#bark wrapped

[ohjeezcheese]

Harbison

Milk: Pasteurised Cow Rennet: Animal Style: Bark-wrapped bloomy rind Country: USA Harbison is the brainchild of Jasper Hill in Vermont. This award winning cheese is one of a handful of American Artisan cheeses that are bark wrapped (this one in particular is wrapped in locally harvested spruce bark). It is available year-round, and when perfectly ripe, has the texture of soft caramel. Heather’s notes: This melt in your mouth cheese has a fantastic "fresh grown mushrooms" flavor with a hint of tangy mustard. One of my absolute favorites!

Carrie’s notes: Smells like herbs and grass, tastes like buttered corn and soooo craemy on the finish. Killer, but not a cheese for beginners!

This cheese is sold locally for around $20 for a 2/3 lb wheel. A great size for a party and fantastic with Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre or a cider.

[cheesenotes]

Cheese and Champagne visits Rush Creek Reserve

Cheese and Champagne has a great post about one of my favorite American cheeses, the highly seasonal, gone-before-you-know-it Rush Creek Reserve from Uplands cheese. Rush Creek is a  bark-wrapped, spoonable wonder of a cheese in the style of Vacherin Mont d'Or and as close as you'll get (legally) to Vacherin in the States, at least until the laws change. The above photo is from last December. Purchased at Union Market on Court St, of all places, it was the last wheel of RCR that they had for the season and probably right at the apex of being at peak. Another few days and I suspect it would have been an ammoniated mess, but when I got my spoon into it...well, suffice it to say I've been looking forward to the arrival of this year's batch for a while.

I can understand the reaction of the Cheese and Champagne team upon entering the caves:

Explaining the care and attention that Rush Creek requires, new-father Hatch remarked, “It’s like having a child and you’re staring at it all the time.” We couldn’t help but stare either. Once ushered into the inner chamber where a first-of-the-season wheel waited, lid removed, to be tasted, the cameras went wild with a frenzy that can only compare to the paparazzi catching a glimpse of Suri Cruise or the latest celeb baby. Yes, Rush Creek Reserve is our Suri, and we’re not ashamed to call ourselves groupies.