Cheese Friday: Try this scary looking but tasty Cheese.

Thursday, July 7, 2005
Plain People's cheese is quite complex
Amish farmers' co-op produces a blue with depth
By JANET FLETCHER
The San Francisco Chronicle

In recent years, several struggling American dairy farmers have found a lifeline in artisan cheese production. The move into cheese, an expensive venture, hasn't paid off for everyone, but the successful farmers have been able to transform their milk from a low-priced, undifferentiated commodity into a desirable, high-value, branded product.

In the case of the new Schwarz und Weiss Natural Rind Blue, the farmers are Old Order Amish from three communities in Iowa and Minnesota.

These farmers have a long tradition of providing milk to the local creameries in 80-pound cans, but as these plants began to close, the farmers saw their customer base shrink and felt themselves increasingly at the mercy of the large dairies.

Determined to find a better, more certain market for their milk, they formed the Golden Ridge Cheese Cooperative to invest in a new cheese plant in Iowa.

Neville McNaughton, a respected cheese maker and consultant from New Zealand, helped them determine a style for the cheese and trained the non-Amish production staff.

The plant made its first cheese in October 2003 and, nine months later, took top honors for cow's milk blue at the American Cheese Society competition.

These tradition-bound farmers use no electricity and thus have no milking machines or modern refrigeration.

McNaughton's initial breakthrough was persuading them to build icehouses to keep their evening milk cold. The morning milk goes straight to the dairy.

Schwarz und Weiss Natural Rind Blue is made from pasteurized Jersey and Holstein milk.

The wheels weigh about 5 pounds and are aged at least 90 days, but may be 120 days old or more.

McNaughton says he is working on a 180-day-old cheese in response to customer requests and that the extra age makes the texture even smoother and the flavor more peppery.

I've now sampled this Amish blue cheese three times. One sample appeared to have been mishandled at some point; it was overly wet, overly pungent and entering into a stage I would characterize as "breakdown." The other two were divine, one clearly more mature than the other, yet I liked both.

The younger one was mild, moist and a little crumbly, with a milky sweetness that balanced the salt, although this isn't a particularly salty blue in any case.

The younger version also had less blue veining in its ivory paste; people who tend to shy away from blues should find this style completely approachable.

Some retailers are labeling this cheese Amish Blue instead of Schwarz und Weiss ("black and white" in German), the latter name selected to suggest the Amish people's commitment to the plain and simple life.

In contrast, their cheese is refined and complex, with lingering, milky flavors that make you want another taste.

A glass of Bodegas Dios Baco Amontillado, a luscious, gently sweet sherry that smells of caramel and roasted nuts, complements it to perfection.

WHERE TO FIND IT
Iowa Amish Blue available at Bristol Farms, (949) 760-6514, for $9.99 a pound.

-I'm busy today. Happy Cheese Friday!!!