CHEESE BOX 36 –
JUNE 22
Welcome to our Cheese box 36 – June 22!
What’s that stunning cheese?
Call us cheese nerds, but we get excited when we discover new curds or when top cheesemakers try new styles. The Milky Way in your box this month is a good example. It’s a Morbier style (named after a town in France). Left over curds from the evening milk – not enough to make a whole wheel of cheese – would have ash spread over them to protect them overnight and stop a rind forming. The next morning the cheese would be topped up with the morning curds. The cheese would then be left to mature for approximately 45 days to 3 months.
MILKY WAY – FROM LITTLE RIVER ESTATE
This is a semi-soft, slightly elastic cheese with a distinctive thin black layer of ash in the middle. Only one batch of curds is used, but the same effect is achieved as described on the front page. It’s delightfully creamy with a mild flavour. Match it with a slice of apple, and a saison, or for a change, an Assam black tea (like wine, tea has tannins that respond to the flavours of cheese).
Region: Nelson. Type of milk: cow.
VINTAGE DANBO – FROM HOHEPA
We’ve featured this fine cheese before. The name reflects its origins as a Danish copy of a Swiss cheese. It’s a semi-soft, aged cheese that Hohepa view as their signature cheese. Present it with a fruit paste, a pinot noir or a chardonnay, an amber ale, or an apple cider.
Region: Hawkes Bay. Type of milk: cow.
MT PEEL BLUE – FROM GERALDINE CHEESE
Paul, Angela and their team at Geraldine Cheese couldn’t make a boring cheese if they tried, and their Mt Peel Blue is another example of getting the style right. It’s a typical blue, not too strong and not too mild. Try it with some dried apricots or figs, a brown ale, or a port.
Region: Geraldine. Type of milk: cow.
CACIOCAVALLO – FROM WAIRIRI BUFFALO CHEESE
‘Caciocavallo’ means ‘cheese on horseback’ from how the cheese is traditionally hung to drain and mature. From Italian origin, this cheese is a delicious, smooth cheese that dates back to at least 500BC. In your box this month we’re bringing you the buffalo milk version of this traditional cheese. Pair it with a pear and a light pilsner or a chardonnay.
Region: Canterbury. Type of milk: buffalo.
