winter cheese

A primary component of last night's dinner was cheese.  I thought about titling this post Winter Cheese/Winter Pounds but then that would suggest that I don't indulge in this with the frequency that I do. Anyhow, I had stopped in The Cheese Iron, a terrific shop just a few minutes south of Portland, where I got in a healthy dose of cheese-talk which apparently I require from time to time. Instead of becoming overwhelmed by their well-curated selection, we discussed the ones that only come along, or are at their peak, this time of year. Seasonality isn't something a lot of people associate with cheese, but between the cycle of milk production and the aging process, this is certainly the case.

I ended up carrying away two cows' milk styles from Vermont that I had heard of, but never tried.  Winnimere popped out at me right away.  From Jasper Hill in Greensboro, it's a farmstead, raw milk washed-rind cheese that was specifically developed to take advantage of the high fat and protein of their Ayrshire cow's winter milk. Aged at just three to six weeks, it becomes available in February then only for five months. There are so many beautiful components to this cheese: it is wrapped in cambium from the spruce trees located on the farm and better yet, it involves a partnership with Hill Farmstead Brewery down the road which supplies the beer that the cheese is washed with. In fact, the cheese and beer ferment side by side, sharing bacteria and resulting in a moderately stinky, buttery paste that is just as easily eaten with a spoon.

The Cellars at Jasper Hill is known for its cooperative aging caves, but that's a longer post for another time...hopefully, after an upcoming visit.

The second is Tarentaise from Spring Brook Farm in Reading. While this cheese is made year round, its alpine style benefits from grassy spring milk and once aged the standard ten months, this time of winter is prime time for enjoyment. It is also a raw milk, farmstead cheese produced from the farm's forty Jersey cows.  It is named for the region in France that inspired it and made in a traditional European method, although the - okay, I'll use the word - terroir make it unique to Vermont. It's a semi-hard cheese - my wedge at least not being all that dry - but complex and 'prickly' as described by Murray's. Delicious.

(Interestingly, Spring Brook Farm also hosts a program called Farm for City Kids which treats the farm like an outdoor classroom to which academics are applied and character building encouraged...what an unexpected and admirable facet to the operation.)

Rounded out with a bottle of Malbec and smoky chipotle 72% dark chocolate from Byrne & Carlson in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, The Cheese Iron delivered last night.  I made a cous cous dish too, but whatever.