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MIX & MATCH

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Photo by Romney Caruso

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Jasper Hill Harbison than now. Each small wheel of cheese is painstakingly bound in the cambium (still growing, under the visible bark) layer of a spruce tree. These strips of wood are harvested on the farm’s property and imbue each wheel of cheese with the woodsy complexity of a freshly cut Christmas tree. The cheese can be served whole, the white rind carefully cut away and the pudding-like interior served with a spoon. It’s always important to eat cheese at room temperature. When served cold, all the complexities and nuances of flavor are stifled and the texture is more likely to be firm — or worse, gummy. But it’s especially essential when enjoying bloomy rind cheeses that you give them at least an hour out of refrigeration. This style of cheese is singularly known for its kinship to butter and, often, for its subtle flavors. If the cheese is cold, you’re denying yourself the pleasure of sharing this luscious ness with the people you love.

While the triple crème is a French-invented adaptation of a bloomy rind, you can trust the Americans to introduce some really novel and delicious variations to this style. Nearly all bloomy rinds are made of cow milk, but this style of cheesemaking doesn’t require cow milk. One of the pioneering makers of artisan cheese in America, a woman named Mary Keehn out of California, invented her signature recipe, Humboldt Fog, in the 1990s. Her farm, Cypress Grove, continues to produce this goat milk bloomy rind today. The wheel looks more like a layer cake than like a cheese. The rind does break down the cheese’s outer layer, creating a gooey texture, but the interior stays flaky and fresh, with a clean, lemony flavor and tangy finish that marries beautifully with the fungal tasting rind. Perhaps even better for special gatherings and celebrations is Humboldt Fog’s cousin, Truffle Tremor. Here, that moist, crumbly interior is heavily laced with grated black truffle. Talk about earthy. American artisan cheeses are often more expensive than their mass-produced and imported counterparts. That’s due to the extremely labor-intensive work of making and aging them. One of my top five favorite cheeses in the world falls into this camp, and there’s no better time to splurge on

46 ROUSES WINTER 2023