Day 987 : What to buy right now

Walking into a cheese shop as we all know can sometimes be scary and if you don't know what you want, its even scarier, right?

That's what Fromagical is here for! Making life easier so you can look like a cheese aficionado!

Today Fromagical recommends getting a morsel of Pawlet from Lucy's Whey. Modeled on an Italian style toma, this six month aged raw cow's milk cheese is semi firm with a nice density. Approachable yet dynamic and developed, this Vermontster hailing from Consider Bardwell Farm is easy to love. Sweet and buttery yet grassy and rustic with a fabulously bright floral finish. The perfect and versatile pairing partner for everything from bubbles to an IPA to a medium bodied red and more, this cheese is a crowd pleaser that's for sure! Great for snacking with some roasted almonds!

Image courtesy of www.considerbardwellfarm.com

Day 948 : Christmas Eve Cheeses

In honor of Christmas Eve and the fabulous gathering of friends and family this afternoon, Fromagical supplied a selection of special and seasonal cheeses. What were they you might be wondering?

Cheese number one was Torus, the superstar cheese that I wrote about in my last blog. This combination / collaboration with Vermont Butter & Cheese and Murray's is the most uniquely creamy, unctuous, chalky, citrusy, bright, mushroomy, rustic round cheese. A holiday celebration in a morsel!

Cheese number two was Little Big Apple infused with black truffles. Murray's cheese takes a Champlain Valley triple cream roundelle and infuses the center with black truffles here. What you get is fabulously sensual creamy milky cheesy paste paired with the rustic earthiness of the truffles. This is a black tie cheese that goes perfectly with that celebratory glass of bubbles you are enjoying on this holiday.

Cheese number three was Cocoa Cardona, which was featured on day 944 and is found at Beecher's Cheese. A firm aged goat's milk cheese that is rubbed with cocoa powder in the course of its aging process. The result? A rustic and earthy yet sweet and flavorful cheese that is the perfect balance of chocolaty cheesy goodness. Crisp, tangy, citrusy and classically goaty paste is paired with the most unique cocoa exterior.

The final cheese, cheese number four was Barden Blue, Consider Bardwell's newest release. Think cheddary paste combined with a classic blue cheese spicy piquance. Firm and biting, yet crumbly and flavorful. This is the sort of cheese that is absolutely perfect with your after dinner drinks, port perhaps?

Overall a selection of truly special cheeses for this truly special day.

Fromagical wishes you all a very Merry Christmas!

Day 908 : American Cheese Month at Casellula

For American Cheese Month, Casellula has a focus on American artisanal cheeses on their extensive cheese menu -- little known and showcased cheeses from Washington State to Texas, Tennessee, New York and much much more. So what cheeses did we sample?

From their Bloomy and Soft Ripened section we had Dinah’s hailing from Kurtwood Farms in Vashon Island, Washington.  This decadent bloomy pasteurized cow cheese was full of unctuous, round buttery notes. Infused with the local terroir and the scent of ocean breezes - this is an elegant cheese perfect for a glass of bubbles. Paired with Casellula's Sweet Cardamom popcorn, I think the cheese got lost but on its own, it was spectacular!

From their Washed Ripened section we had Dancing Fern hailing from Sequatchie Cove Farm in Sequatchie, Tennessee. This washed cow's milk cheese was earthy, piercing, meaty, and rustic with a down home sort of bent. Classic round cow notes abounded here, perfection with a nice Ommegang Abbey Ale perhaps. Casellula served it with pickled quail eggs and although I love anything pickled and I love quail eggs, I thought the cheese got lost when paired with the pickled eggs.

From their Cooked and Pressed Section we had one of my absolute Vermonter favorites -- Consider Bardwell's Manchester. This firm raw goat's milk cheese is all sleek rustic elegance with an earthy barnyardy bent and a grassy ctirusy twang. Great with a nice medium bodied white or an earthy smooth red. Casellula paired it with Oregano roasted tomatoes which brought out the cheese's herbaceous aromatic notes in a beautiful manner.

Lastly from their Blue section we had their Two-Faced Blue from Willapa Hills Farm in Doty, Washington. This semi-firm mixed cow and sheep's milk cheese was the perfect balance of spicy, salty, piquance and round, buttery, creaminess. A dynamic blue that appealed to the novice blue cheese lover and the more advanced blue cheese aficionado. Paired with their Macadamia, Cashew nut brittle, the final pairing almost became like dessert.

Overall a really fun salute to American Cheese Month at Casellula! I look forward to going back to trying a variety of their other selections.

Casellula
401 West 52nd Street
NYC

Day 902 : Break Fast Cheeses

In honor of Yom Kippur and the Day of Atonement in the Jewish religion, I thought I would share with you my dear Fromagical readers the cheeses I chose for the break fast event I'm attending. This year I decided to go with three of my favorite and very approachable American artisanal cheeses representing New York, Vermont and California.

From New York, I went with Nettle Meadow's Kunik.. This triple cream is a unique combination of 75% goat's milk and 25% cow's milk cream. Kunik's blend of the classic bright, grassy, chalky notes of a goat's milk cheese and the round, buttery, milky unctuous decadence of a cow's milk cheese is just perfection. Perfection with a glass of bubbles, this is a great way to celebrate a round, decadent, and unique new year.

From Vermont, I went with Consider Bardwell's Pawlet. Inspired by an Italian toma style cheese, this aged raw Jersey cow's milk cheese is a delight. Creamy and bright yet rustic and earthy -- this is one delectable yet approachable and dynamic cheese. It will bring a smile to your face. Great with a medium bodied red wine or even a beer, this a great way to ring a new year of happiness!

And lastly from California, Point Reyes Blue. An aged raw cow's milk blue that is spicy, salty, and piquant yet grassy, bright, milky and round. Enjoy this with something sweet to ring in a new year full of sweet and spice and everything nice. 

Day 881 : Cider TGIF pairing

Last night I had a pint of Doc's Pear Hard Cider that got me thinking about a different TGIF pairing concept, why not do a local cider?  It is perfect as a late summer early evening beverage -- light and sparkling with a bright crisp fruitiness yet not too sweet. Refreshing yet satisfying -- an excellent happy hour drink!

Crafted by Warwick Winery and Brewery in the Hudson Valley, this is a classic pear cider crafted from a melange of New York State apples and pears.

So what cheese did I choose to go with our pear cider?

How about Consider Bardwell's aged goat's milk masterpiece Manchester?

A firm washed rind raw goat's milk cheese that's been aged for approximately two to three months, this is  bright, milky and lactic with citrusy and grassy notes and a fabulous rustic barnyardy finish. The bright crispness of the cheese will find its home with the same notes in the cider and the aromatic fruitiness of the cider will complement the washed rind rustic notes of the cheese.

The perfect end of summer local pairing for the beginning of a lovely weekend.

Day 862 : Matchmaking Vermont Style Recap...

No awkward silences here, no turning of the cheek to avoid a first date kiss, instead an informed pairing of Vermont wines and cheeses led by Sean Buchanan and Alice Feiring as part of the seminar series at the Vermont Cheesemakers Festival. Buchanan was an executive chef at the Middlebury Inn  and then at the Stowe Mountain Lodge and currently is a business development manager for Black River Produce -- a local produce and speciality foods distributor. There he helps chefs maximize their use of local and sustainable ingredients focusing on stimulating the region through direct usage of local products. Buchanan is all about the locavore movement -- growing the local agricultural community to in turn stimulate the socio-economic climate of the Upper Valley. Feiring has been writing on many topics, most notably wine since 1988 and has a wine blog (www.alicefeiring.com) since 2004 wining the James Beard and Louis Roederer Wine Writing Awards for her penmanship. Feiring is a big proponent of natural, biodynamic and organic wines.

So what did Buchanan and Feiring put together for the pairings?

Pairing 1: Vermont Butter and Cheese's Bonne Bouche and Lincoln Peak's Black Sparrow with an under ripe peach - 

VBC's ash ripened aged goat's milk cheese that is bright, tangy, citrusy and chalky with a crisp local white wine - the harmony of terroir working perfectly!

Pairing 2 : Grafton Village Cheese's Bismark and East Shore Vineyard's Frontenac Rose with pickled red cherries -

Bismark is a semi-firm aged sheep's milk cheese full of nutty, buttery, creamy and sweet notes. The perfect snacking sheep's milk cheese whose depth increases as it ages. Frontenac Rose, despite its dark color, is light and fanciful and full of red berry notes. Each great on their own but I was not sold on this pairing until I introduced the fabulous pickled red cherries which were just the cat's meow.

Pairing 3 : Spring Brook Farm's Reading and Shelburne Vineyard's Marquette

Raclette style cheese made in Vermont? Well yes, since 2010 Spring Brook Farm has been crafting this raw Jersey cow's milk semi soft cheese. Fruity and nutty, yet buttery and round, this cheese is great on its own or melted and sandwiched between two pieces of bread as the best grilled cheese sandwich. Marquette is a dynamic yet approachable medium bodied red wine -- full of dark cherry notes, this is a lovely pairing.

Pairing 4 : Consider Bardwell's Pawlet and Snow Farm Vineyard's Vidal Ice Wine

Modeled on an Italian style toma, this raw Jersey cow's milk cheese is approachable and easy to love -- full of sweetness, with hints of butter, grassy-ness, and a nice floral finish. A great pairing partner for almost any beverage and a huge crowd pleaser of a cheese. Classic ice wine done well -- sweet with a syrupy floral bouquet. I'm not necessarily a fan of pairing ice wine with cheeses especially here but if I had to, I would perhaps pair the ice wine with a nice spicy piquant blue cheese not the Pawlet. The Pawlet begs for a medium bodied red or a range of beers. 

Pairing 5: Shelburne Farms Smoked Cheddar and Snow Farm Vineyard's Vidal Ice Wine

Raw cow's milk hickory wood smoked cheddar that is round, buttery and rustic with the most fabulous hints of campfire paired with the same ice wine as the prior pairing. Here I think that the sweetness and thickness of the wine actually plays off of the smoky notes of the cheddar and forms an interesting and dynamic pairing.

Pairing 6 : Shelburne Farms 2 year aged Cheddar and Eden Ice Cider Company's Newhall Ice Cider

Farmstead aged cheddar that's crumbly, caramelly, crystallized, nutty, and buttery is paired with the sweetness of the ice cider. Notes of apples and honey find their home with the flavor nuances of the cheese and the tasting is rounded out with a wonderful final pairing.

Overall a really fun Vermont matchmaking experience -- highlighting the brilliance of the local terroir. 

Day 799 : Freeman's

Confession - I love Freeman's for their outstandingly inventive cocktails, rustic barnyardy decor, laid back / lowkey vibe, locavore focused cuisine and their artichoke dip. The artichoke dip is heavy on the artichoke, light on the round creaminess and just the perfect blend of lightness and heaviness. What I do not love about Freeman's is unfortunately their cheese plate -- served on too large of a round wood cutting board with four pieces of over toasted multigrain bread and a half of a granny smith apple and two American cheese selections. The first of which was Sofia from Capriole Farms in Indiana and is an ash ripened goat's milk cheese inspired by the Loire Valley ash ripened goat's milk cheeses. The second of which was Consider Bardwell's Italian style toma, Pawlet -- a friendly approachable snacking cheese with buttery, nutty, earthy notes. Sounds great right?

Well not so fast...not only did the server call the Consider Bardwell selection by its farm and not know the cheese's name -- the apple and bread that were supposed to complement the cheese somewhat overpowered the delicate nuances of the cheese -- it became about the somewhat burned flavors of the bread rather than the cheese's flavor notes. On top of which, I tend to believe that a daily cheese selection should have three different cheese varieties to span the gamut of cheese styles. Lastly, if you are going to serve only two cheeses, serve them on a smaller cutting board, one that isn't meant for four to five cheeses. That being said, unfortunately I could not take a photograph of the cheese board to show you because they do not allow food photography within the restaurant.

Don't get me wrong I still adore Freeman's and will continue to go back often, but maybe will steer away from ordering the cheese plate in the future.

Freeman's

End of Freeman's Alley off of Rivington