Every year as the Holidays near our head cheesemaker and curator, Mark Gillman, will start taking notes on which cheeses have caught his eye. When one has been in the business of making and selling cheese for over twenty years there tends to be a little bit more pressure on what they will present as their favorite cheeses to be laid out for the Holiday gatherings. This year the pressure was intensified when the mongers of Cato Corner Farm challenged Mark to come up with his “best bite”. The best bite has to be perfect in the sense of balanced textures, flavors of acidity to sweetness and what will make one go in for a second serving. Mark rose to challenge, and here is what he came up with.
Bloomsday with Sour Cherry Spread upon a Fig Raincoast Crisp
This pairing summed up what we were looking for in a perfect bite - texture, balance, and aesthetically pleasing. The nuts and seeds within a Raincoast crisp really brought out the nutty yet cheddary flavor of Bloomsday just to finish with the tartness of the cherry jam. We believe that the simplicity of this pairing is truly what made it great.
Molto Vivace topped with Honeycomb on a Firehook Baked cracked.
This batch of Molto Vivace was aged for fourteen months leaving a sharp and spicy pecorino-like flavor. The only thing that could withstand such sharp flavor would be honeycomb. The sweetness of honeycomb may overwhelm most cheeses but it met its match with our Molto Vivace. While the sweetness comes in first it finishes with a lovely sharp flavor.
Hooligan with Mighty Hot Pepper Jelly on a Firehook Baked cracker.
Hooligan is very appropriately named since it doesn’t play well with others! The latest batches of Hooligan have been pudgy and are developing nicely into their stinky selves. Hooligan typically delves strong flavors of beef so we thoroughly enjoyed pairing this cheese with a hot pepper jelly. The pairing married together in a sweet yet spicy yet creamy combination - it was perfect in the sense that everything came together and nothing got lost in the strong components.
Black Ledge Blue with Goat Milk Caramel topped with a Caramelized Pecan
It was at this point in the tasting that we had realized that Mark had created his “best bite”. It may sound like a strange pairing, but just think ‘pecan pie’. Our Black Ledge Blue is notorious for it’s mushroomy quality and salty finish - so what combats salt? Sweet. The caramel so smooth and rich in texture while the sweetness was not overwhelming. The sweet and salty played so well together but what really tied the two together was the caramelized pecan. The texture added by the pecan is what made this a perfect bite.
