Monterey Jack and Dry Jack

I have heard Monterey Jack described as a cross between Cheddar and the Mexican Queso Blanco. Not as hard as Cheddar, nor as soft as the Mexican cheese, this California native is a cooked and pressed cheese, with a semisoft, supple texture, which makes it a good cheese for cooking. It is particularly suitable for use as a melting cheese in Mexican and South-Western dishes. Named after a Scotsman’ called Jacks, who first produced the cheese in, the late nineteenth century from dairy herds around Monterey, the cheese is now made all over the United States. As one would expect, the few small-scale producers remaining in California are said to make the best.