Story and Photo by Tenaya DarlingtonCOLD NIGHTS ARE IDEAL FOR CHEESE TASTINGS, and this time of year, strong flavors warm the cockles. Whenever I put together a cheese board, I aim for a range of textures and flavors. The mix below—all cheeses are made locally—reflect the bold colors and
Morestory and photo by Tenaya DarlingtonIN THE WORLD OF FLAVORED CHEESES, Full Nettle Jack (a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s Vietnam film, Full Metal Jacket) is a special character. Even if you’re the sort of person who bristles at the mere mention of “nettles”—they do sting, after all—you ought to reserve judgment. This bright-tasting
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It's rare to find a raw sheep’s milk blue outside the Roquefort Caves in France. But Pennsylvania can now make this claim, thanks to two Amish farmers, shepherd Emanuel Beiler and cheesemaker Amos Miller. Beiler, who raises sheep in Lancaster County, wanted to add value to his milk; Miller, who makes
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If you find yourself with a free weekend this fall, consider a day trip to Milford, N.J., home to Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse. There you’ll meet Jonathan and Nina White, who make rustic farmstead cheese and bake loaves of incredible bread, like duck-fat ciabatta, in their wood-fired oven. Back in 2005,
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story by Tenaya DarlingtonHere’s a cheese perfect for the onset of fall, a raw-milk beauty that pairs well with apples, nuts and even chocolate. Havilah, from Lawrenceville, N.J., is a firm, nutty cheese that’s somewhere between a mild Cheddar and a mountain-style Swiss. It’s sweet and milky with a pleasantly bright finish similar to apples.
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story by Tenaya DarlingtonWord of a new cheesemaker travels fast at Headhouse Square Farmers Market. There, amid the flowers and fresh vegetables, you’ll find muffins of beautifully-crafted fresh goat cheese by Mary-Jean Bendorf and Jeff Henry. Bendorf and Henry travel from their Pocono farmstead to offer raw goat’s milk and an assortment of raw
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story by Tenaya Darlington, madamefromageblog.comForget about the sad, granular cement that comes in supermarket tubs. Fresh ricotta is feather-light, like the cheese Mark Lopez produces at his Wholesome Dairy Farms in Yellow House, Pa. Made from grass-fed milk, this stuff is dream-inducing. Take a spoonful, drizzle some honey on it, and you will experience double
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story by Tenaya Darlington, madamefromageblog.comThis spring, Pete Demchur of Shellbark Hollow Farm debuted a new cheese he calls Maysiola—a moon pie of pasteurized goat’s milk named after Masie, one of his favorite Nubian goats, and with nods to robiola, an Italian cheese. Maysiola has a grassy scent and custardy innards, and
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story by Tenaya DarlingtonIn France, spring goat cheese is prized for the delicate, vegetal flavor imparted by grass blades the nanny goats nibble. In Philadelphia, you can get a taste of this early succulence when you cut into Baby Bloomer. This aged log of local goat cheese is based on a
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Last year, Valley Shepherd Creamery in New Jersey appeared on my radar and quickly became a favorite source for rustic, raw-milk cheese. This Pecorino-style wedge made from the milk of pasture-raised sheep is a good choice for February, when your disposition needs sweetening and your palate craves dense, nutty cheeses. Tuck a wedge of Oldwick
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