Celebrate Independence with a Homemade Beauty!

Consider Bardwell Farm is just one of those farms I really want to visit. Located in beautiful Vermont (and partly in New York) it is a 300-acre farm which boasts the title of becoming the first cheese-making coop in Vermont back in 1864. The farm produces a range of cheeses with milk from goats and cows. The goats that live on the farm are called Oberhaslis goats. If goats could have opinions on how other goats look then most goats would be jealous of Oberhaslis goats. But that's a story for a different day. The cheese held up with the task of flying the flag for independence today is one made with cows milk. Specifically, Jersey cows.

Freshly cut Dorset!

Dorset is her name. She's a washed rind cheese and she's got such depth in flavor that if you close your eyes then you can realize yourself amongst the rolling hills and fresh air that is in such large supply in the first state to be formed in the USA that WASN'T an original colony. The washed rind gives the cheese a pink and almost crystallized aesthetic and when it is cut a pretty, yellow interior is revealed. It has a good degree of pungency too which is said to be seasonally influenced. Yesterday, I suggested a customer should try a piece as it would look great on a 'July 4th cheeseboard.' I handed her the piece and when she tried it she almost melted into the counter. It was quite a sight to see. Suffice to say she bought a large piece!

The wheels are small and only come in 2.5lb sizes which is kind of cute. It's size does not affect it's status in the cheese case; it is the winner of so many awards that it stares up at some of the larger local cheeses and they treat it equally! The personification of cheese!

Consider Bardwell Farm is committed to pesticide-free grazing on land that does not use fertilizer. It's great for vegetarians as only vegetarian rennet is added to the cheese and there is no antibiotic or hormone rubbish added at any point from farm to table. Dorset, VT is an historic town and Dorset cheese is well on it's way to become historic in it's own right! I'll support a flag with a piece of Dorset on it today for Independence!

Parmigiano Reggiano; Making husband's worried for nine centuries!

Remember when you were back in school and your peers used to invent a shortened version of
name in order to say it quicker? Mine was always pretty simple. Andrew Tyson only ever went as far as 'Andy', 'Tyson' or occasionally 'Stretch' due to my lanky appearance. However, nicknames/shortened names can sometimes be confusing to others. To name a few, I've had friends called The Train, Boozer, Maverick, Okra, The Blue Whale and Kooch! Shortened names are also often given to things that one holds dear such as sports teams, cars and places. It doesn't happen too much with cheese though. Maybe that's why lots of people get confused with Parmigiano Reggiano.

Rustic cut!

'Hello, got any Parm?' he said abruptly. I knew what he wanted immediately. He had been in the store with his wife the week before and she had taken a nice respectable chunk of Reggiano with a small rind from the display. 'Of course' I replied. I know the word 'Parm' is a general term and could mean any number of hard Italian grating cheeses but like I said, I knew what he wanted. I took the gentleman to the Reggiano display. 'Here you go' I said, motioning towards the oddly-shaped, jagged edges of Parmesan mountain. The man picked a piece up and inspected the label. 'No, this is wrong, I'm looking for Parm' he continued, 'this label says some Italian name, Reggy something.' I told the gentleman that I can assure him that Parmigiano Reggiano was the 'long name' for the cheese he was looking for. He looked at me with distrust and over the top of his glasses he said 'I hope you're right because if I go home with the wrong thing then my wife will not be happy!' On telling him that I had seen his wife ask me for the location of the Parmesan display just the other week his shoulders visibly relaxed and he popped the piece straight in his basket!

Parmigiano Reggiano is still made today as it was hundreds of years ago using honest and traditional methods. It is the absolute king of cheeses and it squashes everything in it's path with it's 90lb total wheel weight. Every wheel has it's own unique marking branded onto the cheese and during production and maturation the wheels are inspected EVERY day to ensure consistency. Approximately 550 liters of cow's milk is used in every wheel produced and according to figures there were over 3,300,000 wheels made in 2014!

Freshly sliced with a Parm knife

A cheese as historic as this absolutely has to have protected status of origin and as a result it is only produced in five provinces throughout Italy. As well being the ingredient in many dishes it is fantastic grated over pretty much anything and the rind can be added to soups and stews to increase the flavor! Just this week I cracked open a new wheel to be released upon the world and just started handing out samples to people walking by. I couldn't help myself! A freshly cut wheel of Parmesan is easily worth two in the bush. It literally melts in your mouth. There's no beating it, it's the king of cheese. King of Kings. Even if the name does make husbands worry!