The finest Camembert available today isn’t French?

Tunworth

Hampshire Cheese

Herrirad, Hampshire, Great Britain

Pasteurized Cow Milk

Is it possible that the finest Camembert available today is not from Normandy in France? The world moves forward, and just last week we read an article about the only Camembert producer in the town of Camembert closing up for retirement. In today’s global marketplace, the opportunity for old things to show up in new places avails itself in a nano-second, often as second-rate knock offs, and occasionally as a true reflection of the spirit of the original form. Tunworth, thankfully, represents the latter. Hampshire Cheese began production in 2005, and less than a year later were awarded the prestigious Supreme Champion Cheese in the British Cheese Awards. What strikes us as remarkable is the dense texture achieved by their neighbors pedigreed Holsteins. This is an intensely aromatic cheese that benefits from a little time out of the wrapper to “breathe” before service. We love it with crisp hard cider, and find it’s creaminess is well matched with a slightly oxidized Jura Chardonnay.

Hook’s 9 Year Aged Cheddar

Hook’s Cheese Company

Mineral Point, Wisconsin

Pasteurized Cow Milk

Tony and Julie Hook have been making great Cheddar for more than 35 years in the old-fashioned Wisconsin style. In Wisconsin, Cheddar is the main staple for the dairy industry made in hundreds of regional creameries, and Hook’s is without a doubt the King of Wisconsin Cheddar. We secured a big block of this 9-year beauty to celebrate our 9th Anniversary this month. This extra mature cheese packs a huge punch of flavor up front and melts deliciously on the palate. The flavors are bold with layers of toasted onion and roasted meat with those fantastic briny crunch crystals we all love. If we were in Wisconsin we’d enjoy Hook’s 9 Year Cheddar with a cold pint of beer, pickled vegetables, smoky ham, and a good dark rye – delicious!

Hook's 9 Year Aged Cheddar

Pecorino Tuada

Caseificio Bertagni

Pieve Fosciana, Lucca, Italy

Pasteurized Sheep Milk

Pecorino Tuada could easily be categorized as Pecorino Toscano – a broad description for any number of Tuscan Sheep Milk Cheese, but the cheesemaker, much like pioneering Tuscan winemakers operated outside the restrictions and generalizations of the consorzio to produce a more unique and less salty cheese for you. Tuada is local dialect for cellar, and signifies this cheese is aged about 6 months in the Bertagni cellar. Made from the coop milk of local farms, the cheese is rubbed with olive oil and lightly dusted with vegetable ash yielding a dry yet edible rind. We aim to make our COTM selections seasonally correct, and Pecorino Tuada is a fantastic cheese for shaving onto salads or atop fresh spring asparagus or fava beans; or enjoyed at the end of a great Sunday Supper with a drizzle of honey and a handful of toasted nuts.

Cheese of the Month Club Selections June 2014

Our June Cheese of the Month Club features 3 of our seasonal favorites.  Limited supplies available of these unique selection during the month of June.  For more information about subscribing to our Cheese Club please follow the link here http://cheeseplus.com/wp-content/uploads/cotm-120208.pdf.

We want to say thank you for your support and encouragement these past 9 years.  We look forward to seeing and serving you again real soon!