It’s very rare for bulk commodity cheese cooperatives to encourage artisan cheese making. However, this award winning Vermont cheddar is a shining example of how both sides of the industry can benefit from combining skills and working together.
Originally created in 2003 as an experiment between the huge Cabot dairy cooperative and small farmstead dairy Jasper Hill, this clothbound cheese is now recognized as one of the finest traditional cheddars produced in the USA.
Cabot makes the cheddar with milk collected from a single herd of Holstein cows and their own unique starter cultures. The wheels are transported to Mateo and Andy Kehler’s picturesque farm for expert aging.
After being carefully bound in cheese cloth and smeared with lard, the 38 pound wheels are matured for at least 12 months in the underground caves carved out of the green hillside. The result is crystalline-flecked, moist and crumbly cheddar with a sweet, tangy caramel flavour.
Sizes are approximate.
