Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/173967
cheese focus POPULAR SOUTHERN CHEESES Leading Southern retailers say the following creameries and cheeses are among their favorites. Caromont Farm (VA) Meadow Creek Dairy (VA) • Esmontonian: aged goat's milk tomme Chapel Hill Creamery (NC) • Appalachian: semisoft tomme, cow's milk • Grayson: Taleggio style, cow's milk • Calvander: Asiago style, cow's milk • Carolina Moon: Camembert style, cow's milk Fromagerie Belle Chevre (AL) • Montrachet: American Cheese Society first-place award winner, goat's milk cheese Goat Lady Dairy (NC) Nature's Harmony Farm (GA) • Fortsonia: alpine style, cow's milk • Georgia Gold: Cheddar style, cow's milk Prodigal Farm (NC) • Field of Creams: soft-ripened with herbs, goat's milk • Gray's Chapel: natural-rinded aged square, goat's • Hunkadora: soft-ripened, goat's milk Sequatchie Cove Creamery (TN) and cow's milk • Sandy Creek: ashed bloomy rind, goat's milk Looking Glass Creamery (NC) • Dancing Fern: Reblochon style, cow's milk Sweet Grass Dairy (GA) • Ellington: Valençay-style pyramid, goat's milk Many Fold Farm (GA) • Asher Blue: natural-rinded blue, cow's milk • Green Hill: double-cream Camembert style, • Brebis: fresh unripened, sheep's milk • Condor's Ruin: Valençay-style pyramid, sheep's milk asking about local cheese." In response, he has created a separate Southern-made section in his cheese case. Geographic Challenges and Blessings Southern retailers and cheesemakers point to the region's deeprooted taste for tradition to explain why artisanal cheese has been slow to catch on there. "We're the least trendy area of the country," says Justin Trosclair, cheesemonger with St. James Cheese Company in New Orleans. "We're always a little bit behind. Plus it's just really hot down here and not the easiest place to do dairy." Sequatchie Cove proprietor Padgett Arnold concurs. "The heat and humidity work against us," says Arnold, whose husband, Nathan, makes the farm's cheese. Few dairy breeds can adapt to the climate, she explains. The Arnolds' initial herd, purchased from Vermont, struggled with the South's weather extremes. "We finally found success when we brought in Jerseys from Louisiana," she says. "Those cows can handle it." Goat Cheese Reigns On the positive side, Southern cows can graze year-round, says Portia McKnight of North Carolina's Chapel Hill Creamery. "In "When we started, in 2000, there were only a handful of dairies in North Carolina. Now there are something like 40." cow's milk • Thomasville Tomme: aged, cow's milk Vermont you may have incredible grass for two to three months," says the farmer. "We may never get quite that quality, but we have it for eight to 12 months." With food-centric cities like Durham, Asheville and Raleigh, North Carolina is the epicenter of the Southern cheese revolution. "It's an incredible opportunity for a cheesemaker," McKnight says. "When we started, in 2000, there were only a handful of dairies in North Carolina. Now there are something like 40." Not surprisingly, fresh goat cheese is the entry point for many new Southern cheesemakers. Goats are hardy, relatively inexpensive and don't require a lot of pasture. But as cheesemakers build their skills and the capital to invest in aging rooms, they are tackling bigger challenges, like washed-rind and natural-rind cheeses. Retailers cite Caromont Farm's Esmontonian, a Virginia goat tomme aged at least four months, and Prodigal Farm's Hunkadora, an ashed bloomy-rind goat cheese from North Carolina, as examples of Southern cheesemakers' growing expertise. A few intrepid souls have launched sheep dairies in the South, taking a risk on these high-maintenance, disease-prone animals. Rebecca and Ross Williams manage 200 sheep on their 4-year-old Many Fold Farm in Tennessee; their fresh rindless cheese, Brebis, took second place in its category at this year's American Cheese Society competition. Good Shepherd Cheese is Kentucky's first sheep dairy and makes a raw Basque-style aged wheel christened Pyrenees. In Alabama, Dayspring Dairy became that state's first sheep creamery when it debuted a halloumi-style cheese and (continued on p. 59) 22 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com