We've just kicked off our February promotions and I'm really excited about one of the cheese we have brought in... Reading from Springbrook Farm. It's a wonderfully delicious cheese and it's on sale!
PLUS, if you want to save big on cheese... tomorrow and tomorrow only in all of your Northern California Whole Foods you can get 20% off on all bulk specialty cheese! How exciting! You can bet your bottom dollar that I will be visiting at least one cheese counter tomorrow. We've never done anything like this before, so I'm really excited....
Cheese: Reading
Producer: Spring Brook Farm with milk from both Fox Valley Farm and Jericho Hill Farm
Location: Reading, Vermont
Milk: Raw cow's milk
Rennet: Traditional (animal)
Spring Brook Farm was first known for it's Tarentaise (which is a whole other blog post to come very, very soon) and the Reading was their second cheese that followed. They experimented to come up with this cheese for about a year. The goal was to find a unique cheese that would still work well with the existing equipment at the farm. Reading was born out of these experimentations...
Reading is a washed rind cheese made in a Raclette-style with 100% Jersey milk. It is a pretty fragrant cheese when it comes to room temperature. I had it at my desk today at work (a wonderful addition to my lunch) and I'm fairly certain that the people in the cubicles next to me could smell it - but in a good way! It has that familiar funk washed rinds are known for, but a bit more earthy/grassy. The flavor is killer - not really what I expected when I was told it was made in the Raclette-style. It was more buttery and less funky that what I think of when I think of Raclette. But that was fine with me! The nutty, buttery flavor was a huge hit at my office today...
I also think the addition of the duck salami might have helped its popularity at the office today. The salty, fatty salami blended perfectly with the Reading. And as you would expect, this cheese is an exceptional melter... use it like you would Raclette or get creative! I'm going to be making fondue for my girlfriend this Valentine's Day and the Reading may make a guest appearance.
One other thing to note that is special about the Reading is that the milk is from two small Vermont farms that are local to Spring Brook. Spring Brook chose to work with them in order to provide stability and sustainability to their operations by paying a fixed premium milk price. In return, these farms have committed to produce the highest quality milk to meet their exact standards, including no chemical fertilizers, no fermented feed and production of dry hay to feed the cows when they're not on pasture. That's quite a partnership!
So, if this cheese sounds like your cup of tea, make sure you swing by a Whole Foods Market cheese counter tomorrow (if you want to take advantage of an extra 20% off) or in the near future. I hope you enjoy the delectable delicacy! Until next time, eat, drink and be happy!
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