NEW ARRIVALS

NEW CHEESES

Gouda Truffle - Holland $39.50/LB (whoa!! but worth every penny you have to try this one, you will become seriously addicted) Black Italian truffles throughout this amazing cheese lend wonderful taste and aroma to this high-quality, farm-made gouda. Made on a small farm in Noord, Holland. We paired this cheese with our Foris Dry Gewurztraminer - yummmmmm

Bleu D’Auvergne - France $14.00/LB A name-protected cheese from the Auvergne region in south-central France, Bleu d'Auvergne is made in the traditional manner from raw cow's milk and features blue veining throughout. Its moist, sticky rind conceals a soft paste possessing a grassy, herbaceous, and (with age) spicy, pungent taste. Our French organic Alsatian Riesling pairs perfectly.

Lemon White Stilton - England $26.50 / LB This unusual dessert cheese came in from a customer request. It is made with vegetarian rennant and is dotted with candied lemon peel. It has no blue veining, is mild in flavour with a tangy, sweet lemon taste. Very tasty and will be quite the conversation piece on a cheese tray!

Kasseri - Greece $24.00 / LB Made from the fresh milk of free-ranging sheep and goats. Mt. Vikos Kasseri is made during months when grasses are green for a sweet flavor. No antibiotics are given the animals (Americans call this organic, the good folks at Mt Vikos call it normal) Mt. Vikos contains no preservatives, additives, or calcium chloride. It is the "melting cheese" of Greece. The curds are hand-kneaded. The cheese rounds are placed in special aging rooms for six months. Though kasseri has been made for centuries, Americans are just discovering this super cheese that tastes like a cross bewteen feta and cheddar - with the texture being more like a cheddar.

Rouge et Noir Triple Crème Brie - California, USA $13.00/Each This classic award winning California Brie is creamy from the natural ripening process, with an even yellow color throughout. 100% Jersey milk used; it is at the same time delicate in its buttery first-flavor, with a pleasant robust aftertaste.

Rouge et Noir La Petite Crème - California, USA $8.00/Each A delicate “dessert” cheese that is rich yet mild, with a soft and creamy texture that melts in your mouth. This romantic cheese when young with a firm pate, is perfect for brunch or as an after dinner treat.

NEW NOT-CHEESE

Lamb & Beef Sausage Saucisse Merguez D’Agneau et Boeuf - San Francisco, California, USA $12.50 / Each Spicy North African lamb and beef sausage made in the classic French style from Marcel et Henri. Must be cooked thoroughly.

Honey Combs - $18.00 / Each Back by popular demand. These beautiful honeycombs are entirely edible and look stunning on a cheese tray. If you haven't tried honeycombs with goat cheese you don't know what you are missing!

Where For Art[isan] Thou?

• ARTISAN, ORGANIC, FARMSTEAD. All cool buzz words we Cheese Mongers like to toss about. But what do they really mean? Assuming this composition will not cure the insomnia from which I am suffering tonight I will delve into definitions, comparisons and why these words are important.
  
• AS with my favorite BORDEAUX region, Pomerol, the idea is quality not quantity. Would one expect anything less than perfection from a tiny communal region in France that produces less wine in a year than a certain giant Californian factory produces in six minutes?
  
• One year versus six minutes. Handmade, meticulously cared for, aged to perfection ARTISAN... or stems, leaves, insects and oh yeah grapes cranked out by a machine in six minutes. Hmmmm?
  
• And so is ARTISAN with cheese making.
  
• When I see a cheese maker's website feature pictures of their herd along with their children I think "they must care about their animals, right?"
  
  
  

• Artisan cheese making begins with caring. Caring about the welfare of these docile creatures from which you make your living. Caring about the integrity of the product you put to market, and caring about the craft and the artistry of the traditional cheese making process enough to stay this difficult path. A steel machine and a big sheet of plastic might be more profitable, but the cost of that profit is likened to selling one's soul.
  
• That brings us to the definition of the word Farmstead. A Farmstead Cheese is one that is made from a herd of animals owned by the cheese maker. The [ideal] flip side would be a cheese maker who does not own a herd of animals, but purchases milk from a local farmer [who posts portraits of his animals on his website] .
  
• Organic is a word that wears many hats.
  
• ADJECTIVE:
  Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.
  Of, relating to, or affecting a bodily organ: an organic disease. [yikes]
  Of, marked by, or involving the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin: organic vegetables; an organic farm. [thus organic cheese - milk producing critters fed crops that are not grown with nasty toxic stuff]
  Raised or conducted without the use of drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals: organic chicken; organic cattle farming. [yes.... this is what we look for]
  Serving organic food: an organic restaurant.
  Simple, healthful, and close to nature: an organic lifestyle.
  Having properties associated with living organisms.
  Resembling a living organism in organization or development; interconnected: society as an organic whole. [ooookkkaaayyyy]
  Constituting an integral part of a whole; fundamental.
  Law Denoting or relating to the fundamental or constitutional laws and precepts of a government or an organization.
  Chemistry Of or designating carbon compounds.
  
• Of course our main goal is, to sell you cheese :) BUT we want to be clear that we will not knowingly sell ANY product where an animal - or person [free trade is an entirely different insomniatic blog] is mistreated or chemically compromised.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

Painting begins

The Cheese Shop On Park - brought to you in Technicolor!

Tile installation - we're looking more like a Cheese Shop every day!

Don't forget to visit our website http://www.thecheeseshoponpark.com/ - and forward our link to your family, friends, coworkers and neighbors.

We love visitors - so please stop in and say hi if yousee the doors open during construction.

As always - if you have any comments, suggestions or favorite cheese requests - please send me an email or fill out our comment form below.

Till next time ! Kirsten