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/986636
Boston Post Dairy Très Bonne (Vermont): This prize-winning cheese (two first-place ribbons for farmstead goat cheese at American Cheese Society competi- tions) is produced in small batches, 25 to 35 wheels at a time. The 8- to 9-pound Gouda- style cheeses receive four months of aging at the creamery, but cheesemaker Anne Doe admits she sends six-month-old wheels to competitions. When asked why more goat- cheese producers didn't make large wheels, she had two answers: because the forms are prohibitively expensive and because it's phys- ically challenging for cheesemakers, many of whom are female and work alone, to flip heavy wheels. Briar Rose Creamery Lorelei (Oregon): Resembling a mini Taleggio, this 10-ounce square is washed repeatedly with Deschutes Black Butter Porter during its three weeks at the creamery. You prob- ably won't detect any beery notes, but the cheese does have a delightful yeasty, beefy, mushroom-like aroma and, at six weeks, a semisoft, supple texture. Cheesemaker Sarah Marcus is one to watch. Capriole Julianna (Indiana): A stand- out among this well-established creamery's creations, Julianna is a 1-pound raw-milk tomme with a bloomy rind underneath a cloak of herbes de Provence. It resembles the Corsican Fleur du Maquis and Brin d'Amour, and like them, it's eye-catching on a cheese board. Julianna is aged for a minimum of four months, and it gets softer with time. An her- baceous aroma permeates the paste, and the flavor becomes mellow, even sweet. Central Coast Creamery Dream Weaver (California): Owner and chee- semaker Reggie Jones, a former culture sales- man, took home heaps of blue ribbons from last year's American Cheese Society compe- tition, including one for his Goat Cheddar. But the cheese that got the buzz was Dream Weaver, a new 1-pound washed-rind wheel that didn't officially debut until early this year. It is supple and squishy, with yeasty aromas mingling with the scent of garlic and smoke. Jones has worked on this recipe for a long time, and he has nailed it. He releases Dream Weaver at about five weeks but says it can hang in there for four months, getting more pungent over time. Goat Lady Dairy Providence (North Carolina): Providence is a 5- to 6-pound square made in the same forms as Taleggio. When the cheesemakers' attempts at Taleggio-style goat cheese didn't soar, they kept the square molds but changed the recipe. Made with pasteurized milk from nearby farms and animal rennet, Providence is never pressed; the lightly cooked curds drain from their own weight so the paste can be somewhat open. After three to four months of aging, the square has a rustic natural rind and, inside, inviting aromas of mushroom, artichoke, custard, and caramel. The texture is firm and brittle, the finish tart. In mid-2017, the dairy changed hands. Fortunately, the buyers were the husband- and-wife cheesemakers who have helped the business grow in recent years. Haystack Mountain Gold Hill (Colorado): This new 6-pound wheel snared a blue ribbon in its first attempt at the American Cheese Society judging last year. Cheesemaker Jackie Chang has proven her talent for aged natural-rinded goat cheese with Queso de Mano, a raw-milk wheel. Gold Hill is its pasteurized-milk cousin, with a couple of twists. She uses some of the same cultures cheese focus PHOTO: HAYSTACK MOUNTAIN Haystack Mountain Gold Hill 32 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com