Monterey Jack
Cheese
Top 10 pairings
Monterey Jack is a mild, semi-hard cow's-milk cheese — pale ivory, smooth and supple, buttery and faintly tangy, that melts cleanly and stretches well. One of the few cheeses of genuinely American origin, it traces to the Spanish mission dairies of 19th-century California and takes its name from the Monterey area and the entrepreneur David Jack.
Picking a good onedrag
Supple, moist, even ivoryDried, cracked, stray mould
Wrapped blockEveryday bestThe US standard for Monterey Jack requires pasteurised milk. Keep a cut face wrapped tight: left open to the air, it can dry and mould.
Surface and cut edgesA thin, drier, darker band where a cut edge met the air
The cut faceColour true, a shade drier nearest the outside