Basque Cheese Blowout

by Austin Coe Butler

I’ve written previously about Ossau-Iraty and the Euskadi, or Basque, people’s incomparable relationship with their local breeds of sheep. Millenia ago, when the Basque arrived in Europe before any other living European ethnicity, they entwined their fate with their sheep by choosing to live the timeworn way of the shepherd, feeding, housing, and caring for their sheep while the sheep provide them with milk, meat, and wool. Instead of keeping their sheep in barns, the Basque keep their sheep in their homes. Traditional Basque homes are three stories with the sheep living on the ground floor heating the shepherds and their families on the upper stories. In Euskada, the Basque language, there is no distinction between speaking about locally made cheese and sheep’s milk cheese; they are both ardi-gasna. It’s from this culture that Ossau-Iraty, the staff favorite sheep’s milk cheese, comes. I’m thrilled to introduce two more sheep’s milk cheeses from the Basque Country that have recently arrived in our case: Tommette Brebis, from Onetik, the Basque cooperative that makes Chebris, a customer favorite, and Tomme Brûlée, from Beillevaire.

Tommette Brebis, literally “little wheel of sheep’s milk cheese,” is a mild, adorable cheese weighing in at a little over a pound. At just two months of age, it is the youngest of our Basque cheeses and has an appropriately gentle, buttery paste with the delicate brightness of lemon curd and the richness of buttered popcorn. The small “tommette” format (think P’tit Basque) is common in Basque cheese markets as sheep produce very little milk and as a result shepherds with smaller herds make these daily, practical tommettes. You’ll often see these tommettes coated in Espelette pepper or smoked.

Tomme Brûlée is another small sheep’s milk tomme with a twist. After several months of aging, the affineurs at Beillevaire step in to brûlée the rind of this cheese, giving it a striking mottled appearance like the side of a brook trout. While I suspect this brûléeing is more for visual appeal, some people swear they can taste a broiled marshmallow or burnt caramel sweetness to it. Tomme Brûlée has rich notes of coconut milk and lime zest, more of that sheep’s milk tang than the Tommette Brebis.

Our wheels of Ossau-Iraty are tasting phenomenal right now. In addition to their classic rich, roasted chestnut savoriness and sweetness, these wheels have a delightful blueberry fruitiness.

Basque sheep cheeses are united by a remarkable creaminess. There’s none of the gritty, granular, or gamey qualities you can sometimes get in sheep’s milk cheese that can turn people away. If you’re new to the world of sheep’s milk cheeses or a long-time fan, this weekend to try these three Basque cheeses, some of the best sheep’s milk cheeses in the world!

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Sheet Pan Chicken

I’d happily invite you to ask anyone in the Cheese Shop about my particular passion for perfectly roasted poultry, and I’m honestly surprised that I haven’t posted a crispy pan-seared duck breast, or a spatchcocked bird yet. (Don’t even get me started on wings, ok!)

Having a meal come together all in one swift, satisfying, delicious motion is exactly what you need when you don’t feel like stressing about what you’re going to put on the table. Crispy roast chicken with caramelized smashed potatoes and gremolata will make your dreams come true, and your dinner won’t only be a massive flavor bomb, but also incredibly stress free. This recipe is inspired by Alison Roman, who has made countless sheet tray dinners look exceptionally beautiful. 

It truly really shines because of the hand ground spices. Coriander seeds, peppercorn, and fennel add such a fantastic depth of flavor. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, or a designated spice grinder, you can always fall back on a F44 homemade spice rub! Any will do! 

This meal is full of protein and makes fantastic leftovers. (Although, there weren’t any…) Have a delicious week, friends! 

Ingredients: 

1 whole 3-4 lb chicken, broken down into 8 pieces. 

1 lb. Bag of baby gold potatoes

1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed 

1 lemon, sliced into rounds 

1 tbls of coriander seeds

1 tbls of black pepper seeds

2 tbls whole fennel seed

4 cloves of garlic 

Gremolata:

1 bunch of parsley

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest 

1/2 cup EVOO

Salt 

Directions: 

1. Make your rub! Toast all the coriander, black pepper, and fennel on the stove until fragrant. Grind in your mortar and pestle until broken down (or in a food processor, blender if need be) and add your garlic and smash into a smooth paste, adding the evoo. Rub all over your chicken, place in a bowl, and let marinate for at least one hour.

2. Wash and boil your potatoes until they are fork tender. Using a glass cup, smash them flat and arrange on a parchment lined tray with your lemon slices. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and add your chicken, arranging on top.

3. Salt the chicken, and let come to room temp for 15 minutes.

4. Bake in a preheated oven (425 F) for 45-55 minutes. Top with gremolata and enjoy!

Gremolata: 

1. Finely chop your parsley, zest your lemon.

2. Grate your garlic clove, and mix in your olive oil and lemon juice/zest. Add salt and pepper.

Cheese Profile: Capriole Dairy

By Austin Coe Butler

It’s remarkable that you can walk into an American grocery store and buy goat cheese. Until even just recently, you wouldn’t be able to find chèvre in a Cub or artisanal goat’s cheeses made here in the US in a shop like ours. And much of this is owed to the hard work of a few people who started to make goat cheeses back in the 70s.

Enter the American “Goat Ladies.”

The “Goat Ladies” refers to a group of women who came to goat cheese making usually by traveling abroad to western Europe or were inspired by the back to the land movement. Mary Keehn of Cyprus Grove, Laura Chenel, Allison Hooper of Vermont Creamery, Chantal Plasse, Paula Lambert, and Judy Schad of Capriole all are included in this movement of “Goat Ladies.” These women learned from and inspired each other at a time when travel to France or knowledge of goat’s cheesemaking and herd management wasn’t widely available. In 1976 Shad was a PhD candidate in Renaissance Literature at the University of Louisville when she and her husband, Larry, in search of a more sustainable life (and more room to garden), moved their kids to the small town of Greenville, Indiana. On their new farm overlooking the Ohio River, Judy had plenty of room to grow vegetables and acres of flower gardens. She also kept a few goats, but her kids weren’t fond of goat milk. And just like cheesemakers for centuries, Judy fell into cheesemaking out of abundance and necessity.

Now, over thirty years since founding Capriole in 1988, Judy and her team make almost a dozen bright, playful cheeses. We carry two of them, the stunning ash-ripened Sofia and Wabash Cannonball, and both abound with bright, citrusy goat zing. If you’ve come to the counter, odds are we’ve sent you home with a piece of Sofia, or you were captivated by the brainy sphere of a Wabash Cannonball. Sofia is inspired by classic Loire Valley goat’s cheeses and is a gorgeous ingot of goat’s cheese with an ash rind and another layer of ash running horizontally through it, creating a striking visual contrast and appeal against the bone white goat cheese. Wabash Cannonballs, with their brainy, geotrich appearance, are singular in their appearance and have also been dusted in ash.

Ash is common in cheeses like Valençay and Morbier. It has been used for centuries and was likely first used as a way to protect the rind of cheese from insects or prevent the premature formation of a rind, as in Morbier. For fresh goat cheeses in particular, which tend to be lactic set cheeses, their delicate, crumbly texture is too fragile for common preservation techniques like washing, brushing, or oiling to be applied. Particularly in the Loire Valley, which is regarded as region producing some of the best goat’s cheeses, an abundance of grape vine clippings that were incinerated provided a the cinders, although nowadays cheesemakers use food grade vegetable ash or activate charcoal is used.

While the use of ash may have began as a preservation method though, overtime it was found to encourage beneficial surface mold to bloom and ripen the cheese. Ashing makes the surface of goat’s cheese less acidic (more basic), which creates an ideal environment for beneficial molds like Penicilium candidum and Geotrichum to bloom and thrive, and these molds have a big impact on flavor. Those beautiful, gooey cream lines on your piece of Sofia or Wabash Cannonball that run and drip from a baguette or cracker? All the result of molds and bacteria breaking down the proteins in cheese through their metabolism. Without them, these cheeses would be much more similar to the cakey, crumbly chèvre that tops your salads or beets.

Judy and her team no longer manage the goats. Judy still keeps some of her favorites around. Now all the time that went into managing the herd and its health goes into the cheese! Capriole is a clever play on the Latin capra, or goat, and also the leap or caper performed in classical dance or horseback riding. These leaps are also seen in these playful, gregarious goats gamboling across the fields and jumping off one another and into trees. It’s a reminder that, in Clifton Fadiman’s words, cheese is “milk’s leap at immortality.”

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Spaghetti & Meatballs

Oh, life is busy! I grew up with four lively siblings, and parents that had very busy careers. We were always on the go, whether it was after school events, weekend sports, theatre, camps, social activities, you name it, we were involved. We did it all! In between juggling our crazy schedules, my Mother managed to make sure we had delicious and nurturing dinners, and there is one that I always fall back on when I’ve had a long day. It’s very simple, and extremely satisfying. It’s a variation of Marcella Hazan’s famous tomato sauce, with fresh herbs, and homemade meatballs. Yes! It’s loaded with butter, ok! But the butter really brings you all the “feel good feels,” and gives the sauce an unparalleled velvety richness that you truly can’t beat. France44 Cheese happens to also make some incredibly delicious fresh pasta every week (lucky us!) This is one of the quickest, most satisfying dinners, that will put you in the best state of mind and leave you wonderfully content. 

Ingredients:

1 lb of F44 fresh pasta (I used spaghetti) 

Sauce- 

1 28oz can of San Marzano tomatoes

5 tablespoons butter 

1 tablespoon sugar

1 whole onion, peeled, sliced in half 

Fresh basil to finish

Salt to taste 

Meatballs- 

1/2 cup breadcrumbs 

2/3 cup milk

1 lb F44 House Grind/or Italian sausage 

1/4 medium onion finely diced or grated

2 cloves garlic minced

1 large egg beaten

1 tsp salt or to taste

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 tbsp fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Make the sauce. Put the canned tomatoes in a saucepan, add the butter, onion, and salt, and cook uncovered at a very slow, but steady simmer for about 45 minutes, or until it is thickened to your liking and the fat floats free from the tomato.

2. Put all of your meatball ingredients into a large bowl, and mix by hand. With clean wet hands, shape into whatever size meatballs you’d like! Mine were around 3 ounces.

3. Place meatballs on a parchment lined sheet tray, and broil for 10 minutes. (I finish them in the sauce for another 15)

4. Once your sauuzz has been cooking for close to an hour, take out the onion and discard. Add your meatballs!

5. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and toss in your fresh pasta. It literally only takes a couple minutes to cook.

6. Put all these things together, and finish with fresh basil. You’ve won. Like, truly. Enjoy!

What's the best way to store cheese at home? Part II

Last week, we set up a casual experiment to test four of the most recommended cheese storage methods: cheese paper, foil, saran wrap, and Tupperware. We allowed four small pieces of Chebris to age for seven days in the less-than-sterile environment of the F44 Wine & Spirits staff refrigerator. No fancy humidifiers or wooden shelving here, only the harsh fluorescent bulb and stale air of your typical home fridge. After a week, we opened up the four test subjects with great anticipation. The results…

The good news is: all of the cheeses still looked and tasted pretty decent. There were no visible mold growths or spots of serious oxidation, which are typically the first harbingers of cheese death. A couple of the samples were looking a little crisp around the edges (pictured), but nothing that concerned us.

The paper-aged sample shows signs of drying around the edges.

1. The Winner: Foil

   Surprisingly, foil proved to be our favorite storage method. Tasters agreed that the foil-wrapped cheese remained the most creamy and still tasted fresh cut from the wheel. The foil wrap kept out fridge odor completely, while keeping moisture in.

2. Cheese Paper

   It’s no surprise that cheese paper stores cheese well. The paper is designed to do this with a paper exterior and breathable poly-lining. Our only gripe with this method was that the cheese did show signs of dryness encroaching around the edges.

3. Tupperware

   Similarly, the Tupperware-encased piece of Chebris showed signs of drying out, but not as much as we expected. This proved to be an effective way of keeping fridge odors out, and would probably be a great way to store larger pieces of cheese in the fridge.

4. Saran wrap

As we hypothesized, the saran-wrapped piece of cheese tasted by far the worst, with notes of plastic and stale-fridge odor apparent. This cheese also appeared the most oily and sweaty, having not been allowed to properly breath within the cling film. (Granted, we’re nitpicking here! These cheese was still mostly tasty and far from inedible, but all things considered, it was our least favorite method.)

While we learned a lot from this brief experiment, our consensus was that a longer aging might be necessary to truly test wrap methods’ durability. Trial two begins today, and this one will run for four whole weeks. The potential for gnarly cheese pics is high, folks. Fellow cheese obsessives, stay tuned.

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Apple Cake

It’s our favorite time of year, for there seem to be so many things to celebrate: the kids are back at school, the mornings are perfectly crisp, and the holiday season draws ever nearer. For many, next week represents the start of the new year: Rosh Hashanah. We made a traditional apple cake to celebrate, using Zestars from one of our all-time favorite purveyors: Ames farm, based in Watertown, MN. This cake comes together easily using pantry ingredients, and highlights the beautiful fall apples. Whether you're celebrating the New Year, or just a Sunday night, we hope you'll find time to enjoy this deliciously simple recipe. 

Ingredients: 

4 large apples (we used Zestars)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (to prevent apples from browning as you cut)

2 tablespoons margarine (or butter)

1-2 tablespoons sugar

1 cup flour

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 tablespoons demerara sugar (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan or springform, or an 8X8-inch square pan.

2. Peel, core, and cut the apples into 12-14 slices each. Drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning.

3. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large sauté pan. Add 2 tablespoons sugar, and apples. Sauté for 10 minutes until softened.

4. While the apples are cooking, mix all of your other ingredients in a large bowl (except the demerara sugar). The batter will be pretty thick.

5. Add half of your cooked apples (including juice) to your batter and gently mix.

6. Pour batter into prepared pan. Smooth with a spatula.

7. Top with the rest of the apples, and sprinkle Demerara sugar all over the top (optional)

8. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour. Let cool completely. Enjoy!

Alemar Cheese Apricity

by Austin Coe Butler

Apricity. The warmth of the sun in the winter. An evocative, if obscure, word, and a feeling we’re all familiar with here in the north. It’s often felt in moments of stillness and clarity. It’s also the name of Alemar’s newest cheese, an aptly named orb of lactic-set cow’s milk cheese with a warm, tangy flavor and glowing rind. Where does this flavor come from, and what is a lactic-set cheese?

When milk is left to its own devices in an ideal, warm environment, (or in the back of your fridge well past its best by date) the bacteria and microbes naturally present in milk begin to consume its component parts. Lactobacillales or lactic acid bacteria (LAB) consume and convert the milk sugar lactose into lactic acid. The increase of lactic acid makes milk more acidic or “sour,” causing the proteins in milk to tangle into curd. The discovery of this was a two-fold revolution, firstly, because most people (still) can’t process and digest lactose after infancy without gastrointestinal distress, and, secondly, curd forms the basis of cheese. Those curds can be drained from the whey and what was once a seasonal, indigestible, bland, and highly perishable liquid that was oftentimes a vector for diseases is transformed and preserved into a delicious, valuable, and safe food that could be enjoyed at any time.

Many of the steps we associate with cheesemaking are absent from lactic cheese making. Making lactic cheese can be as simple as warming milk, allowing the indigenous cultures and lactic bacteria to curdle the milk (or adding lemon juice or vinegar), and then gently ladling the curd to a form or cloth to spontaneously drain. Lactic curds are not cut or stirred like rennet curds. They are also not pressed. Lactic cheeses have a weaker curd as the acid drives off much of the calcium into the whey and the curd has to be handled gently. This weaker curd is why you won’t see larger cheeses that are lactic set–they are usually small crottins or logs–but this weaker curd is also the secret to their delicate, mousse-like texture. Many ripened or aged lactic cheeses have a little rennet added to them, as Apricity does, to assist in forming curd.

You’ve no doubt had lactic-set cheeses before like cottage cheese, cream cheese, and goat’s milk chêvre, all defined by their fresh, bright lactic tang. The world of lactic cheeses is also fascinating and complex, and lactic cheese can be found throughout the cheese eating world like Indian paneer, Italian ricotta, Tyrolean Graukäse, and Georgian dambalkhacho. Lactic cheeses tend to be fresh cheeses like chêvre or cottage cheese, though there are some ripened or aged lactic cheeses like Valençay, Chaoruce, and Apricity, which develop a tantalizing cream line.

Apricity has a gently yeasty tang, reminiscent of cultured yogurt, tart white grapes, or natural, unfiltered white wine. It’s a perfect accompaniment on these cooler nights as fall begin to tinge the tree tops. If you’re a fan of some of our Italian softies like Il Nocciolo, La Tur, or Robiolina, or a Fromagophile who loves fresh chêvre, or you just like to sit down with a bowl of cottage cheese, Apricity is the cheese for you.

What's the best way to store cheese at home? Part One!

Ask ten different cheesemongers this question and you’re likely to get at least six different answers. Parchment paper. Foil. Tupperware. Saran wrap. Beeswax wrap! There’s a monger out there who swears by each of these methods, we guarantee it. At France 44, we typically recommend that our customers keep their cheese wrapped in the custom cheese paper we provide, but we like to back our advice up with more than just inherited practices. So this week we decided to put our lab coats on and conduct a good, old-fashioned cheese study.

The first matter at hand was choosing an appropriate test subject. Cheeses at either end of the texture spectrum tend to do best in the fridge, somewhat counterintuitively. As such, we chose Chebris, a lovely semi-firm sheep & goat’s milk tomme with just enough moisture and pliability to really show maltreatment from the harsh environment of the fridge.

1. Control: Cheese Paper

   We already know that cheese paper keeps cheese reasonably fresh in the fridge. Worst case, every other sample tastes terrible and we learn that our tried and true method is the classic for a reason.

2. Foil

   This is a tip we learned from the late, great Anne Saxelby. Foil is flavorless, air-tight, and has the added benefit of blocking out light. Wrap as you would with cheese paper.

3. Tupperware

   Sealing your cheese in a small Tupperware container allows the cheese to breath, while blocking out the drying, cool air of your refrigerator.

4. Saran wrap

   Most mongers agree that saran wrap is the worst way to store cheese. You may point out: but you guys store your cheese in saran wrap at the shop?! It’s true, most cheese shops use cling wrap to display cheese, but it requires constant upkeep to prevent off flavors from taking hold. Saran wrap does not allow cheese to breath, trapping moisture near the surface which can lead to mold. It may look nice at first, but we don’t recommend this method for storage.

We popped our four test subjects into the chaotic France 44 Wine & Spirits employee refrigerator for a true replication of the home environment. Taco Bell leftovers? Present. Fish curry? Oh, yeah. We’ll come back in a week to see which storage methods sealed out these nefarious odors, and which, tragically, did not.

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Tomato Galette

It might feel like summer is nearly over, but we’re still knees deep into the end of Minnesota vegetable season. Tomatoes are particularly special to me. I grew up eating those beauties right off the vine, still hot under the summer sun, while weeding, and probably (definitely) complaining, throughout all my childhood. It’s always a refreshing reminder when you grow your own food what kind of time, sweat, and labor goes into what we casually consume everyday. 

We usually had luscious, rustic seasonal salads every night from our garden. The end of summertime always tasted exceptionally magical. Walking out through the rows to cut some fresh basil or thyme to finish something for my Mother was always my favorite. 

This week, I wanted to utilize some end heirloom tomatoes I needed to eat before it was too late. I made a simple galette with goat cheese (although any cheese would do) finished with olive oil and herbs. Summer is a state of mind, friends. 

Ingredients: 

1 sheet of store bought puff pastry

1/2 cup sofrito or tomato sauce

3-4 heirloom tomatoes

3 oz Chèvre 

1 egg + 1 tbsp water (egg wash)

Fresh basil, thyme, oregano (or whatever herbs you’d like!) 

Olive Oil to finish 

Directions:

1. Thaw your puff pastry (if frozen)

2. Slice your tomatoes thinly, place on a tea towel and salt them, to remove excess water. Let sit for 15 minutes. Blot with another towel if needed, no one wants a soggy crust!

3. Spread your Sofrito onto the center of your puff pastry, leaving an inch and half border. Crumble half of the goat cheese on top.

4. Take your tomatoes and shingle them across the galette, and cover with more goat cheese.

5. Beat an egg with some water, brush crust.

6. Bake on a sheet tray with parchment until golden brown at 350 for about 15 minutes.

7. Cover with fresh herbs of your choosing and a drizzle of olive oil. Enjoy!

La Cabezuela

La Cabezuela Tradicional Semicurado

by Austin Coe Butler

Juan Luis Royeula and Yolanda Campos Gaspar needed a change. The couple was doing well in their respective careers in communications and journalism, and Spain in the 80s and 90s was marked with a certain optimism after Franco’s death opened the country economically and culturally, but the two were dissatisfied. Juan Luis, uncertain, searching for his life’s passion, took a cheesemaking workshop on a whim, and in an instant he recognized his life’s passion. Juan Luis and Yolando quit their jobs, and in the process of making their passion their profession, they not only found themselves, but brought a local breed of goat from the brink of extinction, revived a failing, rural dairy, and preserved a rare, traditional Spanish cheese.

First, the Royuela-Campos family had to find a dairy to make cheese. In the small, rural town of Fresnedillas de la Oliva, which Juan Luis describes as “close to everywhere and far from anywhere,” they found the ailing Quesos La Cabezuela. Quesos La Cabezuela was a small, family run quesería specializing in goat’s milk cheeses that had fallen on hard times. It was on the brink of foreclosure when Juan Luis and Yolanda found it. Fresnedillas de la Oliva is on the western border of the Madrid region, and Quesos La Cabezuela is a tight, rustic operation. All of Juan Luis’s cheese making, aging, and selling happen within just a few footsteps. But that was all the space Juan Luis and Yolanda needed.

Next, the goats. Juan Luis learned of the Guadarrama goat that lives in the sierras, or mountains, surrounding Madrid, and are found nowhere else in the world. These elegant goats, streaked black and white with thick tufts of hair, are hardy yet graceful on the rocky terrain of the dehesa landscape, where they graze on pastures of thyme, heather, and grasses studded with acorns, imbuing their milk, and the cheese, with the region’s unique terroir. They easily endure the cold and rainy climate of the Guadarrama. Despite their hardiness, the Guadarrama were on the brink of extinction. They are not a meat breed, and they produce very little milk—whereas most goats produce between 3 to 4 liters of milk per day, the Guadarrama produces a mere 2 liters. For these reasons, the goats were rarely bred. In the mid-90s though, thanks to an association of farmers and cheesemakers like Juan Luis, the Guadarrama goats have been brought back from the brink of extinction. Juan Luis fell in love with these gregarious creatures and decided to make all of his cheeses exclusively from their milk. La Cabezuela works only with shepherds who have 100% Guadarrama goats. Despite these conservation measures though, there are still only 10,000 at present.

At last, there is the cheese. La Cabezuela Tradicional is remarkable for many reasons, but there are two features that are especially unique. First, it is maybe the only historically Spanish soft-ripened goat cheese. Other Spanish soft-ripened or bloomy-rinded cheeses like Veigadarte or Cana di Cabra were imported from France in the immediate post-Franco years. Few traditional Spanish cheeses survived the Franco years, with the functional ban on artisanal cheese production. The recipe for this cheese dates back to 1750, when it was a family farm cheese, and was kept alive by only a few cheesemakers through those dark decades of repression.

What’s equally unique is that La Cabezuela Tradicional Semicurado is really old for a bloomy rind cheese. Spanish cheeses labeled semicurado, or “semi-cured,” are aged between four to six months, and curado cheeses are anything past this. Manchego and Mahón, those firmer, more well-known cheeses are often aged at these profiles, but four to six months is a long time for a soft, bloomy rinded cheese! For context, think of having a piece of brie, camembert, or a Chabichou for six months. It would be pretty crusty and unpalatable. Instead, La Cabezuela Tradicional is able to retain moisture and its soft bloomy rind while developing flavors often found in older cheeses. It’s able to mature for this long because of its larger size and brining. Once the cheese is removed from the brine, it is delicately hand salted and allowed to mature for two months, creating an ideal environment for Penicilium and Geotrichum molds to bloom, binding the cheese together, and developing delicate white mushroom flavors. Some of our wheels of La Cabezuela Tradicional have a really unique cadmium orange mold called Sporendonema casei, which is only found on cheese and in cheese caves. While orange mold may instill fear in some, this mold is beneficial and is actually considered a desirable trait by cheesemakers, including Juan Luis, and cheese connoisseurs as an indicator of superior flavor. Cheeses with this mold often have a complex nutty and mushroomy flavor.

Eating La Cabezuela Tradicional is kind of like eating three cheeses in one. The delicate mushroomy, brassicaceous rind is reminiscent of a farmhouse brie, while the cream line has a malty, buttery flavor that gives way at last to a sherbert-like center that is bright, tangy, and herbaceous. La Cabezuela Tradicional Semicurado is many lofty things: a cultural and gastronomic expression of a tradition in a modern and sustainable way; the discovery of a life’s passion. It’s also simply a phenomenal cheese.