Nettle Meadow, up in the Adirondack foothills, also makes a lovely soft fromage blanc in several flavors, in addition to the sublime, better-than-Brie Kunik and its Crane Mountain, a chèvre that’s like a tangy chalk pudding and evolves in an interesting way with age. Another regional standout is Dancing Ewe Farm in Granville, where Jody and Luisa Somers make extraordinary Caciotta and Pecorino; their aged Pecorino is a fine grating cheese, and, along with Sprout Creek’s Barat, obviates the need for traditional Italian imports. Though Dancing Ewe Farm is in Washington County, there’s a local source: The couple can be found at the Rhinebeck Farmer’s Market every Sunday.
Jasper Hill Farm—in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom—has recently opened a state-of-the-art affinage facility where nearby producers can bring their cheeses to age under ideal and expertly tended conditions. This allows small outfits to make more cheese, since they are not burdened with aging their inventory, and thus do more business without sacrificing quality. The makers in our area all expressed a strong desire for a similar situation here, since the quality-versus-quantity equation is a very real concern for all of them. They hope that effective reform of the law and an increase in demand will allow for more investment in this type of infrastructure, which will in turn allow more start-up artisans to enter the market.
Getting Really Cheesy
While many of these cheeses are meant for eating as they are, there are plenty suited for cooking as well. New York Cheddar is ubiquitous, of course, though not always artisanal. Fresh mozzarella can be found locally, and Hawthorne Valley Farm in Ghent makes organic staples like cheddar, Alpine, and Edamer that are perfect for sandwiches or melting. Taylor Farm in Londonderry makes dense, creamy Gouda in a variety of flavors, including smoked. It is in part through cooking with our local cheeses that we will begin to refine and define exactly what our regional cuisine is; the differences in flavor between ours and theirs (as it were) will suggest new pairings akin to Membrillo (quince paste) and Manchego, or Port and Stilton, or Sauternes and Roquefort. It’s not impossible to imagine that a few years hence some of our local bounty will enter the same pantheon of culinary classics, further supporting the sustainable farming practiced by these dairies. And sustainable farming is a matter of national security, let alone the foundation of a beautiful landscape and a healthy diet.
The excellence of our local and regional cheeses is not a secret; many of the efforts mentioned here have won top awards at national competitions and received glowing press. Most of them are carried by stores in New York. But there’s no corporate juggernaut spending millions to make Kunik or Ouray a household name, and people like to buy names they recognize. The challenge now is for us as consumers to disabuse ourselves permanently of the notion that exclusively local consumption of cheese is limiting in some way. We will always need to import olive oil, coffee, and many other essentials, but we can henceforth declare independence from lactation without representation and never look back.
For those of us less familiar with the subject, Applestone suggests going to farmer’s markets to begin our education: “Learn what you like, and go from there. Ask [the vendors] who else they think is doing good work.” And then, when the season is over, we all need to ask our local retailers to carry our favorites (or order directly from the farms). In this economy, the consumer has more influence than ever before. Attentive allocation of our dollars will help to ensure a prosperous culinary and agricultural future for our region. Behold the power of cheese.
RESOURCES
Amazing Real Live Food Company
Pine Plains, NY
www.amazingreallive.com
Berkshire Blue
Great Barrington, MA
www.berkshireblue.com
Cobb Hill
Hartland, VT
www.cobbhill.org
Cato Corner Farm
Colchester, CT
www.catocornerfarm.com
Dancing Ewe Farm
Granville, NY
www.dancingewe.com
