Update on Vermont producer of Buffalo's Milk Products

You may recall a recent post, in which I recommended yogurt produced by Woodstock Water Buffalo Company under the Spoondance Creamery label.  On a shopping trip a couple of weeks ago, I noticed that Whole Foods was nearly sold out of the yogurt.  "Wow," I thought,"a ton of people in western Massachusetts read my blog and rushed out to find buffalo's milk yogurt!  Eat your heart out, Clotilde Dusoulier!"

Unfortunately, I learned that the shortage was not caused by a sudden explosion of Savor Culture fanaticism.  Days after I published the post, Woodstock Water Buffalo closed its doors.  It seems that the company had been sold by its founder, David Muller, to a private investment group in 2006.  In February, those investors declined to provide the capital needed for national distribution of WWB's products.  Production ceased, and the company was put up for sale.  

The new owner is an Italian-born businessman currently residing in Toronto, Canada.  According to the Burlington Free Press, he is committed to keeping the company in Vermont, and he plans to expand the product line to include grass-fed buffalo meat and aged cheese, in addition to yogurt and mozzarella.  In a telephone conversation, an employee of the company told me that aged cheeses will be developed with several Vermont small-scale cheesemakers: Plymouth Cheese, Crowley Cheese Company, and Jasper Hill Farm.

The company is now known as Vermont Water Buffalo Inc, and its products are expected to be available beginning in April, though distribution will be limited to Vermont for some time.  The name "Spoondance Creamery" will not be used for at least six months, as a condition of the business deal.

I was relieved to learn that this unique operation, with its herd of 680 water buffalo, is back in business.  By all accounts, the new owner seems to have the passion (and the deep pockets) needed to make this project successful again.  I'm looking forward to trying the new products from Vermont Water Buffalo, and will provide updates about product distribution.

Everybody's Got a Water Buffalo...

UPDATE:  The company producing this product has been sold and is now known as Vermont Water Buffalo Inc.  Use of the name, "Spoondance Creamery," is suspended, and product availability is limited.  Read the full story here.

Since our last topic of discussion was traditional Cheddar, I thought we might focus on something exotic today.  To set the tone, please visit my friend, Larry, for a bit of song and dance (warning: check your computer's volume if you're reading this in your cubicle).

And now, I present to you: yogurt made from water buffalo's milk!  This yogurt is so thick and creamy, you can turn the cup upside-down without any ending up on the carpet.  It's perfectly smooth, not a bit grainy on the tongue.  When I peeled back the foil wrapper to reveal the strawberry yogurt, there was no puddle of whey on top, just a uniform, dense texture that stayed obediently on my spoon.  The natural, berry flavor was just sweet enough to complement the yogurt's tanginess without overpowering it.  I ate this yogurt more slowly than usual, savoring the fresh balance of flavors and the creaminess.  It was so satisfying that one six-ounce cup provided two servings for me.

This unique product is made by Woodstock Water Buffalo Company in Vermont.   Spoondance Creamery is the new line of lowfat yogurt, joining the full-fat yogurts and mozzarella that bear the WWB label.  The website for Spoondance Creamery isn't running at the time of this post, but you can visit WWB's site to learn about the company.  One of their objectives is to support the expansion of water buffalo husbandry in the US.  It seems that water buffalo are highly adaptable to various climates, and they can thrive on less nutrient-dense food than cattle.  A good article about WWB can be found here, a newspaper article that was published sometime in 2007 (no dateline?).

I found their products at my local Whole Foods Market.  The other flavors I recall seeing are raspberry, blueberry, and plain.  I'm planning to buy the plain flavor to replace Greek-style yogurt because I prefer the smoothness and clean flavor of the buffalo milk.  Yum!

February 10 Update: Vanilla flavor is also offered by Spoondance Creamery.  I bought several containers of plain flavor, as well as one of blueberry.  Tried the blueberry this morning, and can report that it's tart.  I mean, biting into purple Sweettarts tart, leaving that faint tingling sensation on your tongue.  Wonderful Husband Charles didn't appear to enjoy it, judging by his expression.  It turns out that Spoondance flavored yogurts contain about two-thirds of the sugar content of the flavored yogurt I usually buy.  I like the tartness, but I think that the strawberry is more approachable than the blueberry flavor.

Feb. 12:  The plain yogurt is mild, but has a sour aftertaste like sour cream.  It was perfectly suited to eating with honey, and also great with blueberry jam stirred in.  I'm really tickled replace imported Fage Greek yogurt with this high-quality product from Vermont!

Mummy Dearest

You like Cheddar, right?  Sure, everybody likes Cheddar!  Whether it's cut from a shrink-wrapped block, peeled out of a wax sheath, or sliced from a bandage-wrapped truckle... wait a minute.  What's that dirty rag doing on my cheese?

Fear not, my friend, the traditional trappings of Cheddar.  Unlike wax or plastic, a layer of bandage around the rind allows the cheese to breathe and to lose moisture as it ages.  Matured for at least ten months, bandage-wrapped Cheddar gains a crumbly texture and develops an astonishing range of flavors.  

Of course, what's inside counts, as well.  Traditional Cheddar is made with unpasteurized milk and animal-derived rennet.  It perfectly demonstrates why raw milk cheese has a dedicated following: the subtle characteristics of the milk are amplified in the finished cheese.  Take the English farmhouse classics, Keen's and Montgomery's Cheddars.  Though they are created by the same process,* Keen's exhibits a vegetal, horseradish-like bite and gingery spiciness, while Montgomery's has a mellow meatiness and suggestion of sweetness.  Don't be alarmed to by a faintly musty scent or a few streaks of blue-green mold near the surface-- they are only evidence of a proper upbringing.

American examples, too, elicit a greater vocabulary than "mild" and "sharp."  Hailing from California, Fiscalini Farmstead's Bandage Wrapped Cheddar is redolent of butter and nuts.  The award-winning Cabot Clothbound Cheddar fills your mouth with sweet richness, and lingers just a moment too short-- must have another taste!  And though I haven't had the pleasure of trying it myself, I hear that Bleu Mont Dairy offers a full-flavored, bandage-wrapped specimen in Wisconsin.

Before we part ways in search of fine Cheddar, let me share some happy news: Grafton Village Cheese, a venerable producer of Vermont Cheddar, has its own cloth-wrapped version waiting patiently in the aging cellars of Jasper Hill Farm.  I have a feeling that the Cave-Aged Cheddar will reveal the distinct richness of Jersey milk, which Grafton uses in all of its Cheddars.

Do you know of other bandage-wrapped Cheddars produced in the US?  Post a comment to share your experiences!

Resources

*Click through the cheddar-making process (no bandage-wrapping)-- Grafton Village Cheese

Beautiful photos of making and aging famous English Cheddars-- Neal's Yard Dairy

Account of a visit to some of England's great cheese producers-- Artisanal Cheese Journal

Raw Milk Co-Star: Vermont Shepherd

Featured in the photo with Chase Hill Farm Camembert is a wedge of the acclaimed American sheep’s milk cheese, Vermont Shepherd. Vermont Shepherd is also a raw milk cheese, its natural rind formed over a four- to eight-month aging period in a hillside cave. The remarkable quality of this cheese reflects the terroir of the Major Farm in Putney, Vermont, where the herd of ewes graze and are milked, and where the cheese is produced and aged. Vermont Shepherd is a true farmstead cheese, influenced by the Basque cheesemaking traditions that the Majors traveled to the Pyrenees Mountains to learn.

A wheel of Vermont Shepherd has convex sides and a mottled brown, natural rind, resulting from many layers of mold that are brushed smooth during cave-aging. When you sit down to enjoy a wedge of it, you may notice that the rind, which is not meant to be eaten, carries the slightly musty scent of hay. The cheese has a smooth, pale yellow appearance, and its texture is pleasantly dense and tacky in the mouth. Savory from start to finish, the rich flavor of Vermont Shepherd exhibits an initial note of sourness, an indication of its pure ewe’s milk composition (sometimes referred to as “sheepiness”). Its complex flavor is characterized by fleeting herbal notes and a lingering, nutty sweetness.

Vermont Shepherd is a versatile cheese that can be appreciated by connoisseurs and novices alike. With its rich, subtle flavor profile, Vermont Shepherd is complemented by a range of accoutrements, including dried or preserved fruits (the cheesemaker suggests cherry preserves or glazed figs), nuts, or olives. I prefer the intensity of concentrated fruit to fresh fruit with this cheese, and suggest that you save the apples and grapes to accompany other cheeses. Similarly, choose a flavorful beverage to drink with Vermont Shepherd, be it a fruity red or white wine, a semi-dry cider, or a rich, smooth beer.

Pairing Cheese and Cider

It is appropriate that the opening posting on my first weblog should be an account of a new experience: tasting and appreciating small-production ciders. A newcomer to New England, I had previously considered cider to be a sparkling, characterless alternative to beer (if I considered it at all). Yesterday, I learned that cider is a surprising, versatile beverage that can complement cheese beautifully.

During Cider Day, a weekend-long festival held annually in Franklin County, Massachusetts, I attended a workshop on pairing New England cheeses and ciders. I will describe the six cheeses in detail, and will note particularly good cider pairings for each.

Triple, a soft-ripened, triple-cream cow's milk from Champlain Valley Creamery in Vermont, smells like sweet, fresh butter. Its rind has an "al dente" texture, and its neutral flavor does not detract from the citric note of the perfectly-aged paste. When buying this cheese, smell its rind to ensure that there is no trace of ammonia scent, which would destroy the cheese's sweet, delicate flavor. Tideview Vintage Ciders Vintage Dry enhances Triple by developing its subtle flavor of mushrooms. The gently-sparkling cider has a light scent of Bourbon, had a citrusy texture and acidity. In the mouth, this combination produces satisfying richness that whispers, "fall is here." Sweeter ciders did not pair well with this cheese, overwhelming it or producing bitter flavors.

Westfield Farm's (MA) Classic Blue Log is a delightful, aged goat's milk log with a thin rind of blue mold. The piece that I tried had the consistent, dense texture of a younger chevre log, but I imagine that it ripens like the Spanish Monte Enebro. Classic Blue Log has a pleasantly musty aroma, with traditional lemon zest flavor and chalky minerality. This cheese was an acceptable partner to the full, nutty West County Cider Roxbury Russet, resulting in a smooth, creamy mouthfeel.

Pierce Hill, a semi-firm sheep's milk cheese produced by Hope Farm (VT), emulates Basque shepherd's cheese, but retains more moisture in its three-month aging. Its mild, musty scent and full, fruity taste is flattered by ciders with residual sugar. It gained earthiness from Farnum Hill Ciders Semi-Dry, and was transformed into pure comfort food by Domaine Pinnacle's Ice Cider.

Hillman Farm (MA) produces several fantastic goat's milk cheese, including the aged Hilltown Wheel. Its flavor is rich and caramelized, with a hint of characteristic tang. Eve's Cidery Essence, a honeyed, floral ice wine with a vegetal note on the palate, brings a note of cocoa out of the cheese. Hilltown Wheel also paired nicely with Wescott Bay Orchards Traditional Dry's Bourbon-like aroma and lively acidity and Tideview Vintage Dry.

The much-acclaimed Cabot Creamery Clothbound Cheddar, aged by Jasper Hill Farm(VT), is a beautiful, bandaged-wrapped specimen bursting with luxurious, sweet caramel, a little bite to keep your attention, and an unctuous mouthfeel punctuated by fine grana. The classic union of cheddar and apples was demonstrated by this cheese harmonizing well with each cider, particularly with the intense ice ciders. Pair this cheddar with Eve's Cidery Essence for a simple but stunning dessert, or serve it beside Domaine Pinnacle's Ice Cider (read: apple pie in a glass). Keep your port and Stilton, this is how I want to end a winter dinner party!

Great Hill Blue (MA) is a rich blue cheese made from raw, unhomogenized cow's milk. This specific piece of the farmstead blue seemed a little saltier and less balanced than when I've tasted it in the past. (This is not unusual in my experience with blue cheeses; I recommend tasting blue cheese before each purchase to ensure its ripeness and saltiness please you.) Even so, the Great Hill paired well with Tideview Vintage Dry, accentuating the cider's apple flavor, and was complemented by both ice ciders.

My tips for pairing cheese and cider:

• Tideview Vintage Cider Vintage Dry seemed to be the most versatile cider for pairing with cheese. Its neutral flavor and minerality reminded me of sparkling white wine, and it had a similar palate-cleansing effect. Its dryness complemented a variety of cheese styles. Ciders with stronger apple flavor had fewer successful matches.
• The affinity between apples and cheddar absolutely extends to cider. This is a great place to start with cheese and cider pairing. Experiment with a couple of each, and your experience will guide you in future pairings.
• Flavor intensity is important to consider when pairing cheese with any beverage. Avoid lopsided choices (such as mild cheese with full-bodied wine or acidic cheese with sweet cider) that will result in one overwhelming its partner.

The cheeses for this workshop were provided by Rubiner's cheese shop in Great Barrington, MA, and were presented by Rubiner's manager, Laura Simon. Some of the cheeses will be difficult to find and can be ordered from Rubiner's.

Cider Day organizer, Ben Watson, presented the ciders at this and other events throughout the weekend festival. Attendees included cider novices and connoisseurs, home brewers, and vendors from across the US, Canada, and even Australia.

Resources:

Rubiner's Cheesemongers and Grocers

264 Main St, Great Barrington, MA, 01230

413.528.0488

http://www.ciderday.org/

http://www.buylocalfood.com