{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }
(l to r) Withersbrook Blue; Jake and Sylvia Stoltzfus of Jake’s Gouda; Shabby Shoe
American Cheese Month is a time for celebration and optimism. So here’s my toast to several new (or newish) domestic cheeses that make me especially proud of our artisan producers and hopeful for their future. In alpha order:
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Most cheese counters I visit—even the best ones—have a big gap in goat blues. The options just aren’t there, domestic or imported. It’s not an easy style to make, according to the cheesemaker who just launched the one pictured here. Goat curd is dense and wants to mat. If it doesn’t remain open and airy, it’s hard for blue veins to grow. But the flavor of a well-made goat blue can be captivating—more tangy than buttery, sometimes closer to feta than to Stilton. I’ve fallen for several over the years—Persillé de Rambouillet from France, Andazul from Spain, Harbourne Blue from the U.K.—but then they vanish. Let’s hope this California newcomer finds an audience and sticks around.
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Sixteen-year-old cheesemaker Avery Jones has another hit on her hands. Last year, the California teenager took a top award at the American Cheese Society competition for Aries , her first entry. Her latest debut, a bloomy-rind sheep cheese called Leo, looks destined for a bright future, too. As if these whiz-kid achievements weren’t enough to impress, Avery recently presented a check for $2,200—five percent of her sales—to AmpSurf, a nonprofit with personal meaning for her.
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Everyone I talk to seems at loose ends right now. What’s the right thing to think, say, feel, do when your country is experiencing an emotional earthquake? Cheese seems trivial, perhaps, but to dairy farmers and cheesemakers it is not. It’s a livelihood. It’s the future for their land, their livestock, their families.
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Last weekend’s American Cheese Society competition produced only one Best of Show, of course, but multiple firsts. For the first time, a blue ribbon went to a 15-year-old, who won her category and then placed third overall. For the first time, the first- and second-place cheeses were made by the same person. (Amazing, no?) For the first time, two of the top three entries were private-label cheeses matured by a retailer. And I suspect it’s the first time in the competition’s long history that all three top winners are newcomers, with none more than three years old.
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