Toma Primo, Cooperstown Cheese Company, NY

by dccheese on September 20, 2012

in American-Northeast,Brews,Cheese!,Cow

I’m a New Yorker by marriage — married to the New Yorker-type for whom “New York” means only the City. In the dozen or more years we’ve been visiting the in-laws in the city, I’ve only been upstate on two brief occasions. Of course, I’m fully aware of New York’s finer cheesemakers that hail from the state’s dairyland: Nettle Meadow is mentioned often here on C+C and Nancy’s Hudson Valley Camembert was one of the first cheeses we reviewed, way back in 2008. I lucked out on my most recent trip to the city as the New Amsterdam Market was kind enough to gather the region’s cheesemakers for a one-day Cheese Market & Dairy Fair.

cooperstown cheese company

This provided the perfect opportunity to sample some new and new-to-the-blog cheeses. First up, Cooperstown Cheese Company, whose website directs visitors to “the red barn roof six miles south of Cooperstown,” in Milford, NY.

cheesemaker at cooperstown cheese co.

Cooperstown Cheese Co. produces several European-inspired cheeses from Jersey and Brown Swiss cows-milk from local family farms and aged in their caves. The big seller at the market seemed to be the impressive Toma Celena, a nutty, alpine-style cheese. The smaller, more grooved Toma Primo won my heart though, a slightly sweet washed rind. This is a robust cheese made for seasonal beer pairings this fall — perhaps something from nearby Brewery Ommegang.

toma primo cooperstown

A third Toma, Duro, and Jersey Girl, a lighter-bodied Colby-style cheese rounded out the selections at the market. I hope to run into Cooperstown cheeses in the city again. If not, at least I now have something to look forward to on the baseball hall of fame pilgrimage to Cooperstown my husband has long been planning.

(Psst: Rumor has it that the Beekman Boy’s much-hyped Beekman Blaak is aged at Cooperstown.)

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