Tamchop at Cowgirl Creamery’s Ferry Building Cheese Counter

We might not know exactly when we’re opening the doors to our new market on Divisadero, but our cheesemongers are already excitedly preparing for our future cut-to-order counter!  We’re thrilled that having this counter at our Divisadero store will allow us to offer new and different cheeses and provide even better service.

Our friends at Cowgirl Creamery at the Ferry Building & The Pasta Shop in Oakland have graciously welcomed our mongers for a couple days of staging behind their counter so we can all get a feel for what the new set-up might feel like, with all of the bustle and new challenges.  We are ever grateful for this opportunity and look forward to honing new skills!

Frau Samantha dreaming alpine

Alpine cheeses, also commonly called mountain cheeses, are one of my favorite styles of cheese, especially those from the French and Swiss Alps.  I love them for many reasons, not only for the taste and diversity of flavors, but also for the rich history that gave rise to a beautiful and nourishing tradition.  Mountainous regions are home to extreme conditions: brutally cold snow-filled winters, quick summers and a limited growing season.  The short growing season in these regions, often combined with jagged land ill-suited to cultivation, has over the years challenged mountainous populations to develop a way to feed themselves throughout the year. Cheese, essentially preserved milk, was a natural solution to this quandary.  Pristine lush pasture and bountiful water sources became available as the snow receded each year and provided seasonal nourishment for the animals and a way to capture the bounty of summer and preserve it for the long winter.

Out of these circumstances, a few common traits have evolved to define alpine cheeses:

Historically, they are larger wheels (no tiny crottin here!), like Comté and Gruyère

Why? Size matters.   Alpine cheeses in the Swiss and French Alps are traditionally made from cow’s milk, and cows produce far more milk than sheep or goats.  Also, a larger wheels allows the cheese to age longer than a small wheel, giving it a longer shelf life and ensuring that those captured summer nutrients remain good throughout the winter, when they were needed most.

The curds are cut into very small rice-sized pieces

Why? Alpine cheeses were historically made with very fresh milk that didn’t rest long before the cheesemaking process began.  This meant that the natural development of lactic acid bacteria, crucial to development of lactic acid and the expulsion of whey during the cheesemaking process, is limited.  This problem was exacerbated by the limited amount of salt (historically a heavy and limited resource in the mountains).  Cutting the curds into tiny particles helped dramatically increase the surface area, aiding the expulsion of whey from the curd.

Extra aged Bergkase: It’s not often we get to cut into a wheel this big!

The curd is cooked in copper kettles and pressed

Why? The heat and pressure further expulse whey, concentrate the curd and give the curd a tightly-knit structure with a closed rind.  This results in a yielding paste and a cheese that’s sturdy enough to travel and age, but not crack.

Come by for a taste of some of the new arrivals, including:

Scharfe Maxx—firm and powerful, this cheese is made by three cheesemakers in Hatswil, Switzerland who wash it in brine and herbs and then age it for 6 months.  It’s sharp (as the name suggests) and occasionally barnyard, but always creamy as it’s made with whole cow’s milk and some added cream in the cheesemaking process.

Jura Erguel—hailing from the Canton Jura, this cheese is grassy and fruity yet can have a bit of a bite to it.  This recipe hails from the second century and the cheese is still washed in brine and aged for 5 months.

Extra Aged Bergkäse—Don’t think the French and Swiss have all of the fun, Austria is a land full of mountains too!  Mild yet interesting, this is a great introduction to the meaty and winey notes characteristic of alpine cheeses.  Made by a co-op in the tiny town of Sibratsgfäll, it’s washed in wine and herbs and aged for 12 months.

Appalachian—a beautiful American take on alpine cheese from Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, Virginia.  The unique square shape differentiates this cheese just as much as the buttercup yellow paste from the rich Jersey cow milk.  Notes of fresh cream and mushroomy forest floors complement the silky texture.

After a long, cold and windy winter, the arrival of spring in The Netherlands unveils thick and lush grasses untouched for many months.  In turn, this signals a return to pasture for the cows.  During the first few weeks of spring, the cows graze on this pristine pasture, producing exceptionally rich and sweet milk. Beemster Graskaas, or “grass cheese” is made exclusively from this very special milk.

Beemster is one of the smallest coops in The Netherlands, located on the Beemster polder—a parcel of land 20 feet below sea level that was reclaimed from the sea between 1608–1612—whose mineral-rich blue sea clay gives the milk a unique flavor.  The resulting cheese is a stunning young gouda that is sweet and pure. I’m making sure that all of our staff tastes this year’s release–come in and ask for a taste!

Come celebrate Italian cheese month with us!  Every month we look forward to highlighting cheeses from a particular country or region, and May marks the start of our celebration of the bounty of Italy.  Cheeses, like traditional cooking, vary dramatically by region and we’re tried to assemble an interesting selection with a sense of place.

We’ve just cracked open some cheeses that we’re loving!

Testun al Barolo—a beautiful and striking cow and sheep milk blend from the Piedmont, based on an ancient mountain recipe.  Earthy, and fruity, this cheese is covered in Barolo must and aged for at least 5 months.

3-Milk Robiola di Langhe—another gorgeous mixed-milk cheese, this one sheep, goat, and cow, from Langhe, the agricultural heart of the Piedmont.  This creamy cheese is very representative of the region’s robiole.   Bright, tangy, with a little bit of the barn!

Robiola Rustica—think of this as Lombary’s take on the robiole.  Fans of Taleggio will notice some similarity, this small-format washed rind cheese is pleasantly pudgy with fruity, yeasty notes, and a nutty finish.

Pecorino di Pienza a Crosta Nera—ewes grazing in the famed Val’ d’Orcia produce the milk for this sweet and nutty pecorino.  Perfect with some honey and toasted hazelnuts.

Canestrato di Moliterno—a classic Southern Italian pecorino with a twist—added goat’s milk—for additional complexity.  A bolder alternative to the elegant Pecorino di Pienza, this cheese is well-suited to full-bodies, aged red wines.

And Gustosella, our favorite mozzarella di bufala, is on special for $6.50 all month!