Word on Curd: New Cheeses and Seasonal Offerings for May

With spring officially underway, we are lapping up all the additional seasonal offerings from our beloved local farmstead cheesemakers. You will notice many new local soft goat and sheep cheeses cropping up in our cheese case, as we enter into the warmer months with the sheep and goats beginning their milking season, nourished on fresh grass and wildflowers. Be sure to stop in to see what’s new, and let us know what your favorite ways of enjoying these delectable seasonal delights are, by sharing your picnics and spring inspired cheeseboards with us on social media @harvestmarket.

• Farm at Doe Run Batch #37: An 8oz Goat Camembert-style 100% goat milk mini wheel. Flavor notes of sweet summer grass & a light vegetal flavor, with a supple, spreadable interior, and a luscious creamline becoming softer and nuttier as it ages. This cheese won Silver Metal in the 2022-23 World Cheese awards! Enjoy this cheese while it lasts, as it’s only made in the summer while the goats are milking. Pasteurized.

• Old Chatham Creamery Kinderhook Mini Sheep Camembert: An adorable 3.5oz picnic size mini wheel, with flavors of roasted mushrooms and nuts. Firm and creamy when young, becoming softer as it ages. Made from the milk of pastured farmstead Laucune and East Friesian sheep at Old Chatham Creamery, in Groton, NY. Pasteurized.

• Linden Dale Farm “Dalençay”: Abe Mellinger, 7th generation Linden Dale farmstead cheesemaker and goat shepherd, traveled to France to apprentice farmstead cheesemakers, where he learned the craft of soft-aged goat cheesemaking. Enter “Dalençay”: fashioned after the iconic French ash-ripened goat cheese, “Valençay.” This delicate gem has a velvety, 100% edible vegetable ash rind, and a creamy spreadable interior, giving way to a gooey creamline as it ages. The vegetable ash decreases the acidity of the goat milk, to yield a mild, nutty, slightly sweet flavor. Pair with a crisp, mineral-rich white from France’s Loire Valley, and ripe stone fruit.

• Linden Dale Farm Laughing Lindy: Inspired after the French crottin, this soft-aged hand-crafted goat cheese has a delectable wrinkly rind, and a creamy interior, yielding a soft and gooey creamline as it continues to age. With bright flavors of citrus and cream when young, becoming nuttier and more vegetal as it ages, enjoy this seasonal beauty on a seeded baguette with honey, or roasted mushrooms and a simple salad, a crisp white wine, or anything sparkling!

Farm at Doe Run Willow: Handcrafted into appealing “snowball” shaped mounds, this sheep, goat, & cow’s milk soft-ripened beauty is crumbly and soft in the middle, giving way to an increasingly gooey creamline beneath that lovely and delicious wrinkly rind, as it ages. With bright flavors of citrus and cream when young, developing into more nuanced flavors of hay, roasted mushrooms, and toasted nuts as it ages. 

Have you have noticed the little “PA Cheese Guild” stickers on all our local cheeses? Harvest Market is proud to announce that we are now Industry level members of the Pennsylvania Cheese Guild. What does this mean for you? Greater access to all those delicious PA farmstead cheeses, in addition to other events and educational opportunities. Learn more about the PA Cheese Guild, including information on how to obtain a membership for yourself!