Camembert aux Cepes

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all having a wonderful week. We're getting ready to have another fun holiday week at my store and I wanted to let you know about a special cheese we had come in last week. If you remember from a while back, I blogged about the Herve Mons Camembert (http://shootinthebries.blogspot.com/2013/05/herve-mons-camembert.html) This Camembert is made exclusively for Whole Foods Market and is a pasteurized version of camembert that is made to have flavor closest to a raw milk camembert. The version we received last week is this same Camembert, but with a layer of mascarpone and porcini mushroom in the middle... Fan-freakin-tastic!

Cheese: Camembert aux Cepes
Producer: Hervé Mons
Region: Normandy, France
Milk: Pasteurized cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

 

You can see the line of mascarpone and porcini mushrooms in the pictures above. I had my whole team come by and try a piece. It was definitely a decadent treat. We sell through a TON of truffle brie as well as other truffle cheeses, so it was nice to try something with a different mushroom - especially one as tasty as the porcini!

After tasting this cheese, LaVonda, my wine buyer and Certified Sommelier, immediately said that she would pair the David Noyes Pinot Noir. She says the wine has a lot of dark, dried fruit and rich earthiness with a soft velvety mouthfeel that would go perfectly with the earthy cheese and mushrooms.

Most of the Whole Foods Markets in Northern California/Reno should have this cheese, so be sure to swing by your local cheese counter soon and grab a wheel for your upcoming holiday parties before they run out. Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Blu 61 - Another Favorite Returns

Hello everyone!

This week I pleasantly discovered that another one of my favorite cheeses had arrived back at our cheese counter, the Blu 61.

Cheese: Blu 61
Producers: The Carpenedo Family at La Casearia
Location: The Veneto region in Italy
Milk: Pastuerized cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

The Blu 61 is a very special cheese made to commemorate the 50th wedding anniversary of the founder of La Casearia and his wife - Antonio and Giuseppina - who were wed in 1961. They washed the outside of the cheese with Passito di Raboso, a local sweet wine and coated it with wine soaked cranberries. After aging for three months, the cheese is ready to go!

I tasted the Blu 61 again when it first arrived last week and I was reminded why I love this cheese. The paste is super creamy and has the bite that you would expect from a blue cheese. The rind is super thin, so the flavors of the wine and cranberries are present, but not overpowering. I personally like to eat the rind of the cheese along with the paste because it adds such a bright tanginess to the otherwise creamy middle.

You could serve this cheese with a nice barleywine or port. I would absolutely feature this cheese on my holiday cheese plates because it adds a nice pop of vibrant color. Make sure to visit your local Whole Foods Market cheese counter to see if the Blu 61 is there! If so, be sure to ask for a sample. Until next time.. eat, drink and be happy!

Lamb Chopper

Hello all!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. As you can imagine, the cheese counter at which I work was super busy and I barely had a second to catch my breath, let alone write a blog post, so I apologize for my brief absence.

We just kicked off our December promotions here at Whole Foods Market and I'm super excited to announce that we have an old favorite back in our case! The Lamb Chopper from Cypress Grove.

Cheese: Lamb Chopper
Cheesemaker: Mary Keehn from Cypress Grove
Location: Holland
Milk: Pasteurized sheep's milk
Rennet: Microbial (vegetarian)
 

If you're familiar with Cypress Grove, you may be confused that this cheese originates from Holland as Cypress Grove is located in Arcata, CA. Mary Keehn actually partners with a Dutch cheesemaker and under her direction, the cheese is produced in Holland and then imported by the folks at Cypress Grove.

We haven't had this cheese for a few months and I was very excited to get it back. I tried a piece this morning and was pleasantly reminded how much I love this cheese. It starts off very mellow and buttery and then develops into a nutty, caramel flavor. It's fantastic.

I'm already thinking about all of the different things I can do with this cheese. Later on next week I'll be hosting a cheese and port tasting and I'm 99.9% sure that I'll be featuring this cheese with one of the tawny ports. If you're more of a beer person, I would try a nice toasty porter. Yum!

If you're in the NorCal/Reno area, be sure to swing by any of your local Whole Foods Market cheese counters where the Lamb Chopper is on sale! Woohoo! We'd also love to give you a sample, so don't be afraid to ask. And as always, if you're at the Whole Foods Market in Los Altos, be sure to swing by the cheese department and ask for me. I would love to say hello and talk cheese.

Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Parsley, Sage, - Romao -, and Thyme!

Hello everyone!

It is incredible how quickly Thanksgiving is approaching. A little over a week and we're already there!

As you can imagine, cheese has become a huge part of my holiday traditions and I am often bringing cheese boards to holiday parties. I have several go-to crowd pleaser cheeses that I use on my cheese boards, but I also like to throw in at least one seasonal or fun cheese. The Romao fills both roles for me. While it is available year round, I like to use it during the holidays because the rind is coated in lard and rosemary - and what fits in better with your holiday meal than fat and herbs?

 

 

Cheese: Romao
Producer: Estanislao at Castilla La Mancha
Location: Cuenca, Spain
Milk: Raw sheep's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)
 

As stated above, the Romao is from Spain (Cuenca specifically) and is made of 100% raw sheep’s milk. It is hand rubbed with lard and coated with rosemary, then aged in caves for at least 8 months. The flavor of the inner paste is very similar to Manchego - rich, nutty and very flavorful. The rosemary definitely adds a fun element and while very aromatic, the rosemary flavor only penetrates the first ½ inch or so of the paste. All in all a very balanced cheese that does not have overly metallic or bitter flavors from the rosemary.

If you're looking for a yummy beer to have with the Romao, try the Saison DuPont from Belgium. It's a bright, herbal beer with a light effervescence - perfect to cut through the fat in the cheese and pair with the rosemary on the rind.

Like most of the cheeses I've mentioned this month, this cheese is on promotion at the Whole Foods Markets in Northern California and Reno with a sweet price break. Be sure to come in and grab a piece for yourself before it's gone! If you happen to be close to the Los Altos location, be sure to come by and ask for me and I'll give you a yummy sample!

I hope you all are having a great weekend and that you have a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving week. Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Fromage d'Affinois de Brebis

Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a WONDERFUL weekend as Lynn, my better half, proposed to me! I guess I should call her my fiancé now... I'm so excited! We were out of town for most of the weekend, so when we went shopping today, we had to grab a yummy cheese to celebrate. We decided on the Fromage d' Affinois de Brebis.

Cheese: Fromage d'Affinois be Brebis
Producer: Fromagerie Guilloteau
Location: Rhone-Alps region in France
Milk: Pasteurized sheep's milk
Rennet: Microbial (vegetarian)

This cheese is a very approachable considering it is 100% sheep's milk. It is super creamy and buttery while still having a touch of the earthy, gamey, nutty flavors that are present in almost all sheep's milk cheeses. The cheese on its own is very simple, so I decided to step it up a notch...

I spread the Fromage d'Affinois de Brebis on the apple crisps from Simple & Crisp and drizzled some honey over the top. The creamy, nutty cheese with the crispy apple and flavorful honey made for a perfect pairing. The only thing I would possibly add in the future would be a nice, bubbly Prosecco to cut the richness of this delectable treat.

Even my good friends' one year old. Nolan, loved the treat! If you want to try this for yourself, be sure to stop by your local Whole Foods Market cheese counter (the Los Altos location if you'd like to visit me!) and ask for a sample. It's on sale in Northern California/Reno for the month of November, so it would be a great time to take some home for yourself. I hope you get a chance to try this yummy cheese!

Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Meadow Creek Dairy's Grayson

Hello all,

I hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween last night. I had a lot of fun... my girlfriend and I dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Quite a riot!

One of the best things about being back in a store behind the cheese counter is that I get to try all of the delicious seasonal cheeses we receive. The other day we received a shipment of Grayson from Meadow Creek Dairy. I was in the right place at the right time because I was the lucky one who got to unwrap and cut this wonderful cheese.

Cheese: Grayson
Producer: The Feete family at Meadow Creek Dairy
Location: Galax, VA
Milk: Raw cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

As I unwrapped the Grayson, I was greeted with the funky smell typical of washed rind cheeses. The rind was slightly sticky, but not unbearably so. Cutting into the cheese revealed a beautifully smooth, straw colored paste that I couldn't wait to taste.

When I tasted the Grayson, it was like I was tasting the grass the Jersey cows had eaten. The Feetes only make this cheese when the cows are out on pasture when their diet consists of mainly fresh grass. By using raw milk, the flavors of the pasture really come through along with the slightly spicy, very rich flavors of the butterfat in the milk. The consistency is very smooth and relatively firm. It melted beautifully in my mouth and I couldn't help but take another bite.

If this sounds like something you might be interested in, you're in luck! It's on promotion for the month of November and is available at most, if not all of the cheese counters in the Northern California/Reno region. You're more than welcome to stop by the cheese counter at the Los Altos location where I have relocated and chat cheese with me as well!

I hope you all had a wonderful first day of November and I look forward to the possibility of talking cheese at my new store with you all. Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

La Casera Quercino

Hello everyone!

I'm back from my two weeks in Italy and wow, what an amazing time I had. I'm still getting over the last touches of jet lag but for the most part I'm feeling good. When I get all of my pictures compiled, I'll be sure to post some here for you all to see. If you're on Facebook, you can see them on my personal and Shootin' the Bries pages:

https://www.facebook.com/leah.mcfadden.5
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shootin-the-Bries-LLC/246222158916299?ref=hl

Today I figured I would stick with the Italy theme and talk about an Italian cheese that we have currently on promotion - the Quercino from La Casera.

Cheese: Quercino
Producer: La Casera
Location: Piedmont (Piemonte), Italy
Milk: Pasteurized cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

Quercino is derived from the word "quercia" which means Oak in Italian. This is very fitting because it is indeed oak bark that wraps around this wonderful puddle of cheese. It is a soft ripened, bloomy rind cheese that has quite a bit of character. The aroma is musty, slightly funky, but very inviting. The cheese is perfectly tasty with the rind in tact and I actually prefer it that way. But, I wanted to make it easy to share, so I cut off the top "lid" to allow for a kind of fondue pot action. The paste is a straw color with a custard-like consistency. It tastes deliciously buttery, but has an umami, earthy quality that elevates the flavor to the next level. It reminds me of L'Edel de Cleron - vaguely reminiscent of the Vacherin Mont d'Or with more brie-like qualities.

I used the Lesley Stowe Raincoast Crisps to dip into this delectable treat. The fruit and seeds in the crackers gave an interesting contrast in both consistency and acidity. If I wasn't at work right now, I would be enjoying this cheese with a nice jammy Zinfandel. Thank goodness it's Friday!

Be sure to visit your local Whole Foods Market cheese counter soon as this cheese is only on sale for a few more days. And speaking of cheese counters.....

I've decided that I have missed being behind the cheese counter so much that I will be returning to the Los Altos Whole Foods Market as the Specialty Team Leader. I'll be running the beer, cheese and wine department and am really looking forward to the holiday season. If you are ever close to the Los Altos store (4800 El Camino Real, Los Altos, CA) be sure to swing by and say hello! I'd be happy to help with any cheese plates, pairings, party planning, etc.

I hope to see you there soon! My first day will be Monday, October 27th. 

Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

 

American Cheese Month Begins!

Hello everyone,

Happy American Cheese Month!!!

October is one of my favorite months of the year for many reasons... I can start to wear turtlenecks and long sleeve shirts, Halloween and the Holidays are just around the corner, and it's a month that celebrates the wonders of American artisan cheese!!!

I'm celebrating American Cheese Month by enjoying some delicious Mt Tam over some yummy Apple crisps from Simple & Crisp topped with peach preserves... quite a treat!

If you want to know more about what American Cheese Month is all about and what other turophiles are doing to celebrate, you can visit these sites:

- https://www.facebook.com/AmericanCheeseMonth
- https://www.facebook.com/AmericanCheeseSociety
- http://www.cheesesociety.org/i-heart-cheese/american-cheese-month/

There are usually a lot of fun promotions going on at your local Whole Foods Market during this month as well. Look for the gold "ACS Winner" sticker to know who took ribbons home at this years American Cheese Society Conference in Sacramento.

                                                 
During this same conference, 90 Whole Foods Market team members became brand new Certified Cheese Professionals!  Janet Fletcher (author of Cheese & Beer, Cheese & Wine, The Cheese Course and many more) even featured one of my colleagues in her latest Planet Cheese on her feelings of being one of the newly minted CCP's. See below:

Why the Big Smile? Emailed October 1, 2014

If your cheesemonger has a little broader smile these days, it could be because he or she has just passed the CCP exam. Like a bar exam for the cheese industry, the CCP (Certified Cheese Professional) quiz is a rigorous test of knowledge. Modeled loosely on programs like Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, the three-year-old credential encourages professionalism among the people who market and sell specialty cheese. Alison Martin (above), an associate team leader for Whole Foods in Palo Alto, was one of several dozen company employees to sit for the grueling exam this summer. To learn more about her study regimen and how the experience has affected her work, I spoke to Alison by phone shortly after she learned that she had passed. What was your studying strategy? I got Max McCalman’s books—I already had your books [smart girl!]—and started reading everything I could. I would highlight passages and take notes. I repeated a lot of the knowledge to my family and friends, and the more I said it out loud, the more I got it. Like what? Like milk composition. The different compartments of a cow’s stomach and what they do. The average yield of milk per day from a cow versus a goat. I made a lot of flash cards. Whole Foods put together weekly classes and webinars for us. They paid my application fee, test fee and traveling expenses. (Bravo, Whole Foods. The test fee is $500—prohibitive for the typical cheese-counter employee.) They also paid for me to go to Wisconsin and work at the Center for Dairy Research. I got to visit creameries there and a dairy farm. It was cool to see cheese making from start to finish. What areas were the hardest for you? Definitely the Old World cheeses that I haven’t been as exposed to. Remembering names of molds and enzymes. On our fridge at home, we have a picture of a cow cut in half so you can see the different stomach compartments. And on my desk at work, there’s a picture of the top breeds of dairy sheep, goats and cows, and a graph of the pH level in different cheeses. What was the test like? Really difficult. I went into it thinking that I knew everything. But some of the answers depended on your perspective. One question was what to do if you find mold on a cheese, and the choices were to give it a brine bath; cut the mold off and eat the rest; or throw the cheese away. That question haunted me because I didn’t know whether I was supposed to be the retailer, the consumer, the distributor or the cheese maker. For another question, you had to put the cheeses in order from softest to hardest, but there was a cheese I had never heard of. When I left, I was pretty sure that I hadn’t passed, and I wasn’t sure what I would say to Whole Foods to let me take it again. Are you a better cheesemonger for having done this? I’m 100 percent more confident talking about cheese to customers. It has helped me with organizing our cheese case and even with organizing our walk-in, because I know more about how different parts of a refrigerator affect cheeses. Now we don’t put blue cheeses so close to the fan. So what’s your ideal cheese platter? If you could take home any four cheeses from your case tonight, what would they be? I always grab Piave. It’s been one of my personal favorites forever. It goes with beer and wine, red or white. I love Délice de Bourgogne. I tell customers if Brie and butter made a baby, this would be it. For a blue, I would choose Stilton or Bay Blue, and for a goat cheese I like Garrotxa because it’s not too gamy. Any tips for shoppers on how to negotiate a cheese counter? Don’t be intimidated by price. We can always cut cheese to a size that fits your budget.

Congratulations Ali and all other new Certified Cheese Professionals!!

And if that isn't enough, I recently heard some more exciting news. The Academie Opus Caseus is offering their first West Coast Seminar! It's called Cheese from Pasture to Plate and it looks like it's going to be super exciting! For more information, be sure to visit http://www.academie-mons.com/pointreyes.shtml


                               

You can also see the other courses offered by the Academie in France and Vermont at the same website. I've been trying to save up money to go and I can't wait until I can!

I know that this wasn't one of my usual blog posts, but I figured it would be as good of a time as any to get you all caught up in what's happening in the cheese world. I also wanted to be sure to let you all know that I will traveling abroad to Italy (Venice, Cinque Terre and Florence) for vacation as well as a wine/cheese training through Whole Foods Market. I'm super excited about this opportunity and can't wait to share my pictures and experiences with you all. I'm leaving this Friday and returning at towards the end of October, so you probably won't see much action on my blog during that time.

I hope you all don't miss me too much, *giggle*. I wish you all delicious cheese, luscious libations and incredible company in the time that I'm away.

Until next time, eat drink and be happy!!

Get Roquefort While You Can!

Hello loyal readers,

I hope you all had an amazing weekend! My weekend was full of cheesy events, so I had a blast!

If you've been following cheese news recently you are aware that several cheeses are having a hard time getting into the country due to stricter FDA regulations. The American Cheese Society and the FDA are in discussion trying to get these over the top regulations back to more reasonable levels, but that probably won't happen for a while. In the meantime, many delicious cheeses are being refused at our ports....

Roquefort, the well known blue cheese from France, is unfortunately caught in this crossfire. I was looking back at some of my older blog posts and I actually had posted about Roquefort on my fourth post ever! If you want to see my amateur post on Roquefort, you can see it here: http://shootinthebries.blogspot.com/2012/11/ive-got-blues.html

Luckily for me, I am still able to get my hands on some Roquefort from Gabriel Coulet - and it's 100% organic!

Cheese: Roquefort
Producer: Gabriel Coulet
Location: Rouerge, France
Milk: Raw sheep's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

Roquefort is deliciously tangy, creamy and a touch salty. I'm going to plagiarize myself very quickly and take the description of Roquefort from my original blog post:

"Roquefort is a very special cheese in that it was the first cheese to receive AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) in 1925. This means that the name "Roquefort" is protected and in order for a cheese to be called Roquefort it needs to follow very specific guidelines. The milk must be raw and must be the milk of the Lacaune ewes that are raised within a specific area in France. The cheeses must be aged in the caves of Combalou for a minimum of three months and the mold used must be produced in the caves themselves. The way that the cheesemakers get the mold for Roquefort is that they leave bread in the caves and allow them to get moldy. The mold formed is the Penicillium roqueforti which is naturally occurring in the air in the caves. Once the bread gets moldy, they scrape the mold off of the bread and add it to the milk they will use to make this cheese! By using bread to produce the mold it is recommended that those who are gluten intolerant avoid this cheese."

I featured the Roquefort on a cheese plate I built the other day (pictured above) and used fresh figs as a complimentary pairing. I don't know about you, but I love figs and pretty much any blue cheese. It's fun to stuff the figs with the cheese and grill them or broil them in the oven.

I just recently was able to procure some more of this amazing cheese and it will be back in our stores for a short time at the beginning of October. Keep an eye out for it and enjoy it while you can. Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Heinrichsthaler Bierkäse

Good evening everyone,

I hope you're having a great start to your week. I was out last week with the flu, so I apologize for the delay in posting.

Today I would like to talk about a fun cheese that we currently have on promotion at all NorCal/Reno Whole Foods Markets - the Heinrichsthaler Bierkäse!

Cheese: Bierkäse
Producer: Heinrichsthaler
Location: Radeberg, Germany
Milk: Pasteurized cow's milk
Rennet: Microbial (vegetarian)

"Bierkäse" literally means "beer cheese" in German and is a fun seasonal cheese produced in time for Oktoberfest starting on September 20th. The curd is washed with beer and has little bits of onion mixed in. When I first cut into the cheese, the onion smell was very obvious, but not over the top. I was pleased when I took the first bite that I didn't taste only onion, but other nutty, creamy nuances as well. There isn't much of a beer flavor, but the addition of the beer to the curds add a fun twist as most "beer cheeses" I know have the rinds washed with beer instead of the curds.

In pairing this cheese, the obvious choice was a German beer. I was reminded by one of  my colleagues that we currently have a beer on promotion that is from the same place the cheese is from - Radeberg, Germany. Can you see the name? Should be relatively easy to remember - Radeberger.

We will only have this cheese for a limited time during the Oktoberfest season, so be sure to visit your local Whole Foods Market cheese counter. I stopped by the Whole Foods Market in Campbell today and visited one of our 20 newly minted Certified Cheese Professionals - Joe Buckle! If you're in the area, swing on by, he'd be happy to talk cheese with you. 

On that note, I'm off to enjoy what remains of the Bierkäse I purchased and polish it off with my glass of my Radeberger. Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Point Reyes Creamery Bay Blue

Good evening my fellow turophiles,

I hope you all had a festive Labor Day weekend and I also hope that all of the folks up in the Napa Valley that were affected by the earthquake two weeks ago are recovering well. I went up to the Napa Whole Foods store a few days after the quake and spent some time helping the team get the cheese counter back in working order. I was so glad that everyone was alright and that the store was able to bounce back quickly. As you can imagine, they lost a lot of product - including thousands of dollars of wine - but the important thing is that everyone is ok!

Today I wanted to dig a little deeper into the local cheese that won 2nd place Best in Show at this year's American Cheese Society Conference - the Point Reyes Bay Blue. I was so excited when I found out that they not only won 1st place in their category, but that they were recognized as the second best cheese out of all of the cheeses that were submitted!

Cheese: Bay Blue
Producer: Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
Cheesemaker/Affineur: Kuba Hemmerling
Location: Point Reyes Station, CA
Milk: Pasteurized cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

 

When I first tried this cheese, I was absolutely blown away. I had never tried a blue cheese quite like this one.  It is aged for about 90 days and has a beautiful, natural rind. The flavor is creamy, piquant, caramel-ly, and fruity all at the same time. The mold is not over the top and adds great texture and crunch to the otherwise fudgy paste. Whether you're a blue fanatic, or not the biggest blue cheese fan, you more likely than not will fall in love with this cheese.

While helping out at the Napa store, I ended up helping cut and wrap blue cheeses and Bay Blue was one of them! You can see the freshly cut pieces in the picture above. YUM.

I recommend trying the Bay Blue with a nice dessert wine... I had some with a delicious Zinfandel Port the other night - absolutely scrumptious! You can also stuff figs or dates with the Bay Blue and eat them just like that, baked in the oven, or grilled. Any of those variations are to die for.

All in all, the Bay Blue is an amazing cheese and absolutely deserved the recognition it received at the 2014 ACS Conference. Congratulations Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company! We're proud to have you right in our backyard.

Bay Blue is available at most of the Whole Foods Market cheese counters in the Northern California - Reno region so be sure to swing by your local store and ask for a taste! Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Bleating Heart's Shepherdista

Good morning everyone!

I hope you all are doing well and your week is wrapping up nicely.

One of the really cool things about working for Whole Foods is seeing how a large corporation can still give back to the local community and help smaller businesses flourish. It is in this spirit that in May, Whole Foods Market granted a "Local Producer Loan" to cheesemakers who are near and dear to my heart. The lucky recipients were husband and wife team, Seana Doughty and Dave Dalton from Bleating Heart Cheese.

Bleating Heart is located in Tomales, CA and their main focus is to produce top of the line cheese using milk from animals that have been treated humanely by the farmers and whose farm practices responsible stewardship of the land. As a result, the milk used in their cheeses is produced during the animals' natural lactation cycle. Cows have a cycle that lasts about 12 months, goats have a cycle that lasts about 10 months and sheep have a cycle that lasts 6-8 months. Keeping this in mind, you can see why many of the cheeses that Bleating Heart produces are only available on a seasonal basis.

Ok, on to the cheese! The cheese I'd like to talk about today is the Shepherdista - a combination of the words "shepherd" and "fashionista" - a delectable sheep's milk cheese.

Cheese: Shepherdista
Producer: Seana and Dave at Bleating Heart
Location: Tomales, CA
Milk: Raw sheep's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)

The Shepherdista is a natural rind cheese where the cheesemakers allow the rind to develop on its own with the help of the molds and bacteria that are in the air surrounding the cheese. (I remember a year or so back, I attended a class that discussed molds/bacteria on the rinds of cheeses. Seana was there and we had the opportunity to look at the rinds of some of her cheeses under the microscope. It was incredible to see all these little flavors producers up close and personal!) The wheels are turned and patted every few days and are aged 60-90 days.

One of the most pleasant surprises for me with the Shepherdista was the "fudginess" of the paste in terms of consistency. It was incredibly smooth, with very few eyes and it coated the inside of my mouth similar to the way fudge does. Just on this alone, I can tell you that this would be an incredible melting cheese and you may consider using it on your next grilled cheese!

The flavor really highlighted the stereotypical characteristics of sheep's milk cheeses. A richer lactic flavor overall because of the higher fat content of sheep's milk with a touch of nutty, earthy, tangy goodness. Because of it's richness, I would pair the Shepherdista with something slightly acidic... think grapes, apples, Pinot Grigio or even a younger, lighter red wine.

As I stated before, this cheese is not always available due to the seasonality of the lactation cycles of the sheep. That being said, we have it currently in most of the Whole Foods Markets in Northern California and Reno. I know that the production is currently limited, so if you see this cheese at your local cheese counter, be sure to grab some for yourself!

That's all I have for now... until next time, eat, drink and be happy!

Bermuda Triangle

Good evening everyone!

 

Today I want to talk about one of the ribbon winning cheeses from the ACS Conference a couple weeks ago. This cheese won 1st place in the Open Category of Soft Ripened Cheeses made from Goat's Milk. Drum roll please... the Bermuda Triangle from Cypress Grove!

 

Cheese: Bermuda Triangle
Producer: Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove
Location: Arcata, CA
Milk: Pasteurized goat's milk
Rennet: Microbial (vegetarian)

The original size of the Bermuda Triangle is a 1.5 pound triangle. The folks at Cypress Grove made a mini version specially for Whole Foods Market (in honor of the ACS Conference that took place) this month that weighs only 0.75 pounds. Because it is a smaller size, the cheese ripens and gets to the ooey gooey stage I love much quicker...

The Bermuda Triangle that I cut in to today was a bit on the young side. You can see in the picture above that it still crumbles very easily and the cream line close to the rind is still relatively firm. One of the distinguishing features of cheese from Cypress Grove is the use of vegetable ash. If you've ever eaten Humboldt Fog, you know what I'm talking about. When the cheese is first made, it is coated with vegetable ash and then during the ripening stages, develops the soft, bloomy rind on the outside. The result is an inner lining of ash right underneath the rind.

The flavor of the Bermuda Triangle is very clean, fresh and bright. The milk used to make this cheese is superb milk and as a result, you get a superb cheese. The ash doesn't impart much flavor besides making the cheese a touch more earthy while the rind adds a hint of mushroom. The textures of this cheese are really fun as well. The inner paste is crumbly and reminds me of a fresh chevre.The layer right underneath the rind is where the ripening is happening, so the paste here will be more broken down. As a result, that part of the cheese will have stronger flavor and be much softer. The last layer of bloomy rind and ash gives another dimension of texture in that it doesn't melt away like the rest of the cheese. You actually have to chew! One thing to note, the more ripe this cheese is, the stronger the flavor. I personally like a little age on the Bermuda Triangles, but the flavor may be too intense for some.

As you might have expected, we currently have the Bermuda Triangle on sale at the Whole Foods Markets in Northern California and we'd love you to join us in celebrating the folks at Cypress Grove's success. Stop by your closest cheese counter and try a sample!

A fun thing to note.. right after I finished tasting this cheese, I had a fresh cup of coffee. The residual flavors of the Bermuda Triangle really paired nicely with the bitterness of the coffee. It was like I had put cream in my coffee. Totally delicious. I had to go back for another bite.

I hope you all get the chance to try this incredible cheese in the near future. Until next time - eat, drink and be happy!