Buying American Cheeses For A Cheeseboard

Selecting US Cheese With Distinct Qualities For Tasting Delights

Oct 28, 2008

Creating a cheeseboard can be overwhelming due to sheer choice. Three American cheeses of distinction to select and buy for creating a cheeseboard are introduced.

American produces some great tasting culinary cheeses including aged Monterey Jack, Shelburne and Coach button cheeses. Making a selection to create a cheeseboard of American cheeses can be tricky given the wide range of choice of American goat’s cheese, American hard cheese, bloomy white crust and washed cheeses available to buy in American and American blue cheeses.

As a starting point to buying American cheeses for a cheeseboard, here’s an introduction to three American producers and their cheeses that are recognised for their excellence: Humboldt Fog, Maytag Blue and Vermont Shepherd.

Humboldt Fog Cheese

Humboldt Fog is the signature ripened cheese of Cypress Grove Chevre Fine Goat Milk Cheeses, who celebratde their silver anniversary in the cheese industry with a scoop of seven awards at the American Cheese Society Awards in August 2008.

Described by the Humboldt Fog Cheese producers as “an elegant, soft, surface ripened cheese. The texture is creamy and luscious with a subtle tangy flavour. Each handcrafted wheel features a ribbon of edible vegetable ash along its center and a coating of ash under its exterior to give it a distinctive, cake-like appearance. An American Original!” Humboldt Fog, made in McKinleyville, California, can be purchased online. Orders are shipped on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Maytag Blue Cheese

Every good cheeseboard needs a great tasting blue cheese. Buying cheese to create a cheeseboard of American cheeses should consider the provenance and longevity of Maytag Blue Cheese. In their own words, Maytag Dairy Farms, Maytag Blue cheese producers, write: “On October 11, 1941, the first wheels of Maytag Blue Cheese were formed and put to age in our caves. Not much has changed since then, although our truck is newer and our cheesemakers are older!”

When placing an order for a wheel of Maytag Blue Cheese from Maytag Dairy Farms in Newton, Iowa, artisan cheese enthusiasts can be sure that each wheel is made by hand using fresh sweet Iowa cows milk and produced by a process of “aging it in our caves twice as long as most other blue cheeses” with close monitoring to quality of taste.

In the American Cheese Society Farmhouse Sheep’s Milk Category, Vermont Shepherd Cheese has been a consistent high performer with 6 First Places since 1993 and including in 2007 plus a Best in Show in 2000. David and Yesenia Ielpi Major and their five children own and operate Vermont Shepherd. Vermont Shepherd Cheese is made on the Major farm in Putney, Vermont. Vermont Shepherd can be bought online or in person from the farm store for a Fall, Winter and Spring American cheeseboard.

Vermont Shepherd Cheese is described as “aged, raw milk sheep cheese. This cheese has a golden brown rind and rustic shape, every wheel is distinctive. The texture is smooth and creamy, the flavour is sweet, rich and earthy with hints of clover, mint and thyme. This cheese is seasonal and is only available August through April.”

Farmers Markets, gourmet cheese counters and cheesemongers will be able to advise further on artisan cheeses produced in America.

The copyright of the article Buying American Cheeses For A Cheeseboard in Artisan Produce is owned by Susan Morris. Permission to republish Buying American Cheeses For A Cheeseboard in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.