We've got two great products this week with Belgian traditions and American twists. Read on!
The Cheese, Bridgid's Abbey is from the mother and son duo at Cato Corner farm in Colchester, Connecticut. This Trappist-style monastery cheese has a smooth consistency and an irresistibly rich, and mild taste. The flavor is slightly milky, with a nice balance of acidity and sweetness.
Originally this cheese was inspired by a Belgian recipe brought to cheesemaker Mark by a Belgian cheesemaker named Freddie Michels. This is a rinsed curd cheese which is made by replacing a portion of the whey with water. This reduces the lactose and slightly warms the curd during the cheesemaking process.
Made from raw milk this washed-rind cheese changes throughout the year. Summer batches are firmer with a slightly higher acidity. The winter batches are creamier and often a bit stronger in paste and aroma. The deep yellow color of the paste is a result of the beta carotene that comes from the Jersey cows' pasture diet.
For the beer we go to Belgium. Brewed for Vanberg & Dewulf by Schelde Brouwerij the Hop Ruiter takes the lively, yeasty tradition of Belgian blond ales and pairs it with a touch of American hoppy aggressiveness. There are some orange blossom and biscuit aromas, a creamy mouth feel, and pleasing presence of bitterness from Nelson Sauvin hops in the finish. This beer is raucous, rustic, bold and alive!
Together these are both lovely examples of amazing, special, small batch products. The Hop Ruiter is an assertive beer that tempers some of the salty , lactic nature of the Bridgid's Abbey and brings out a hint of earthy complexity. The fine carbonation tangles with the richness in the cheese creating a delightful mouth feel.
-Xian
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Pairing and ACS
This week the annual ACS conference is happening in Seattle. In addition to the fantastic seminars, meet-ups, book-signings and Festival of Cheese there was a Cheesemonger competition that took place on Thursday. While the official results won't be revealed until tomorrow we're immensely proud of Cesar and Cristi for the fabulous job they did representing Pastoral. We've got our fingers crossed for you guys!
Housekeeping Note:
This is our lost posting on the Blogger platform as we are moving our blog over to Wordpress. Stay tuned for the new site. It's going to be bigger, better, super awesome and rad!
For our pairing this week we're going north and south.
The cheese comes to us from Fromagerie Tournevent in Quebec, Canada. Chevre Noir is a goat's milk cheddar aged for approximately one year. In 1976 Lucie and Rene quit their city jobs to move to the rolling hills of Chesterville, Quebec where they started a dairy goat farm.
As many dairy farmers before them, they soon realized that they had more fluid milk than they could market and decided to focus on cheesemaking as a way to use the surplus milk. In 2007, Tournevent was purchased by Damafro, another cheese company in Quebec.
Made in the Cheddar style and aged for a year this goat's milk cheese continuously surprises. Hard and crumbly, with a long finish and refreshingly fruity flavors, this cheese inevitably gets people's attention. This wine is perfect with Chinon or Chenin Blanc wines.
We've decided to go to South Africa for the wine.
Rietvallei Chenin Blanc is an honest expression of one of South Africa's signature white grapes. Rietvallei is also one of the oldest family-owned estates in Robertson, located in the Western Cape, South Africa's premier whine growing region.
Chenin Blanc is originally from the Loire Valley and has a high acidity that makes is suitable for creating everything from sparkling wines to dessert wines. It's also known in South Africa as "Steen" where it is the country's most planted grape variety.
The Rietvallei Chenin Blanc is comprised of old-wine, hand picked grapes. The juice is then stainless steel fermented at a low temperature until considered a dry wine. The result: a fruity, cristp Chenin Blanc with lovely floral aromas of dried apple and musk sweets. The palate is full-bodied with a balanced acidity complemented with a lingering aftertaste.
The rich, creamy texture of the Chevre Noir Cheddar is a great juxtaposition for the Chenin's fruit-like acidity. The subtle nutty flavors in the cheese give a salty boost to the pairing when it meets with the sweeter quince-like notes that are exhibited in the wine. Salty+Sweet=Yum!
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Importance of Having Good Chocolate
This week we're pulling from three of the most important food groups, chocolate, cheese and wine.
The chocolate comes to us from Antica Dolceria Bonajuto in Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1880 by Francesco Bonajuto, Antica Dolceria, has been recognized world-wide for it's chocolate production.
The chocolate begins with a mass of semi-ground cocoa that still contains its cocoa butter. The mass is heated to make it fluid, and when ready it is mixed with caster sugar and spices (either cinnamon or vanilla). The mixture is kept at a temperature that prevents the sugar crystals from melting and allows them to remain an integral part of the chocolate.
This chocolate is pure, without the addition of butter, vegetable fats, milk derivatives or lecithin, just sugar and spices. We are sampling the vanilla bars at the stores, but if you're looking for a deeper spice and slightly more savory characteristics I suggest pairing with the cinnamon bar.
Humbolt Fog comes to us from Cypress Grove in California. Cheesemaker Mary Keehn is one of the leading ladies that put a spotlight on goat cheese in the American dairy scene and introduced high quality goat cheese to the American palate. She began raising Alpine goats in the 1970's and quickly discovered that she had a natural talent for breeding goats. Her herd began winning numerous awards and before she knew it, Mary was recognized as America's premier Alpine dairy goat breeder.
Like many farmers she soon was faced with a surplus of milk and so turned to cheesemaking. Eeventually Mary made the decision to sell her goats and instead to focus on the artisan production of cheese. Cypress Grove supports the agricultural community in Humboldt county and buys milk from people who practice sustainable farming.
Humbolt Fog is an elegant, soft goat cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavor. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash running through its center and a coating of ash under it's white exterior.
The wine is Jorge Ordonez Malaga Special Selection Muscat. Muscat is a phenomenal grape that yields some of the most wonderful sweet dessert wines and dry whites as well. It is a variety that is grown around the world with great success.
Special Selection comes from thirty year old vineyards in the mountains of Axarquia in the south of Spain. Fermentation is carried out completely in stainless steel tanks and, as is characteristic of this type of wine, the alcohol comes exclusively from grape fermentation.
Pale gold in color with intense fresh notes of orange and exotic spices, floral and musk this sweet wine is powerful on the palate, embracing and warm with just a punch of minerality.
The sweetness of the wine, slight acidity and tang of the goat cheese and the rich spice of the chocolate all come together to make a well-balanced, delicious, party of happiness in your mouth!
The chocolate comes to us from Antica Dolceria Bonajuto in Sicily, Italy. Founded in 1880 by Francesco Bonajuto, Antica Dolceria, has been recognized world-wide for it's chocolate production.
The chocolate begins with a mass of semi-ground cocoa that still contains its cocoa butter. The mass is heated to make it fluid, and when ready it is mixed with caster sugar and spices (either cinnamon or vanilla). The mixture is kept at a temperature that prevents the sugar crystals from melting and allows them to remain an integral part of the chocolate.
This chocolate is pure, without the addition of butter, vegetable fats, milk derivatives or lecithin, just sugar and spices. We are sampling the vanilla bars at the stores, but if you're looking for a deeper spice and slightly more savory characteristics I suggest pairing with the cinnamon bar.
Humbolt Fog comes to us from Cypress Grove in California. Cheesemaker Mary Keehn is one of the leading ladies that put a spotlight on goat cheese in the American dairy scene and introduced high quality goat cheese to the American palate. She began raising Alpine goats in the 1970's and quickly discovered that she had a natural talent for breeding goats. Her herd began winning numerous awards and before she knew it, Mary was recognized as America's premier Alpine dairy goat breeder.
Like many farmers she soon was faced with a surplus of milk and so turned to cheesemaking. Eeventually Mary made the decision to sell her goats and instead to focus on the artisan production of cheese. Cypress Grove supports the agricultural community in Humboldt county and buys milk from people who practice sustainable farming.
Humbolt Fog is an elegant, soft goat cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavor. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash running through its center and a coating of ash under it's white exterior.
The wine is Jorge Ordonez Malaga Special Selection Muscat. Muscat is a phenomenal grape that yields some of the most wonderful sweet dessert wines and dry whites as well. It is a variety that is grown around the world with great success.
Special Selection comes from thirty year old vineyards in the mountains of Axarquia in the south of Spain. Fermentation is carried out completely in stainless steel tanks and, as is characteristic of this type of wine, the alcohol comes exclusively from grape fermentation.
Pale gold in color with intense fresh notes of orange and exotic spices, floral and musk this sweet wine is powerful on the palate, embracing and warm with just a punch of minerality.
The sweetness of the wine, slight acidity and tang of the goat cheese and the rich spice of the chocolate all come together to make a well-balanced, delicious, party of happiness in your mouth!
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