Archive for ‘Slow Food Nation’

Slow Food Nation Highlights

By , 4 September, 2008,

My Favorite Food Discoveries

Bayley Hazen Blue from Jasper Hill Farm – Perhaps I loved it so because, as Jasper Hill says, “though drier and crumblier than most blues, its texture reminds one of chocolate and butter.”

Which leads me to…

Pastureland Butter – Organic, grass-fed butter from Minnesota, clearly from happy cows. Wow. Creamy, salty goodness. We had butter samples on small pieces of baguette. It’s the first time I wanted to eat butter instead of cheese.

Interestingly, the butter seemed almost healthy compared to the luscious Mt Tam cheese from Cowgirl Creamery enjoyed by so many. (It’s not making the discovery list as I’m an old fan of the Mt. Tam.)

Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson. The heavens parted as I first tasted this cheese, and I wondered where I’d been my whole life.

Prairie Fruits “Angel Farm” Farm Cheese from Nubian goats.

Askinosie White Chocolate – I know, I know heresy to rave about white chocolate, which isn’t really chocolate. Maybe it’s that the droplets were sitting in a pool of natural cocoa powder that made them so sublime. Or perhaps it’s the more-than-Fair Trade goodness packed in each creamy bite. But I was a convert.

Brazin Wine from Lodi (which seems hard to find in a net search). The crowd unanimously loved this Zinfandel.

Veldhuizen Farmstead Cheese, Discovered at Slow Food Nation

By , 31 August, 2008,

A highlight of volunteering at Slow Food Nation’s Taste Pavilion was discovering Veldhuizen Cheese, a farmstead* cheese maker, which produces so little that it is rarely available outside of Texas. They sell most to restaurants in the area, although they have a store at the farm as well as online.

*Means the cheese maker also produces the milk from his/her own animals.

Veldhuizen makes 10 types of cheeses including the blue, cheddars, and a gruyere style.

I had the pleasure of tasting the Bosque Blue. As you can see in the photo, it is very veiny and the “white” part has a yellow hue due to the cows feeding largely on grass. Only 15% of their diet comes from grain at the Dublin, Texas farm, 65 miles southeast of Fort Worth. (Take a memo: Strive to be a cow here in your next life.)

The Lure of Cheese Making

Stuart explained that he grew up on the dairy farm and knew what hard work it was to make a living. He thought he didn’t want to be in the business. But in 1999 a hankering called. His wife researched how many cows they’d need to make cheese.

They started with 20 cows and now have 40, in a profitable operation. The rest is history. They enjoy being a small operation so their cheese will remain a rare, coveted delight.

You can read more on how they got started their website. Good people, great cheese. I hope you can experience it!

Short clip on his background…

See more photos from Slow Food Nation