Nice looking cheese! Having never tasted a lancashire, how does the taste compare to a cheddar? Is it pretty similar?
AC4U!
Well now ... are you asking how MY Lancashires taste, or how a REAL Lancashire tastes?
I have no experience with the real thing, and have only made three of my own, including this lipase-charged one. The taste is definitely in the cheddar family, but the paste is softer/creamier. Each of the ones I have made have been left unwaxed / uncoated, but I have kept mold off, using vinegar/salt to rub away any that tries to get started. I suspect my "cave" is generally drier than it should be, so I have not had much trouble with mold. The rind gets somewhat dry, but I really love it -- it is a nice chewy contrast to the creamy paste.
I've just started into the second half of this lip-Lanc (my new name for it), and generally on my first bite I think, "I'm not going to make this with lipase again." Then after I finish a piece, my tongue begs for more, and I think, "well, maybe ..." As noted above, it may require side-by-side comparison to settle the debate.
Unfortunately, I have been on a hiatus from cheese-making, due to the semester starting up AND being part-way through a bathroom renovation that I am doing all the work on, and having three impatient women in the house who seem to think it should be finished sooner rather than later. That said, I may have to set aside a morning to make at least a Caerphilly -- the cheese cave is starting to look alarmingly bare. I've got 2 cheddars in there, one at 4 months and one at 2; 1-1/2 parma styles (the 1/2 is at almost 8 months, and the other is at 4 months); and 1 gouda and 1 manchego, each at a little over 2 months. I'd really like to let all of this age a good bit more. So when this lip-lanc is done, I will be in trouble if I don't find a way to get some more in the pipeline!
Thanks, Jeff and Eric, for the cheeses!