I was given a gift of cheese last week. Jos, the local cheeseman, came by with a special homemade box of four homemade cheeses. They were a great breakfast with some fresh bread and juice on a snowy morning. There were some oozier bloomy rinds with a creamy fresh flavor; there was also a washed rind that wa the biggest hit. It was kind of salty and earthy, reminiscent of the Nettle Meadow Grayson.
Jos and the cheeses he makes are quite an inspiration. There has been a lot of talk lately of urban homesteading, but there is only so much you can do. It might be time to take it to the country. The first step is making things on your own at home that most folks buy in the store, the next step is to make the things to make the things- producing raw materials via agriculture. This is what sustainable diaries do. Sustainable dairies are in fact quite an American venture. Sure, they exist all over Europe, but more and more we find American farmers making something from very little. There is no sending milk out to a cheesemaker far away, it all happens in one place. This cheese is made from Milk from one of Jos’s neighbors upstate and lives in a cool place in Brooklyn while it ages.
