Jakob's Bowl

Raindrops On Roses 2009

The end of the first calendar year is approaching for Jakob’s Bowl, for better or worse, and I thought I would share some of my favorite food finds in 2009. In the fresh fruits and vegetables department, this has been a very good year for me from coast to coast Red Queen Peaches in San Francisco, and Burgundy Apples in Boston top the list as well as Ayers Creek Zolfino Beans from Gaston Oregon, and Wild Arugula, Duarte Plums and Abbè Fètel Pears from here in Seattle.

In the cheese cave it has been a really instructive year with a number of new cheeses striking my fancy, and three hitting me like thunderbolts. While I have long been a fan of fresh chèvre, the Black Sheep Creamery here in Washington opened my eyes and my palate to some amazing, Fresh Pecorino, and it kept me spreading until the ewes dried up for the year in the early autumn. Then I stumbled across a cows’ milk cheese from Vermont that I had wanted to taste for years, but didn’t want to pay the shipping. It just isn’t any cows milk though; it is Ayrshire cows milk that is used to produce Vermont Ayr, which is finally being distributed out here. Creamy and rich, it rivals the best mountain style cheeses made in this country or in Europe. Finally, after decades of cheese eating, I actually got enthused about Gouda this year! Well, not just any Gouda, but the farmstead-made Wilde Weide that is imported by Essex Street Cheese in NYC.

The Hills Are Alive

...The Lord alps those that alps themselves

Groucho Marx

My preference in cow-milk cheese has always leaned toward the Alpine varieties, Abondance, Comté, and Beaufort from France and Gruyère and Appenzeller from Switzerland. Most of these names are probably familiar to you, but some may be less than impressive in your cheese memories. More than likely, this is because there is a lot of industrially made wheels of cheese stamped with these names that gets dumped in this country. The traditionally made versions of these cheeses, however, are sublime with the best usually being labeled ‘Alpage,’ meaning that they are made from raw milk taken from the cows when they are in the high mountain pastures. Think of small herds of Abondance, Tarentaise, Montbéliarde, and Swiss Brown cows leisurely grazing their way through lush Alpine Valleys in the warm sun from late spring through early fall. These traditional firm cheeses are well aged with creamy textures, pleasantly interspersed with protein crystals, and complex flavor profiles that usually include fruit, nuts, grass, herbs, and even hay and other barnyard flavors.

These were my cheeses of choice up until about a half dozen years ago when I first tasted Pleasant Ridge Reserve from the Uplands Cheese Company in Wisconsin, and Tarentaise from Thistle Hill Farm in Vermont. These Alpine-style cheeses just blew me away, - the Pleasant Ridge is full-bodied and complex possessing similarities to both Comte and Beaufort, while the ‘lighter’ weight Tarentaise hinted at Abondance - and they both made outstanding grilled cheese sandwiches. For the last few years, I have been telling anyone who would listen that the Pleasant Ridge was the Best Cheese in the World! These two incited me to look for more Alpine-style cheeses in this country.

Let's Go Dutch

I guess that it’s best to start by indicating that I’ve never been a big fan of Gouda cheese, most likely it’s from exposure to nothing but industrial strength Gouda during my formative years - Gouda is one of the most commoditized cheeses in the world. It’s not that I disliked Gouda; it just never seemed tasty and interesting enough to waste my saturated fat allotment on. I do have a friend that is a big fan of aged Gouda, and he served some older Goudas on a number of occasions over the last few years. I appreciated their quality, but they never moved me to go out and buy.

Last fall while perusing the Formaggio Kitchen website for domestic artisanal cheeses, I ran across two Goudas with descriptions that intrigued me, Reypenaer VSOP and Reypenaer XO Reserve. I had always had good experiences with the cheeses from Formaggio Kitchen, so I decided to do a little research. Reypenaer is a small dairy in the Netherlands that apparently makes and ages its Gouda the ‘traditional’ way, what ever that means these days coming from the marketing savvy Dutch. The few reviews that I found were very enthusiastic, so I bought some of the VSOP (aged 2 years) and XO Reserve (select cheeses aged more than 2 years) as a gift for my friend last holiday season. Both were quite amazing, loaded with tiny crystals and rich flavors I had never tasted before in any cheese, especially the complex caramel notes. I’ve since bought some for myself, but I find that it is so rich and sweet that I only enjoy it if I have just a small amount at one time. I’m not sure this makes me a convert, but now at least I can say that I’ve enjoyed it and bought it.

A New Sheep and A New Goat with A Hint of Cow

I stopped in Steve’s Cheese before heading back to Seattle, hoping against hope that he would finally have some Big Woods Blue from Shepherd’s Way Farms in Minnesota. He had been out since late spring, understandably so, since most domestic artisan and farmstead cheese makers can sell all they make at Farmers’ Markets from June through October and have no need to wholesale. Big Woods Blue has been my favorite sheep milk blue for over a year, and possibly the best in the country.

I asked Steve for a taste, and as he pulled the wheel out of the cheese case, he suggested that I also taste a new sheep milk blue he brought in from Wisconsin. Before I could say anything, his eyes widened as he repeated his suggestion. Since he was as big a fan of the Shepherd’s Way blue as I was, I knew something was wrong. He suggested that I taste the Bohemian Blue from Hidden Springs Farm in Westby Wisconsin. It was younger and a bit sharper than I remembered the Big Woods Blue, but it was delightful in its own right - made from a mix of the milk from East Friesian and Lacaune sheep. I picked up the sample of Big Woods Blue with some trepidation, and even before I tasted it the aroma seemed different. The flavor was ‘off’ compared to the cheeses from last year with an overpowering ‘green’ tang and non of the finishing creaminess that had endeared it to my palate. Something was wrong!!! Steve told me that he was going to order another wheel just to make sure, but if it was the same that would be it for Big Woods Blue.

Heirloom Meets Heritage

I thought I had missed King David apples this season because of my two recent trips. This meant that I was only going to be able to enjoy one of my three favorite varieties this year. I had my fill of Tokyo Rose Apples earlier in the season, and was counting on the King David’s, since I no longer have a source for Arkansas Black Winesaps. I dragged myself out in the pouring rain this morning, hoping to get a few more Nickajacks, and there they were - the farmer had only a dozen or so remaining in the box, so I snapped up most of them. I ran across the King David about three years ago, and it hooked me with just one bite. The apples are medium to large, scarlet to burgundy red in color and a classical apple shape (somewhat squat compared to a red delicious). The skin seems to bleed a bit of red into the yellow flesh, which is firm, crisp and very juicy. It has a bit more sweetness than the Nickajack and a bit more acidity. The King David appears to have been a forgotten variety that was rediscovered in the 1890s in Arkansas. It is believed to be a cross between a Jonathan and a Winesap or a Black Winesap. From the appearance and taste I think it is the latter, and this is probably why I like them both so much - the King David is juicier and a bit more acidic than the Black Winesap, but not quite as firm.

I made a quick stop at a local market later in the day only to find a cheese that I had been wanting to taste for a few years, Vermont Ayr from Crawford Family Farm in Whiting, Vermont. I was a bit stunned since this is a fairly small farm that doesn’t sell its cheese online and has limited distribution west of the Mississippi. It is made from the unpasteurized milk of a herd of 150 Ayrshire cows. It is made in the style of a French mountain tome, and the higher milk fat content makes it very creamy. It is rich and (hazel) nutty with distinctive notes of mushroom and the barnyard. It goes amazingly well with the King David apples., and it would make a great grilled cheese sandwich. The woman behind the cheese counter cut into a new wheel for my piece, and I think I’ve talked myself into going back for more tomorrow!

Out And About In Boston And Cambridge

The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.

R. W. Emerson

Even though A & P was a well established supermarket when I was very young, and an older brother worked for a small, regional supermarket chain, my mother shopped every few days at the local butcher shop and the local produce store and our dairy and bread needs were filled by the milkman and the bakery truck that delivered every few days. I think that’s why my freezer has always been virtually empty, and I have always shopped for food at least every other day. It helps to be living in a major metropolitan area situated within a diverse agricultural region, so I don’t have to buy my meat in cellophane wrapped coffins; I can find milk, cream, and cheeses from a pasture-based farmers, and locally raised vegetables throughout most of the year. So it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that even with only three days in the Boston area, I’d be out ‘window shopping’ for food.

One of my objectives for this trip was a visit to a former online competitor that I had always held in high regard, Formaggio Kitchen. As the website manager for an Internet specialty food boutique, I first discovered Formaggio Kitchen over eight years ago through its simple but tasteful website. Although it didn’t offer the same depth and range as our website, it offered some of the best quality imported products available in the country, including many that we carried. I especially liked their cheese collection and their selection of Italian holiday confections mainly from small producers, many which they imported directly. I ordered one of their Ofella d’Oro Christmas cakes baked by Pasticceria Perbellini in Bologna, and it changed my whole appreciation of Panettone. Formaggio Kitchen has been a Cambridge institution for over thirty years, and they have spread their wings to include Boston’s South End and New York City’s Essex Market.