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.