by Sophia Stern
As Minnesota summer seems well on its way, we turn towards refreshing, lighter culinary options that keep us out of the kitchen and enjoying the evening air. In other words, it’s the season for fresh cheese. “Fresh” is a term we see used a lot, usually implying something is at its best. In the case of cheese, “fresh” refers to their young age. Older cheeses will have rinds and developed, complex flavors. Fresh cheeses lack rinds, have a high moisture content, and are delicious and uncomplicated in flavor.
Good fresh cheese is a straightforward representation of beautiful milk. Simple and satisfying, these lactic, white, creamy cheeses are the perfect accompaniment to the warmer weather.
Within the family of fresh cheese, there are many different styles. While delightful on their own, these cheeses shine best when paired alongside other foods, especially fruit, veg, and something a little sweet. Below you’ll find a guide to the different styles of fresh cheese we offer at France 44 and suggestions of how to best incorporate them into your kitchen.
Fresh Mozzarella
served with cherry tomatoes & fresh basil
Fresh mozzarella is the fresh cheese best known to most of us. Mozzarella is often a culinary cheese, melted on pizza, in pasta, or deep fried in iconic stick form. However, if you’ve ever had truly fresh mozz, like our house-made mozzarella, you know the best way to eat it is like any other table cheese. Made Fridays and Saturdays, our house mozz has a pillowy texture and more flavor than you’d ever expect.
What to enjoy with it: No reinvention of the wheel here: Mozzarella, summer tomatoes, and basil is the way to go. Add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, flakey salt and fresh black pepper for the ideal weeknight dinner or side. Grab a bottle of Lambrusco like Piazza Grande for a bubbly, juicy summer vibe.
If you want to learn how to make your own mozzarella at home, check out our Mozzarella Making classes!
Burrata
drizzled with extra virgin olive oil & served with crostini
It’s burrata’s moment in the sun. You see it all over the internet, on seemingly every menu, and it almost won our March Cheese-ness bracket. It makes sense. Burrata is as delicious as it is fun to eat. What could be better than a delicate, creamy orb filled with stracciatella (a mixture of torn mozzarella and cream) oozing out on salad or pasta? Alongside our fresh mozz, we also make a few beautiful balls of house burrata. If you’re lucky, you can snag one before it sells out.
What to enjoy with it: Peaches. Hands down. Keep it simple and go for ripe peach slices, burrata, a little olive oil and salt. If you want to amp it up, try grilling the peaches, adding mint and a little chili flake. Divine.
Shephard’s Hope
speckled with garlic & herbs
This may be the least well-known cheese on this list, but only because it’s a Minnesota original, made on Shepard’s Way Farms just an hour south of the Twin Cities. Local is great, but local and incredible is even better. Shepard’s Hope is an amazing fresh sheep milk cheese combining the creaminess of mozzarella and the tartness of feta without the briny intensity. This delicate cheese is custard-like, yet sliceable. The brightness from the sheep milk is refreshing and rich. Shepard’s Way offers three versatile and delicious flavors, Original, Garlic Herb, and Aleppo Pepper.
What to enjoy with it: Put a little piece of Garlic Herb Shepard’s Hope on some classic potato chips. Easy and ridiculously good.
Feta
whipped and topped with fried zucchini, fresh basil, & Kari Kari chili crisp
Okay, here is the better-known fresh cheese made from sheep milk. Because feta is brined, it offers a zippy, salty, intensely flavored pop. Feta is an ancient tradition, dating back to Homer’s Odyssey and certainly made before. There is a lot of “feta” out there, but nothing tastes like the real thing, made carefully and traditionally under protected laws. At France 44, we carry Essex St. Feta from the Greek Island of Lesbos. It will ruin all other feta for you, promise.
What to enjoy with it: Feta is an extremely versatile culinary cheese and the perfect cheese to use when you want to brighten things up. Use it in an herby dill and cucumber salad, bake it in a tomato galette, or turn it into a dip by whipping the feta and topping it with chili crisp. You can also use the leftover brine and make this incredible fried chicken.
Fresh Chèvre
marinated in dried fruit, herbs, and extra virgin olive oil
Fresh chèvre, or fresh goat cheese, is also well known across the United States, often found in salads or in classic log form, stark white and tangy. Because fresh goat cheese hasn’t been given time to ripen and develop flavor, it offers beautiful simplicity. Lactic and bright, a good fresh chèvre will have a clean milky taste and enough acidity to enhance whatever you’re enjoying. You can find fresh goat cheese from Vermont Creamery and Blakesville Creamery at our shops.
What to enjoy with it: A top tier bite is enjoying fresh goat cheese with sour cherry preserves, best enjoyed on your favorite cracker. Goat cheese and cherry tomatoes also love each other and are incredible in an omelet. Or get inspired by summer produce and make this corn and goat cheese salad. For wine, go for Sauvignon Blanc, especially from the Loire Valley.
Ricotta
whipped and topped with honey, fresh herbs, lemon & berries
Fluffy, soft, milky ricotta has also been a popular culinary cheese in the United States. Often seen in Italian and Italian American recipes, ricotta is probably best known in ravioli and in lasagna. Though this cheese was once primarily made with the whey left over from the cheese making process, it’s more common to see whole milk ricotta in stores. The whole milk version is as creamy as it is light and makes an incredible base for almost anything you can think of.
What to enjoy with it: For a savory option, spread ricotta on a piece of toasted sourdough and add tinned sardine filets with mint and lemon. For a sweet option, try blackberry jam and prosciutto. If you want to try baking with ricotta, check out this berry ricotta cake.