Photo by Marika Mirren Simple Pleasures by Alex Jones No food tantalizes eaters quite like cheese. I’ve been sourcing and selling artisan cheeses produced on small-scale farms and dairies in Pennsylvania and New Jersey for seven years, and it still makes me smile whenever a farmers market shopper slows down as they approach my table
MorePhoto compliments of Philadelphia Cheese Guild Education and advocacy are key for a growing industry with changing regulations by Alex Jones On a cold day between snowstorms in January 2016, cheesemakers and dairy advocates gathered in a Penn State agriculture sciences classroom. The small meeting—catered with leftover wheels from the Pennsylvania Farm Show’s cheese competition—marked
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Secret Cellar by Emily Kovach To the unsuspecting eye, Emiliano Tatar seems like a regular guy: He lives with his wife and two children in Merion Station and is a full-time general pediatrician practicing in Roxborough. But, like an artisan superhero, in the evening he trades the stethoscope for a spatula and makes handcrafted cheese
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Philadelphia’s Tenaya Darlington, aka Madame Fromage, Photo by Jason Varney The Foodies are Coming by Grid Staff Most Philadelphians take for granted that they can stroll down to the Italian Market or hit Reading Terminal to find some of the best artisan offerings in the world, many of which are made right here in Pennsylvania.
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The new Valley Shepherd Creamery stand opened in Reading Terminal Market this past Wednesday. | Photo by Danni SinisiChilly tempatures typically give us Grid staffers little desire to leave the office during the day, but with the new Valley Shepherd Creamery outpost opening in the Reading Terminal Market this week, we figured that was reason
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Grid’s illustrious neighbor, the Reading Terminal Market, has some exciting new occupants. The New Jersey-based Valley Shepherd Creamery, due to open in November, will truck in milk three times a week, allowing customers to witness their cheese-making process firsthand. Already open are the Tubby Olive, which sells olive oils and vinegars on tap, and the
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If you’re a fan of Beatrix Potter, then you probably remember Jemima Puddle Duck, a character in many Peter Rabbit stories. If there’s a young reader in your house, this might be the perfect time to introduce this tender morsel of cheese with a pleasing, grassy character.
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If you’re looking for a bold cheese to pair with beer, reach for Red Cat from Birchrun Hills Farm. This classic washed-rind stinker from Sue Miller isn’t as bossy as a ripe Epoisses—a pungent French delicacy—but it has the same creamy texture and beefy character. Think of stewed meat and bitter greens. The slightly astringent
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Resembling a pot of creamy, green-flecked pebbles, the addictive herbed farmer’s cheese made by Sue Miller of Birchrun Hills Farm materializes unpredictably enough to make its every farmers market appearance memorable. Sweet, milky and deliciously versatile, farmer’s cheese is just a bottle of milk and a squeeze of lemon away when you can’t get your
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When Kristian Holbrook named his mixed-milk robiola “Hummingbird,” he couldn’t have chosen a more perfect image. Like its namesake bird, this soft cheese is bright and delicate, with a nectar-like flavor profile that calls to mind vanilla and citrus. At one week, Hummingbird has the consistency of airy cheesecake; at three, the center liquefies and
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