Cheese of the Month Club

Past Newsletters

Vol 2 No 8

Featured Cheeses

Why Grafton Cheddar?

While some may become excited by creamy Brie from France or goat cheese from California, cheddar often gets a somewhat more subdued response. Most of the “cheddar” consumed in the United States is the processed kind. There is certainly nothing wrong with this kind of cheese, it just doesn’t get your tastebuds dancing and it’s more the kind of cheese you’d use on nachos, rather than on a cheese tray.

In the US, as well as Internationally, Grafton Village Cheese Company is renowned for its Cheddar products. They are part of the New Wave of American Farmhouse Cheesemakers, who have been energizing our taste buds with distinctive farmhouse cheeses for a decade or so.

In England there is a town called Cheddar, but this is not why the cheese is called cheddar. It is actually named for one of the steps involved in the cheese-making process. After the cow's milk curd is twice heated, it is "cheddared" by repeatedly being cut and piled in order to remove the whey or liquid and to break the curd until it's smooth and silky. The curd is salted and, in the case of traditional cheddar, transferred to a drum or wheel as high as 16 inches, weighing up to 66 pounds.

Educate Your Palate… viola la difference

Cheesemaking has long been part of Vermont life. Dairy cows grazing the velvety pastures of the Green Mountain State are a familiar sight, and the milk they produce is one of the state’s natural treasures, used to make some of the world’s best cheddar cheese. This month our featured cheeses are three Grafton Cheddars, all aged for different periods of time, so that you can taste and see what aging does for a cheese.

Originally founded in 1890 as the Grafton Cooperative Cheese Company, the company used surplus milk from local dairy farmers to make cheese. In the days before refrigeration, there were many such cooperatives in rural agricultural communities, and an abundance of fresh, creamy milk was turned into a food that could be stored for a longer period of time.

In The Wake of Tragedy
Blooms Growth and Joy

Some years later, a fire destroyed the original factory and the town’s commerce suffered greatly. When the nonprofit Windham Foundation restored the village’s cheese company, a new era was born in the town of Grafton. The Foundation's work of purchasing and restoring old Grafton buildings began in 1963, and today, the Foundation owns nearly half of the buildings in the central village, including the Old Tavern (built in 1801) and the Grafton Village Cheese Company.

As before, quality and incredible tastes that will wake up your palate are still the hallmarks of this company's products. Their savory cheddars are made with milk from selected herds of Vermont Jersey cows, whose milk is known for its extraordinary creaminess and high butterfat content. Farmers owning these herds have signed affidavits stating that their animals will not be treated with synthetic bovine growth hormones. These cheddars are 100% natural, and free of any chemical preservatives or additives.

2001 NASFT Awards: 3 Grafton Cheddars Chosen As Finalists GRAFTON Brings Home the Gold

Like fine wines, aging is a very important process in the making of a classic cheese, and if done correctly, it is the true test of a premium cheese. The passage of time allows a cheese to take on specific characteristics that set it apart. Cheddar Cheese ages well… time makes it more crumbly in texture, and gives it a greater concentration of salts and acids, producing its characteristic tanginess or sharpness… often called the "bite." Truly great cheddars, like Grafton Cheeses, are aged naturally so that they also retain a creamy smoothness.

Classic Reserve Takes Four Gold Trophies

Classic Reserve is aged for approximately 2 years, and is Grafton’s signature product. It has won National Association of Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) Gold Trophies four times at International food shows.

Grafton Gold became a finalist in “Outstanding Cheese & Dairy” In the 2001 National Association of Specialty Food Trade’s “Product Award Competition.” This rigorous competition is held annually in New York City and includes products from around the world. The panel of distinguished judges is chosen from the specialty food industry, representing buyers and renowned chefs.

Grafton Gold is aged for 30 to 36 months. It has a robust, full flavor, balanced by a smooth creaminess. The extra aging gives the cheese more time to release moisture, thus concentrating the flavor. Entirely hand made and hand dipped into a royal purple wax, this cheese wears a label of purple type on a gold background. Grafton Gold will leave a rich, flavorful, and lasting impression on all who taste it!

4 Star Cheddar - A Finalist In 2001 “Outstanding New Product” Category. Four Star is the "the oldest aged, and the newest addition” to the Grafton’s family of fine cheddars. Aged naturally for a minimum of 4 years, this cheese is loaded with mind blowing flavors. Slightly drier in texture, it's best to allow this cheese to fully warm to room temperature before cutting and serving. This is a new product stands out internationally, like the other Grafton products, underlining the consistency of quality in Grafton Village Cheese Company’s products.

How Does One Become a Connoisseur?

When you use the word connoisseur (derived from the French language), you may conjure up a picture of someone swirling a wine glass to gather the aromatic scent of an expensive wine, or tasting aged cheese, pinky finger out, and extolling its virtues with a French accent. Well, appreciating fine cheeses and other foods doesn’t have to be that pretentious.

A connoisseur is simply one who enjoys with discrimination. They can detect and appreciate the finer subtleties in flavors, textures, aromas, colors and the like… and they can describe them. The word literally means “to know.” The more you know about the cheeses we ship to you, the more enjoyable your experience will be by learning to appreciate their finer qualities. That’s why we write this newsletter. Here are some guidelines to lead to becoming a true cheese aficionado:

When making a taste comparison, always start with the mild cheese first. Usually, as in the case of cheddar, the mildest will be the youngest.
The aroma of authentic farmhouse cheddar should be nutty or grassy, the texture is rich and buttery, and the flavors are complex… ranging from fruitiness to oakiness.
The cheese should have a straw color, ranging from yellow to beige with no white blotches, which indicate being stored too long in plastic.
Although cheddar is not a particularly moist product, it should not appear dry. A few cracks are okay… they can be a sign of a genuine farmhouse cheddar.
A smooth, creamy, pleasant aftertaste is most desirable. Great Cheddar does not taste bitter.
When cheddar is created by a factory process and then aged, it will have an acidic sharpness which actually kills off the other complex flavors.

Would You Believe…

Chance Gives Birth To A New Industry A popular legend has it that cheese was discovered by an Arab nomad. He filled a saddlebag with milk, and after several hours riding he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find that the milk had separated into a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps. His saddlebag, made from the stomach of a young animal, contained a coagulating enzyme known as rennin, which was the primary catalyst for separating the curds from the whey. The hot sun and the galloping also contributed. The nomad found the whey and the curds quite palatable… like cottage cheese.

4000 Years Before Christ Cheese was known to the ancient Sumerians four thousand years before the birth of Christ. The ancient Greeks credited Aristaeus, a son of Apollo and Cyrene, with its discovery.

Cheese Kept The Romans Legions Strong In the Roman era cheese really came into its own. Cheesemaking was done with skill and knowledge and reached a high standard. By this time the ripening process had been developed and it was known that various treatments and conditions under storage resulted in different flavors and characteristics.

The larger Roman houses had a separate cheese kitchen, the caseale, and also special areas where cheese could be matured. In large towns, homemade cheese could be taken to a special center to be smoked. Cheese was served on the tables of the nobility and traveled to the far corners of the Roman Empire as a regular part of the legion’s rations.

Monks Created Classics During the Middle Ages, monks became innovators and developers and it is to them we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today. During the Renaissance period cheese suffered a drop in popularity, being considered unhealthy, but it regained favor by the nineteenth century, the period that saw the start of the move from farm to factory production. And now we are return to farmhouse cheeses because flavor is as important as nourishment!

It’s A Roman Thing – Bring Out A Wheel Of Cheese

When your sweetheart and/or Daddy is working overtime, or you and your friends haven’t connected for days, here’s a way to squeeze in quality time with the ones you love. You don’t need 2 ½ hours to fix a big dinner (and then have to wash all those dishes too).

Cover your coffee table with a casual tablecloth. Fill a vase or two with flowers from your yard (or your neighbor’s). Include herbs with the flowers. Rosemary, sweet basil and cilantro smell so good (and you can eat them too). Serve…
Cheese wedges on a board, cut as you eat
Fresh Fruits: Slices of tart apples and pears, and grapes provide a crisp foil to the creamy richness of this cheddar
Salami or left over meats sliced thinly
Avocados and ripe tomatoes, slice as you eat
Toasted walnuts, cured olives
Crusty Breads and whole grain crispbreads and crackers

Light a few candles. Offer wines. Medium-bodied red and white wines bring out the earthy qualities of this cheese. Try a heady Zinfandel and ruby Port, American Microbrews, and sparkling apple cider. Turn on the quite music, throw some pillows on the floor, and you’ll have an opening for loving and welcome communication. I can almost hear the sighs of relief now.

Cheese Serving Notes: Keep cheddar in the refrigerator, wrapped in the papers it arrived in… cheese needs to breath. But remember its wonderfully complex flavor is best savored at room temperature, so remove about one hour before serving.

Serve cheese on a sturdy, flat wooden or marble platter. For cutting, use a sharp chef’s knife with a strong handle. Better still, use a knife especially made for cheese with an angled blade that keeps your knuckles off the cutting board. These knives are textured to prevent slippage. Or use a cheese plane for slicing a thin leaf of cheddar (flat metal implements with a blade opening in the middle of the face). These should only be used on brick or bar-shaped cheddars. Wheels of cheese should be cut with a sharp knife into wedges. Eat Apple Pie For Breakfast Crowned With A Grafton Cheddar!