Say, Cheese: Two Spring Finds

I am very excited about these two cheeses, since they were totally unexpected, and if they hadn’t literally been shoved into my face about a month ago, I would have never have given either of them a thought. Both are farmstead cheeses, Sunset Bay made from goats’ milk by River’s Edge Chèvre on Three Ring Farm in Oregon and Ladysmith made from organic cows’ milk by Samish Bay Cheese on Rootabaga Country Farm in Washington. The silliest part is that I’ve known about these cheese makers for a while. Last year I bought River’s Edge Fresh Chèvre for about three months until my local supply dried up, and Samish Bay Cheese has a booth at several Seattle Farmer’s Markets. In my defense though, Sunset Bay never makes it to Seattle, and Ladysmith is a relatively new cheese - in the past all I noticed in the Samish Bay booth were wedges of cheese, vacuum-packed in plastic. After I tasted these cheeses at Steve’s Cheese in Portland, I searched for them in Seattle. No luck on the Sunset Bay, but Samish offers Ladysmith at the Farmers’ Markets, and they cut it to order!!!

Sunset Bay was a complete surprise, and I almost turned down Steve’s taste. Bloomy rind goat cheeses are not high on my list although I do love fresh Chèvre, wash rind, and hard goat cheeses. As Steve described the layer of smoked paprika, I gave it two more strikes - flavoring a cheese was bad enough, but flavoring an American cheese with a smoked red pepper from Spain! He echoed my sentiments, but pressed me to taste. Wow, it all worked. Pat Morford raises Alpine goats on her farm in Oregon’s Central Coast Range. She sandwiches a layer of smoked Pimenton between layers of her creamy Chèvre, and then coats the whole wheel with ash. It’s hard for me to decide whether I like it more when the paste is still young and firm, or when it’s more mature and runny. The light saltiness of the ash and the sweet, light smokiness of the Pimenton add amazing counterpoints to the creamy paste with its lightly piquant finish. It’s the first thing I think of for my morning toast, when I have it in the fridge. It’s especially good with medium bodied white wines like dry Semillon or Pinot Blanc.

Ladysmith was an easier sell, especially when Steve showed it to me and said it was a “fresh cheese.” Suzanne and Roger Wechsler keep a mixed herd of Jersey, Shorthorn, and Dutch Belted cows on their organic farm in the Skagit Valley north of Seattle. They started selling the fresh cheese at the end of last year, and I’m really sorry I missed the introduction. The delightful aroma of tangy, cultured butter caught me by surprise as I raised the piece to my mouth. The spreadable cheese had a tangy, fresh milk burst on my tongue, with a hint of sweetness before its long, lingering finish. It was creamy but also strikingly refreshing. Its flavor and tanginess brought to mind the center of a freshly made ball of buffalo mozzarella, and I just can’t wait for tomato season to arrive to test out my theory with a salad of heirloom tomatoes, arugula, Ladysmith, olive oil, and sea salt, or maybe I'll just put the salad into a warm baguette.