Hotspur, I'm laughing re New York cheddar! I am a central New Yorker by birth and here in California where a huge ad campaign on the telly touts it's cheeses (one in particular: going through customs the agent asks "Purpose of visiting California?" The tourists each answer: "The cheese." Then one gent answers "Yosemite" and he is asked to step aside and open his bags for inspection.) What am I getting at....oh yes, I have yet to find any decent California cheese....sorry fellow Californians who may no other than California cheese. When I can't get a WHITE extra sharp NY cheddar, I settle for Vermont's which is very similar in taste and texture! And I can't say that I've tasted any Wisconsin cheeses yet, or Canadian cheddar.

Great thread! I agree!

Mary Kate