We are reaching the end of our Massachusetts and Portuguese cheese spotlight and to be honest, I'm kind of relieved...this has been a tough month, Portuguese cheeses tend to fit the raw sheep's milk, vegetarian rennet, firm cheese profile and yes albeit there are exceptions but you do not tend to find a wide variety of other cheese styles from Portugal imported here to the US. Massachusetts cheese makers on the other hand, experiment more with their cheeses, so what do we have on the docket this week?
Lea’s Great Meadow hailing from Carlisle Farmstead Cheese in Hardwick, Massachusetts. I think Carlisle is a great example of the new creameries coming out of Massachusetts -- they have been producing cheese for sale since 2005 and with each cheese, they constantly try to push the cheese envelope, in all the right ways. For today's cheese or more rather what should have been yesterday's cheese, I chose Lea's Great Meadow because I think it proves my point with their cheesemaking point of view excellently. A bloomy rind goat's milk semi-soft tomme style cheese that is infused with herbs (fennel, thyme, rosemary, and lavender) in the center -- think of Humboldt Fog and replace the central ashen line with a line of herbs, how fabulous does that sound? Herbal, grassy, vegetal, fragrant is entertwined with classically creamy, lightly lactic, citrusy chalky interior paste. The perfect cheese for a glass of Sancerre.
Image courtesy of http://www.carlislefarmsteadcheese.com/
And today's Portuguese cheese is Castelo Branco crafted in the center of Portugal, in the cheese's namesake region of Castelo Branco. It is crafted with raw sheep's milk aged for at least 45 days delivering a semi-soft interior with a yellow-ish exterior full of savory salty notes. As the cheeses ages, its firmness develops and its flavor profile grows more dynamic. A classically Portuguese cheese and it promises to be herbal and vegetal with hints of tangy spice.
Image courtesy of http://www.culturecheesemag.com/
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