New Cheeses 2/18/2016

Alpha Tolman $7

Raw cow’s milk cheese from Jasper Hills Farm in Greensboro VT. Animal Rennet. Named for a historic dairy farmer in VT, Alpha Tolman is an alpine style cheese, the curds are cooked and pressed to expel excess moisture. The large 22lb wheels are washed with a cultured brine and aged for 8-11 months yielding a rusty orange rind and a semi firm interior. Rich, nutty, and buttery with notes of caramelized onions.

Manchego Pasamontes $7

Raw sheep’s milk cheese from La Mancha Spain. Animal Rennet. The pasamontes family has been making manchego for four generations, at their farmstead creamery in spain. They tend to their own flock of sheep and follow the most traditional methods of production, going above and beyond the requisites for DOP certification. The family does not coat the outside of the cheese in was as is common with large scale manchego producers, the wax protects from bacteria and mold, instead the cheeses are rubbed by hand with a cleaning solution to prevent mold growth, resulting in a natural tan colored rind. The use of raw milk allows this to be certified as an artisan manchego. Aged for one year, the cheese has a slightly crumbly texture and pockets of crystallization. All this extra care results in a cheese with an remarkable depth of flavor, milky, and grassy and a little bit piquant.

Mt Alice $7

Pasteurized cow’s milk cheese from the Von Trapp Farmstead Creamery in Waitsfield VT. This is THE Von Trapp family, as in the hills are alive. After leaving Austria in the 1938 (see Sound of Music for more details) the family settled in vermont and purchased a number of plots of land, one of which, a dairy farm has evolved over the years into a farmstead creamery. Mt. Alice is a camembert style cheese, aged for 3-5 weeks with a bloomy rind. Rich and buttery. Not ok for a penicillin allergy.

Casatica Di Bufala $7

Pasteurized buffalo milk cheese from Lombardy. Animal Rennet, aged 2-3 months. Made by Quattro Portoni, owned by a pair of brothers near bergamo produce traditional italian cheeses but substitute buffalo milk for a twist on tradition. This is a stracchino style cheese, rich creamy and a little nutty, with a bloomy white rind. 

Dating and Labeling, an illustrated guide

In this restaurant, because we care about the details, we cut our tape with scissors or a knife, we don't ever rip it with our hands. Please see below for clarity:

No!

Also No! (except for the sumac. good job with that one) 

Yes!

For more info on this subject, here's an article that pretty much sums it up. 

New Desserts (Bombolini, Chocolate Torta, Affogato Ventuno)

Bombolini

These are little donuts made from flour, sugar, eggs, butter, creme fraiche, whole milk, black pepper, and yeast. They are fried to order and tossed with a citrus sugar (orange zest, grapefruit zest, sugar). Served in a caste iron skillet with a brown butter caramel sauce for dipping (sugar, water, brown butter, creme fraiche).

Chocolate Torta

This is a gluten free chocolate cake made from (chocolate, butter, vanilla, salt, sugar, eggs and aperol). It is made light and fluffy by whipping the egg whites into a meringue and then folding them into the chocolate mixture. Baked in small mason jars, they're cut in half to order and 'filled' with a ricotta crema (ricotta, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, whipped cream), and candied pine nuts.  

Affogato Ventuno

This is a cross between a dessert and a cocktail and is an homage to the classic affogato (espresso, and ice cream). Affogato is Italian for drowned. We're replacing the espresso with a house espresso liqueur (sambuca, braulio, coffee), and pouring it over top of an amaretti cookie ice cream (amaretti cookies, cream, sugar, egg yolks).  Amaretti are cookies made from either almonds or apricot kernels, sugar, and egg whites. We're using ones made from apricot kernels which are therefore nut free. Apricot kernels do contain trace amounts of cyanide, but they're completely safe to eat. Some pregnant women avoid them, however these same pregnant women should be avoiding alcohol so no issues there. The plate is comes with a hazelnut and apricot biscotti (flour, sugar, eggs, hazelnuts, lemon zest, apricots, and grains of paradise).