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Welcome to the Southern Foodways Alliance -- an institute of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture with headquarters at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. The Southern Foodways Alliance documents and celebrates the diverse food cultures of the American South. We set a common table where black and white, rich and poor -- all who gather-- may consider our history and our future in a spirit of reconciliation. |
Announcing the South’s Best Cheeses SFA Juried Cheese Tasting • Top 10 Cow Milk In advance of the 2006 Southern Foodways Symposium, a panel of three judges – Sarah Fritschner of the Courier Journal in Louisville, Tina Ujlaki of Food & Wine in New York, and Joe Castro of the English Grill in Louisville – convened to taste fifty-two Southern cheeses. They tasted the cheeses blind, employing protocols borrowed from the American Cheese Society. Following are the top ten cheeses in both cow milk and goat/sheep milk categories, annotated by a sampling of judge comments. On October 28, at the Southern Foodways Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi, we will crown the winners in each category and introduce a recipe utilizing the winning cow milk cheese. Funding for this project comes from the Southeast Dairy Association. Cow Milk Fleur de Teche Cow’s milk cheese. Triple cream, French style cheese made from Holstein cow milk. Bloomy rind with vegetable ash through center. Aged four to six weeks. Judges said, “sweet, creamy, mild” “barny, balanced” ”beautiful light texture.” Contact: John Folse Cow’s milk cheese. Soft-ripened, double cream cheese made from Jersey cow milk. White, bloomy rind. Rich and smooth. Aged four to six weeks. Judges said, “sharp, yet buttery” “melts in your mouth” “very clean finish, amazing” “aroma of wet, green bushes.” Contact: Desiree Wehner Bittersweet Plantation - Gonzales, Louisiana Cow’s milk cheese. Triple cream French style cheese with bloomy rind. Aged four to six weeks. Judges said, “heavenly” “but needs more tang” “creamy, buttery, addictive.” Contact: John Folse Grayson Cow’s milk cheese. Aged at least two months. Almost liquid when fully ripe and at room temperature. Very rich and beefy with pungent aroma and nutty, sweet overtone. Surface ripened with a thin reddish-orange washed rind. Judges said, “very strong smelling, funky” “thick, dense, and smooth” “enticing” “barny and earthy.” Contact: Cow’s milk cheese. External blue molded cheese.
Aged two and one-half months. Cow’s milk cheese. Washed rind. Monastery style. Buttery flavor. Melts well. Aged sixty to ninety days. Judges said, “buttery and toasty” “a nice sharpness, not too aggressive” “good fruit cheese” “soft and creamy in mouth.” Contact: Portia McKnight and Flo Hawley Natural Rind Cow’s milk cheese. Unwaxed and washed in apple cider vinegar. Drier and sharper version of farmstead cheese. Aged for a minimum of four months. Judges said, “milky, acidic” “dry, aged” “caramel nose” “sharp in a cheddary way” “balanced and pleasant.” Contact: Bruce DeGroot and Karen Mickler Trappist Mild Cow’s milk cheese. Made in French Port du Salut style. Aged two weeks. Judges said, “balanced” “promising aroma” “pungent and earthy” “tiny bit rubbery.” Contact: Fresh Mozzarella Cow’s milk cheese. Moist, creamy, and flavorful. Hand formed balls or tubes. Judges said, “fresh dairy smell” “mild and pleasant” “a little on the rubbery side” “milky.” Contact: Paula Lambert Clemson Blue Judges said, “textbook blue taste” “tart” “a little curdy” “salty.” Contact:
Sheep and Goat Milk Stackhouse Farmstead goat cheese. One-half pound loaf with a white
rind. Thin layer of organic apple wood ash down the center and dusting
of ash under the rind. Aged three to four weeks. Contact: Chris and Jeff Owen Sophia Farmstead goat cheese. One pound loaf with wrinkly, white rind. Marbled with ash. Aged approximately five days in cave. Judges said, “creamy, light paste, moist—perfect to me” “fabulous, no flaws” “needs a little more age” “love the look of this cheese.” Contact: Judy Schad Old Kentucky Tomme Farmstead goat cheese. Four to five pound wheel with whitish grey rind. Mellow, buttery, and mild, with mushroomy overtones. Aged four months. Judges said, “very salty, barny—delicious” “fresh, mild, pleasant” “firm, but creamy” “good acid/bitter/salt/milk balance.” Contact: Judy Schad O’Banon Farmstead goat cheese aged in Old Forester- and Woodford Reserve Bourbon-soaked chestnut leaves. Creamy and dense. Judges said, “fresh, lemony, and figgy” “needs a bit more salt” “milky, boozy, leafy—aromatics overwhelm the cheese a bit” “very pleasant mouth feel.” Contact: Judy Schad Spinning Spider Creamery - Marshall, North Carolina Farmstead goat cheese. Traditional goat milk Camembert in half-pound round. Aged three to four weeks. Judges said, “a little bitter finish, but balanced and clean” “silky and rich in your mouth where it is ripe” Contact: Chris and Jeff Owen Evangeline Contact: John Folse Chevre Judges said, “creamy, milky, mild” “moist and curdy” “fresh and nicely dense.” Contact: Alberto and John Piedmont Fresh sheep’s milk cheese. Sweet, nutty, and pleasant aftertaste. Aged six months. Judges said, “dry and crumbly in your mouth” “good toasty, caramel smell” “a little tart, not too much finish.” Contact: Pat Elliot Farmstead goat cheese. Washed rind. Semi-soft texture, similar to a Munster cheese. Aged three months. Judges said, “very mild” “understated” “sweet, nutty and mildly fruity” “not quite assertive enough” “firm and crumbly.” Contact: Merry Goat Round Aged goat cheese. Similar to a goat’s milk brie, but firmer. Sharp like a young cheddar. Aged five to eight weeks. Judges said, “almost like a very, very mild blue” “tangy” “dry, dense, crumbly, and chalky.” Contact: |
Each fall, the SFA (with support from the Fertel Foundation) honors an unsung hero or heroine, a foodways tradition bearer of note, with the Ruth Fertel Keeper of the Flame Award.
Help the Southern Foodways Alliance celebrate, preserve, promote, and nurture the traditional and developing food culture of the American South. |
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