Nibbles from the Summer Fancy Food Show

I’m eager to bring you a first glimpse of the Fancy Food Show, but first, an update on Friday’s Cheesemonger Invitational: Congratulations to Portland’s Steve Jones of Cheese Bar for taking first place! Remaining finalists (as reported by Lactography‘s Carlos Yescas via Twitter):

• 2nd place, Poul Price, Consider Bardwell (VT)
• 3rd place, Anne Saxelby, Saxelby Cheese (NY)
• 4th place, Zeke Ferguson, Di Bruni Bros. (PA)
• 5th place, Matt Rubiner, Rubiners Cheesemongers (MA)

Congrats to all — from the tweets, it sounded like an intense competition!

~

And now for the Fancy Food highlights …. Thanks to construction at NYC’s Javits Center, the NASFT Summer Fancy Food Show — mecca to gourmet food-seekers and cheese aficionados — has relocated to Washington, DC, for both this and next years’ shows. I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to visit with some of our favorite cheesemakers in my home town, even if I may have been a tad hungover from the baby’s 1st birthday bash the day before. (Or more accurately, sleep-deprived.) And the trip didn’t disappoint, as I chatted with old friends (Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove Chevre) and new (the lovely Jill & Lynn of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Co., Pat Ford of Beehive Cheese Co., and more). I’ll bring you more in-depth looks at some of the hot cheeses of the show throughout the week, but here’s a first look at the highlights.

(Lynn of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese, Rogue's newest blues, 21st Amendment's beer art

• Sampled Ticklemore at the always-impeccable British cheese display from Neal’s Yard Dairy;
• Met the young cheesemaker Marisa Mauro of Ploughgate Creamery and tasted her Hartwell cheese;
• Learned about a new model farmstead cheesemaking operation (Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company) at the site of former Woodstock Water Buffalo farm in Vermont — and tasted their bloomy-rind, brie-style cheese;
• Checked another state off the list with my first sample of Maine cheeses, courtesy of Pineland Farms;
• The creamy burrata from Maplebrook Farm, Vermont (yes, an American burrata!);

(Beehive's Pat Ford; psychedelic Cypress Grove; hands-off the French cheeses)

• A long conversation with Rogue Creamery‘s Francis Plowman about the steps Oregon cheesemakers are taking to proactively ramp up safety (and learned more about the new sensation Caveman Blue);
• Hoptastic beers from 21st Amendment and Lagunitas, perfect for summer cheese pairings. (And a watermelon beer!);
• Nibbles from Caves of Faribault (MN), Tumalo Farms (OR), Mozzarella Company (TX), Nicasio Valley (CA), Crocker Hills (WI), and so many more;
• Sweet & Spicy Pickles from Root Cellar Preserves;
• Bourbon Burnt Sugar ice cream from Atlanta’s High Road Craft (we can spread the love to all dairy products);
• A miss: the French keep their cheeses behind glass in an unmanned display. (But perhaps I’ll actually get to sample their specimens at tonight’s French cheese reception.); and,
• Sampled exciting new cheeses from Cypress Grove (herbaceous), Grafton Village (trufflicious) and Beehive Cheese Co. (think tea) … but you’ll have to come back to hear about those.

I’d also like to thank the many purveyors of coconut water and tea for helping to keep me hydrated during the cheese binge tasting tour. And the placement of the American Craft Beer Association station next to the cheese aisles was brilliant. More to come…

Tagged as: #SFFS11, 21st amendment, caves of faribault, cheesemonger invitational, crocker hills, fancy food show, lagunitas, maplebrook farm, mozzarella company, nasft, neal's yard dairy, nicasio valley, pineland farms, ploughgate creamery, rogue creamery, root cellar preserves, tumalo farms, vermont farmstead cheese company