gunntims0103
June 1st, 2007, 22:26
News via theglobeandmail (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070601.A2CHEESETV01/TPStory/TPInternational/Europe/)
Hunk of English cheddar becomes an unlikely Internet star
A large block of English cheese has become an unlikely star of the Internet. As of yesterday, 1.38 million people had visited http://www.cheddarvision.tv to watch a 20-kilogram round of traditional cheddar slowly age online. That's slowly as in very, very slowly. Indeed.
The round of Westcombe cheddar from the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers co-operative has caught the public attention and attracted viewers from more than 100 countries during the 160 days since it was first put in front of a webcam last December.
Dom Lane, a spokesman for the co-operative, told Double Take that the cheese makers wanted to highlight the difference between a genuine hand-made farm cheddar and a cheese made in a large, commercial creamery. "So we stuck a webcam in front of a cheese." That way, people could watch it age.
Meanwhile, for thrill-seekers who prefer more heart-pounding action in their cheese viewing, there's a link to a time-lapse video on YouTube that shows the cheddar aging three months in a mere minute, from young and smooth to older and mouldy.
Mr. Lane said the co-operative had received lots of e-mails from people asking what the cheese looked like when it was first made. "So we created this time-lapse film and decided that great place to put it was on YouTube."
So far, it has had more than 285,000 viewings there, which is not bad, Mr. Lane said, "considering a late-night political program on BBC-2 television probably wouldn't get that many viewers."
And if you really get caught up in this cheese thing, you can subscribe to the cheese's very own fan club. When asked what benefits club members received, Mr. Lane said: "We didn't know at the beginning and we're not even sure now. But you do get bulletins and we ran a competition recently to name the cheese, so we'll let everybody know what name we choose as the winner. And at the end of the year we're going to run some competitions for people to win a slice of it."
The cheese should be fully mature in December, a year after it was made, and slices will be auctioned off for charity.
After that, is there going to be a sequel? "Well, we could go the route of the Rocky films and make four too many," said Mr. Lane, "but maybe it's best to just finish."
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Hunk of English cheddar becomes an unlikely Internet star
A large block of English cheese has become an unlikely star of the Internet. As of yesterday, 1.38 million people had visited http://www.cheddarvision.tv to watch a 20-kilogram round of traditional cheddar slowly age online. That's slowly as in very, very slowly. Indeed.
The round of Westcombe cheddar from the West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers co-operative has caught the public attention and attracted viewers from more than 100 countries during the 160 days since it was first put in front of a webcam last December.
Dom Lane, a spokesman for the co-operative, told Double Take that the cheese makers wanted to highlight the difference between a genuine hand-made farm cheddar and a cheese made in a large, commercial creamery. "So we stuck a webcam in front of a cheese." That way, people could watch it age.
Meanwhile, for thrill-seekers who prefer more heart-pounding action in their cheese viewing, there's a link to a time-lapse video on YouTube that shows the cheddar aging three months in a mere minute, from young and smooth to older and mouldy.
Mr. Lane said the co-operative had received lots of e-mails from people asking what the cheese looked like when it was first made. "So we created this time-lapse film and decided that great place to put it was on YouTube."
So far, it has had more than 285,000 viewings there, which is not bad, Mr. Lane said, "considering a late-night political program on BBC-2 television probably wouldn't get that many viewers."
And if you really get caught up in this cheese thing, you can subscribe to the cheese's very own fan club. When asked what benefits club members received, Mr. Lane said: "We didn't know at the beginning and we're not even sure now. But you do get bulletins and we ran a competition recently to name the cheese, so we'll let everybody know what name we choose as the winner. And at the end of the year we're going to run some competitions for people to win a slice of it."
The cheese should be fully mature in December, a year after it was made, and slices will be auctioned off for charity.
After that, is there going to be a sequel? "Well, we could go the route of the Rocky films and make four too many," said Mr. Lane, "but maybe it's best to just finish."
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