Day 574 : SCS Version 7.0, A long overdue Dispatch # 3

Gosh it's been a while since we had the opportunity to delve into our state country spotlight, so let's pickup where we left off with Ireland and Virginia with a goat's milk cheese from each, hopefully a bright light morsel of citrusy tangy milky lactic goodness on such a dreary rainy day! Both are modeled on the great Loire Valley classic goat cheeses, the cheeses that paved the way for the prevalence of goat's milk cheese adored the world over.

Located in Esmont, Virgina, 23 miles south of Charlottesville is Caromont Farm, a farmstead cheesemaking opertation helmed by Gail Hobbs Page, an ex-chef turned cheesemaker. Page currently crafts seven cheeses, four of which are made with goat's milk and three with cow's milk. You have to be in the know in the Washington DC-Maryland-Virginia food scene to know about Caromont Farm so now you are and what cheese should you be buying from them? How about their Alberene Ash? It's modeled on a Pouligny Saint Pierre but with that special Virginia touch and terroir -- pasteurized goat's milk is formed into a pyramid with a thin line of ash through the center  and dusted with ash to aid in the cheese's three week aging process. Rustic, earthy, and mushroomy with that citrusy lactic punch designed to wake up the senses.

Image courtesy of www.caromontfarm.com

And what of its Irish counterpart? How about St Tola? A log of unpasteurized goat's milk cheese hailing from Co. Clare near Inah. Modeled on a Saint Maure but minus the mold and ash, St Tola is a soft ripened natural rind goat's milk cheese with a slight cream line and a bright ivory interior. Yes it has those classic aged goat's milk notes but with the added bonus of the fantastic Irish terroir -- hints of sea breezes and grassy knolls bringing St Tola to a whole different playing field!

Image courtesy of http://nealsyarddairy.co.uk 

Each of our cheeses today are excellent examples of cheesemakers finding inspiration in a specific Loire Valley goat cheese and making it their own. It might be fun to grab both the St Tola and the Alberene Ash along with the Pouligny Saint Pierre and the Saint Maure so that you could directly study the differences between each. Either way, they are all wonderful cheeses.