time the best cheese was said to come from Cheddar Gorge, hence the name (the Cheddar Gorge Cheese Co are still in production today). There used to be hundreds of cheddar producers in Britain, but during the second world war when milk was rationed, only one cheese (‘government cheddar’) was allowed to be made, so many producers fell by the wayside. Artisan cheddar making has been fighting its way back in the last twenty years, with producers popping up all over the UK; West Country Farmhouse Cheddar is now an official PDO-protected food made in Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Cornwall. Cheddar sales account for over half of all cheese sales in the UK, with the average person eating three and a half kilos of it every year.