Cheese of the Month Club – January 2017

We are headed out to the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco this month to find some great new products for our shop, so we thought we’d highlight some of the cheeses that have won food awards throughout the years.  We hope you enjoy all these award winners, and see you in the shop soon! Come check out all the great finds we’ve come back with to share with all of you!

Bijou – Vermont Creamery in Websterville, VT

Pasteurized, goats’ milk

Awards:

• 2014, 2015 and 2016 American Cheese Society 1^st place Winner for American made/International Style
• 2016 Fancy Food Show winner for Best Cheese
• 2014 Fancy Food Show winner for Best Perishable Food Service Product
• 2014 Gold Medal at the World Cheese Awards

About: “Bijou is French for “jewel” and epitomizes all that is special about goats’ milk and the making and caring for a small cheese. This geotrichum-rinded cheese has a unique sweet and yeasty flavor.

Made with fresh pasteurized goats’ milk from family farms, Bijou curd coagulates overnight, drains in cheese cloth and is then shaped into little buttons. Dried, and ripened for one week, Bijou evolves with time, gaining a sharpness and complexity after thirty days. Serve toasted on baguette with a salad for a traditional French Bistro Chevre Chaud or on a cheeseboard” www.vermontcreamery.com.

Pairing Notes:  The Bijou would pair wonderfully with a Belgian Tripel, roasted hazelnuts and cranberries.

Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar – Prince Edward Island, Canada

Raw, cows’ milk

Awards:

• 2016 American Cheese Society – Awarded North America’s Best Clothbound Cheddar
• 2016 Canadian Cheese Awards – Awarded Canada’s Cheese of the Year and Canada’s Best Aged Cheddar
• 2015 World Cheese Awards – Awarded World’s Best Vintage Cheddar

About: “Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar’s recipe comes from the Orkney Islands, north of Scotland and is hand made in the style of the great traditional English cheddars.  The milk of Holstein cows from the small local farms in the rolling hills of Prince Edward Island, is gently heated, but not pasteurized to allow beneficial microbes to thrive and give depth of character and flavor.  The salt air and iron-rich soil of Prince Edward Island combine to add flavor and quality to this cheddar.  The Avonlea offers complex flavours with the aroma of fruit and toasted nuts with a tangy bite at the end” www.cowscreamery.ca.

Belford – James Ranch in Durango, CO

Raw, cows’ milk

Awards:

• 2016 Good Food Awards

 About: “Belford is James Ranch’s signature cheese.  They sell it in both a young and mature form.  It started out as a gouda, but after having made many changes, it now stands alone as a JR original.  It is very creamy and has a lovely tang” www.jamesranch.net.

Pairing Notes:  Belford goes exceptionally well with apples and pears, and it melts well to include in recipes.

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For those of you with the added charcuterie of the month, we have a delightful salami for you!

Czarlami – Collaboration between Salumeria Biellese in NJ and Avery Brewing in Boulder, CO

Salumeria Biellese made this salami using the Czar Russian Stout from Avery Brewing.  The Stout adds a little bit of sweetness to this delicious salami.