Having posted tasting notes of their St. Maure and Valencay, I was pleased to have yet another lovely looking goat cheese to tackle from this relatively new, yet fantastic producer. Holly, who tends the goats, cheesemaking, and market booth mentioned that this particular cheese will achieve more of what she’s looking for by the fall. She’s got me excited too now, as it’s pretty darn nice at the moment.
This one’s a different beast than the other two, as it’s not in the moist-and-creamy category. It’s a drier cheese – soft and subtle, making it very approachable for even the non-goat-cheese lover. Despite the dryness, it’s not grainy or crumbly, and for a point of reference is more akin to the offspring of an aged-cheddar-asiago marriage than chevre. The flavor is light, with sunflower seed nuttiness and butter notes. I found it to have a similar approach as some of my favorite French wines – nuanced, not in your face, and you have to dig a bit to get to the substance of it. Like classic vanilla.
Smokey Valley Goat Cheese will be featured in Sept/Oct in the upcoming blog-umentary-online-video series I’m producing called ‘From Local Farms‘. Holly will be showing you around the farm, and walking you through the cheesemaking process. How cool is that?!? I’m really excited to have a growing list of farms involved in the project, and just today started to get regional musicians get involved by donating their music to the soundtrack. Stay tuned – it’s turning out to be a pretty exciting project.
6 Comments on “Smoky Valley Goat Cheese – Mountain Tomme”
That cheese looks delicious. I can’t wait to see your online blogumentary series!
Thomas – me too!
Praise cheeses. Cheeses save. Cheeses love you. Let us always remain close to cheeses.
Kevin!
Congratulations! Please join Slow Food This is exactly the kind of initiative we would love to advertise (and will anyway) and be part of. Incredible! When are you going to the farm. I would love to come! (Have you had a lot of requests like this one?) Did you get my message about the SF Edmonton’s Dairy Farms Fieldrip comig up Sept 26th – or are you just going to do the farm visits through this project? I learned how to make mladi sir while I was in Bosnia. It is a young cheese and nothing like anything I have had before. It is very mild and takes four days from start to finish. That is how young it is. No depth of flavour, but a wonderful fresh and satisfying texture and a great treat. I can’t wait to try it here. There is nothing in it except raw milk and water.
Great project. Love it. I am so excited about what I am going to learn from this. I want to make my own cheeses and learn the differences between fromage blanc and creme fraiche and on and on and on.
:)
Valerie
I am crazy over cheese!
Valerie – I emailed you this morning re: Slow Food and the farm visit.
The entire From Local Farms project was initiated by me, not the farms, and I have a dozen or so lined up in the next month. I’ve considered the opportunity to have some local food bloggers who are interested pile into my car to come visit the farms, but I’ll be doing the initial shoots on my own [as that’s what I’ve committed to with them] and will feel out their interest re: a blogger group visit as a follow up/separate project. You’ll be the first I contact if/when there’s some takers.
Great! I understand that the first time is very important to do on your own – and may be the only time this year… with a possible follow up next year. Or, Slow Food (me) could book follow up tours like I have started to do for many, as well. It certainly won’t be as intimate, but it will be something. And, I understood this was your idea. I love it. I am thrilled. BTW – do you have a source for raw milk? (answer that one privately)
:)
Valerie