By Austin Coe Butler
Last week we were thrilled to announce the arrival of our classic holiday release cheeses: Comté Sagesse, Brabander Reserve, and Upland’s Rush Creek Reserve. This week we are ecstatic to announce the arrival of something brand new to the shop: holiday cheeses from Blakesville Creamery!
We’ve worked closely with Blakesville since they opened during the pandemic. Their Lake Effect, Afterglow, and Linedeline quickly became standbys of the case, and the addition of Sunny Ridge, their nod to St. Nectaire, immediately became a staff favorite. In April of last year I drove a few crowlers of Wooden Ship Brewing’s grapefruit and fennel saison to Veronica Pedraza, the head cheesemaker at Blakesviile, to have her custom wash one of their cheeses for us. It was a delicious showcase of what’s growing on 44th St. This past summer we carried their grilling cheese a puck of chèvre wrapped in grape leaves macerated in Maranksa, a Croatian plum brandy, that became soft and smoky when seared. Veronica is a determined and innovative cheesemaker. Her knowledge about cheese is only surpassed by her humor. She’s accompanied by an incredibly hardworking team of cheesemakers and marketers, of which Alisha Norris Jones of Immortal Milk recently joined. Blakesville has quickly garnered many awards for their cheeses, and I have to say that working with Veronica and her team has been one of the great pleasures of my time here at France 44.
When Veronica told me in April that she was working on some holiday cheese, I was immediately in, and these are the first year they’ve been released. We’ll have two with us through the holidays: Truffle Shuffle and Holiday Cheer.
Truffle Shuffle is a small, soft-bloomy rind goat cheese like Lake Effect but with a striking line of black Abruzze truffle tapenade running through the center. Truffle lovers rejoice! This is the cheese for you. The rich, earthy flavor of the truffles is well balanced with the brightness of the goat’s cheese, and the dash of Sicilian sea salt they add gives this cheese the perfect shimmer. I enjoy this cheese with a ribbon of speck, figs, and a nice Barolo, though a cider from Wild Mind or a chardonnay would pair nicely, too.
Holiday Cheer is inspired by the Wisconsin Old Fashioned. For those of you who haven’t had a Sconnie Old Fashioned, they do things a little differently over there. Instead of whiskey, they substitute brandy. After all, Wisconsonites consume half the world’s brandy. Angostura bitters is used to muddle a sugar cube, and it can only be Angostura. The folks on Washington Island consume a shot of the stuff straight at Nelsen’s Hall, the single largest consumer of Angostura bitters in the world. Then you have to decide whether to have it “sour” or “sweet,” in which case it’s topped either with grapefruit or lemon-lime soda, respectively. A Door Co. cherry and orange half-moon skewered with a cocktail pick (ideally a plastic sword) is the garnish. Blakesville’s take on this is to start with a puck of chèvre that is flecked with orange zest and hand wrap each in Japanese Sakura (cherry) leaves. These cherry leaves have been macerated in Korbel Brandy. The flavor of this cheese is refreshing, a little sweet, bright, and citrusy. A bit like our signature chèvre, a customer favorite. It’s excellent paired with our house-made blends of spiced nuts, torrone, American Spoon brandy soaked cherries, a hot mug of Glühwein or, of course, a Wisconsin Old Fashioned.
I love the lightness, the playfulness, that Veronica brings to her cheeses, and these two are no different. The label on Holiday Cheer depicts a goat standing up on a table like a nosy dog going after a cooling roast. It’s got its tongue in a punch bowl with the ladle on the bench and a broken glass on the floor. Be like this goat and stop by the shop this weekend to get some cheese that you can get into some raucous holiday cheer with alongside your friends and family!