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ProbableNamed from the place

Monterey Jack

noun · first attested 19th century

Half the name is a California town; the other half is probably a man named Jacks.

A mild, pale, semi-hard cow's milk cheese that melts smoothly.

Monterey·United States

36.6002°N -121.8947°W · Q487315

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Record

Relationship
Named from the place
Confidence
ProbableThe conventional story is likely, with caveats.
Attested
19th century
Part of speech
noun

Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.

How it traveled
  1. Step 1

    Monterey

  2. In English

    Monterey Jack

The entry

Franciscan missions around Monterey made a soft young cheese, and the businessman David Jacks marketed it widely in the 1880s, so it traveled as Jacks' cheese. Some accounts instead derive the "jack" from the house press used to squeeze the curd, and both explanations are still in circulation.

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