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Everything else is just Velveeta!®
Bingham Hill Cheese Company shined at the London-based 2005 World Cheese Awards, winning 10 medals for their cow, goat and sheep milk cheeses and reaffirming their position as one of America?s most innovative and versatile cheesemakers.The World Cheese Awards is considered among most important cheese competitions in the world. With more cheeses from more countries worldwide than any other competition, the World Cheese Awards is respected by cheesemakers, retailers, and consumers alike. This year, more than 200 cheeses from the United States were judged side by side with more than 1,000 cheeses from Europe, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. Bingham Hill?s 10 medals were easily the most garnered by any U.S. cheese company. Bingham Hill?s awards included a sweep of the ?fresh cheese? category, where the company won six medals. Bingham Hill?s dominant performance in the fresh cheese category cemented the company?s reputation as the premier maker of flavored soft cheeses in the United States.
The curd is not cut; it is hand-ladled into cheesecloth saddlebags that allow the cheese to drain. The cheese is salted after draining and hand-formed into balls, then placed on liners on bread racks. The racks of newly-formed puffs are misted with brie mold and are aged for approximately 2.5 weeks and some are decorated with herbs to become Tumbleweeds. Poudre Puffs feature a mild taste of fresh cream and mushrooms - distinctive from all cow's milk bloomy rind cheeses. Not an elastic texture like brie - crumbly when cut, but creamy in the mouth. Tumbleweeds are dusted with sage, rosemary and red chile flakes.
It
has been just eight years since Sue Conley and Peggy Smith launched
Tomales Bay Foods in a renovated barn in Point Reyes Station,
California. After successful careers as Bay Area Area chefs (Sue owned
the popular Bette's Oceanview Diner in Berkeley; Peggy ran the kitchen
at the renowned Chez Panisse), the women shifted their focus to Tomales
Bay. Sue and Peggy began to make cheese from the pure, natural, organic
milk produced by Straus Family Dairy, and Cowgirl Creamery was born.
All Cowgirl Creamery cheeses are still made at the barn in Point Reyes
Station.
Just North of the San Francisco Bay, Mt. Tamalpais rises like a monument to Northern California's natural beauty. In deference, Cowgirl Creamery named its signature cheese MT TAM. It's a smooth, creamy, elegant, 8-oz, triple-cream - made with tasty organic milk from the Straus Family Dairy. MT TAM is firm, yet buttery with a mellow, earthy flavor reminiscent of white mushrooms. MT TAM won 1st Prize in the soft-ripened category at this year?s American Cheese Society competition.
Red Hawk Cowgirl Creamery captures the essence of West Marin with its Red Hawk, a triple-cream, washed-rind, fully-flavored cheese made from organic cow's milk from the Straus Family Dairy. Aged six weeks and washed with a brine solution that promotes the growth of a bacteria that tints the rind a sunset red-orange, Red Hawk won Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in 2003.
St Pat Nettle Wrap St Pat is a seasonal springtime cheese. These rounds are made with whole organic milk and are wrapped with stinging nettle leaves. Do not fear the nettles, since they are washed and then frozen to remove the sting before they are wrapped around the cheese. St Pat, with its distinctive, green wrapping, commemorates the arrival of spring in Marin County. After three weeks of aging, St Pat is mellow, soft, and full of flavor. The nettle leaves impart a smoky, artichoke flavor.
Towering misty Redwood trees and the scenic rocky northern California coastline lured Mary Keehn to Humboldt County where she established Cypress Grove Ch?vre in 1984. From the very beginning, Cypress Grove has been recognized for its superior quality; winning more than 30 Gold Medals and Best of Show in national competitions. It's this commitment to award-winning quality that shows in every product Cypress Grove makes. Purple Haze
Lavender buds mixed with wild harvested fennel pollen give this cheese
its addicting flavor. Its sweet flavor is wonderful as a dessert with
honey and almonds or in a main dish with lamb.
Laura
Chenel originated American ch?vre in 1979 under the tutelage of
Jean-Claude Le Jaouen, the foremost French authority on ch?vre
production. As his prot?g?e, she traveled to France to live with and
study the methods of four producers over a three month period. Upon her
return to Sonoma County, she combined the cheese making techniques she
had learned with her own ideas. When she offered her cheese to Alice
Waters at Chez Panisse restaurant, Alice immediately placed a standing
order and Laura Chenel's Ch?vre was launched. In 1993, Laura moved the
business into Al Stornetta's historic Gold Medal Dairy south of Sonoma.
Chenel served on the Board of Directors of the American Cheese Society
throughout the '80s. In 1984, in recognition of her unique influence on
the development of American cuisine, she was among the first 50
inductees to "Who's Who of Cooking In America". Chenel continues to
oversee all aspects of her business from the development of new cheeses
through production and sales. Success and growth have not modified her
original inspiration: an unyielding desire to make exceptional goat
cheeses.
Carmody
The Marin French Cheese Company has manufactured cheese in the same location for 136 years, nestled between the California wine country north of San Francisco and the Pacific Ocean. In 1865, Jefferson A. Thompson purchased and stocked his 700 acre ranch with Grade A cattle and began the making of California granular cheese for the up and coming market in San Francisco. Eager to be innovative, in 1900 the family decided to emulate the enterprise of a neighbor, Louis Cantel (of French Swiss derivation) and engage, as he did, in the making of Camembert and related soft ripened cheeses. Since that time, Marin French Cheese has refined the ability to produce "authentic French" cheeses with a unique California style and flavor. Many have compared the taste of our Brie and Camembert to that of a traditional European raw milk cheese. Chateau Fromage Skyhill Farms |
