Malachy Egan

Notes from the Vat

A new face can now be seen in our cheese caves! We’d like to welcome Malachy Egan, who will focus on affinage and wholesale sales with Paul. Malachy worked on the farm eons ago, and has worked with DiBruno Brothers most recently. And now he takes over Note From the Vat, the cheesemakers’ weekly news.

Greetings!

As Paul mentioned last week, I’ll be taking charge of the wholesale side of things at Cherry Grove going forward. I was actually a cheese room assistant here many moons ago, so this is something of a homecoming for me. I’m looking forward to talking to you all over the coming weeks and months about the exciting stuff happening here in our little green slice of Lawrenceville.

Even though production has shut down while we renovate our creamery (new floors!) that doesn’t mean our work has ceased. Still flipping, wrapping, cleaning to be done in the aging rooms. Also, tasting! We’ve got an exciting new tomme courtesy of cheese maker, Sean Fitzgerald. Based on a Corsican tomme recipe -using our high fat Jersey cows milk instead of sheeps milk- this little pudgy washed rind is a breath of fresh spring air. We’re calling it ‘Rarebird’ and it sports a custard-like texture in the paste and a vegetal snap towards the rind. Excited to share this limited selection with you!

rarebird

We’ll be exhibiting at the Philly Farm & Food Fest on April 8th! It is one of the country’s biggest and best single-day food festivals and a great way to kick off the Spring season. Now in its 7th year, PF3 focuses on local farmers, artisans and regional experts in the agricultural and processing fields. Come see us at the VIP Industry Preview Hour or throughout the event. Admission is free for credentialed buyers! See more info

here.

As always, we welcome your questions, please do not hesitate to ask. Thanks for your business and have a great weekend!

Cherry Grove Farm Cheese Availability – Week of 3/27

Please note: Buttercup Brie is still another few days away from readiness, so we’ll have to wait another week. In the meantime, still a bit of the Mooncakes and Raw Rodeo Brie to see us through. Full list below…

Rarebird
“The thrush alone declares the immortal wealth and vigor that is in the forest… Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; whenever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of heaven are not shut against him.” – Henry David Thoreau

Washed rind tomme. Pudding like texture with notes of hazelnut and wild asparagus. ***LIMITED STOCK*** Raw.

Mooncakes Buttercup
Our classic brie but with a bit of wild blue/grey mold mingling on the fluffy white rind. The flavor is bright with notes of citrus peel. Pasteurized.

Raw Rodeo Brie
Lovely layered effect in the paste with a more acidic, lemon cake surrounded by a gooey mushroom-y exterior. (Because this is raw milk you’ll find a multi-hued, mottled rind rather than the typical bone white of the typical buttercup). Raw.

Trilby

Beefy and pungent. Washed in Dad’s Hat Whiskey. Dense and creamy – fudgier texture than usual. Pasteurized.

Herdsman
Surprisingly high moisture baskets from last September. Firmer, sharper full wheels from October. Raw.

Toma
Pretty sunset colors on the rind, this is an ideal batch! Grab it while you can. Raw.

Havilah
Tastes range from caramelized onions and bone marrow to brown sugar and brioche. Batches from Summer 2015. Raw.

Abruzze Jawn
Back for a limited time! 6 months old. Tastes like a cheesesteak – seriously. Raw.

Cherry Grove Farm March 27, 2017 Blog, Cheese, Newsletter, Notes From the Vat, Raw Milk Cheese

Notes From The Vat

Greetings one and all!

Hope everyone weathered our sole winter storm well. I am certainly ready for real spring and looking forward to changes, like that really big, key change, cows on grass again.

Speaking of, next week two momentous things are happening; A) we are going out of production for about a week while we redo our flooring to improve food safety and reduce water use, and B) you’ll start hearing a new voice in cheese, as we’ve hired an awesome Affinage and Wholesale Sales sensation… Di Bruno Bros alumni… drumroll… Malachy Egan!

This will allow me more time with the cheese (whoopee!), which will be critical as we grow, and more engagement with you, our amazing patrons, from Malachy. But more on that next week.

Here’s our lineup for this week:

I know a lot of you are wondering when standard Buttercup Brie will be back in action. I was looking for this week but I’m afraid we will have to wait one more week as the wrapped batch matures.

Mooncakes Buttercup: As some of you know (and hence the reason Buttercup Brie has been unavailable) we had some errant blue mold in our white mold brie aging room two weeks ago. What we lost in our Buttercup Brie pipeline we gained in this one-off variation! As pictured below, these wheels are speckled or coated on one side with a wild blue that, mixed with the white mold, may also appear green/gray. Under this mixed mold rind you have the classic Buttercup texture, flakey touch at the center with a gooey outer buttery layer. The flavor is a bright spotlight unto spring, a compound butter of orange essence with a hint of rhubarb. Pasteurized.

Raw Rodeo Brie: Some of these ripened with a pretty layer cake effect with a more acidic, bright lemony, flakey core surrounded by ripening exterior. Because this is a raw milk, bloomy rind, aged over 70 days, you are going to see a variety of yeasts and mold on the rind, not just the pure white of our standard Buttercup Brie.We have one more small batch of these for you all.

Trilby: A delicious beef n’ buttermilk washed rind profile, pretty sunset rinds. Denser texture than the prior batch, a stick to your ribs lingering creaminess (think Crottin or Sulles Sur Cher, curd nerds). Pasteurized.

Herdsman: Surprisingly high moisture, barnyardy baskets from last September.

Firmer, sharper full wheels from October.

Toma: Pretty sunset orange hued colors, this is an ideal batch! Grab it while you can.

Havilah: Ole faithful, and for good reason! A spectrum that ranges from beef stew with caramelized onions, to roasted squash to caramel and toffee. Batches from Summer 2015. Perfect for this colder weather.

Abruzze Jawn: Back in action for a limited time! Get your fill of our cheese as cured meat curiosity while it lasts. 6 months old.

We still have some of our experimental blue cheese, the precocious Bette Davis Eyes in the farm store!

That’s all folks. Looking forward to your business as always.

Paul

Cherry Grove Farm March 19, 2017 Blog, Cheese, Farm Store, Raw Milk Cheese, Upper Delaware Valley