Kinderhook a fine sheep’s milk offering
If finding a need and filling it is a prescription for business success, venture capitalists should be investing in dairy sheep. They aren’t, but fortunately, a few other risk takers are building flocks to meet a growing appetite in this country for sheep’s milk yogurt and sheep’s milk cheese.
In fact, New York’s Old Chatham Sheepherding Co., probably the first significant dairysheep venture in the United States, chose to discontinue production of its sheep cheeses in 2007 to meet the booming business for its sheep’s milk yogurt. Since then, the company helped some neighboring Amish farmers build flocks and is now purchasing sheep’s milk from them. With a more stable milk supply, Old Chatham’s proprietors felt comfortable getting back into the business of producing pure sheep’s milk cheese.
Last year, Old Chatham debuted Kinderhook Creek, a 14-ounce bloomy-rind sheep’s milk wheel, and the cheese is now making its way west. Veteran cheese enthusiasts will recognize it as essentially a smaller version of Shepherd’s Wheel, one of the sheep cheeses that Old Chatham discontinued five years ago.
Made from pasteurized sheep’s milk, some of which may come from the Amish neighbors, the cheese is released from the creamery at about two weeks. At that point, the powdery white mold has just bloomed on the surface, and the disk is probably still firm and aromatically mute. But over the next several weeks, the cheese softens from the outside in and the fragrance blossoms.
You can use the five-digit date code on the label to determine when the cheese was produced. The first two digits (presumably 12) indicate the year. The next two digits indicate the week of the year, from 01 to 52. And the final digit represents the day of the week, with Monday as day one.
Brennan says she thinks Kinderhook Creek reaches its flavor peak at about eight weeks. The touch test should tell you as much as the date code. A ripe wheel will give to gentle pressure, a sure sign that it is softening and evolving.
My first experience of this cheese was underwhelming. The texture was supple and pleasant enough, but I could not find much aroma or flavor. Only when I scored a riper wheel, with more give, did I get the mushroom fragrance that others had described, along with a nutty scent; a highly savory, almost meaty flavor; and a sexy, spreadable texture. I couldn’t leave that cheese alone.
Look for Kinderhook Creek at Rainbow Grocery and BiRite Market in San Francisco; the Cheese Board in Berkeley; and Oxbow Cheese in Napa.
Old Chatham currently makes fewer than 300 wheels per week, so we are lucky to get any. Pair this luscious cheese with sparkling wine for some textural contrast. Next up: Capriole Julianna, an aged goat’s milk cheese from Indiana.