"All American Cheese Fest" Saturday 7/3/10 at Little Italy Mercato

To celebrate America's birthday, we decided to break out some American craft cheese. No, not that stringy stuff, nor that orange plastic stuff or that stuff in the green can. Nope, our craft cheeses are made by artisans, many of them dairy farmers, from around the country. In our first-ever "All American Cheese Fest", we are so excited to offer a mix of some of our favorites, with some cheeses that are brand-spanking new to us. We hope you'll plan to come to the Mercato Saturday to discover some real American cheese! Happy Birthday America!

 

This Week's All American Mercato Selection

FEATURED PRODUCER:  ROGUE CREAMERY(CENTRAL POINT, OR)
Rogue Creamery is one of our very favorite domestic producers and the reigning American Cheese Society Champ (the seasonal Rogue River Blue won Best in Show in ’09). The dairy produces consistently great blues and cheddars, primarily using raw milk from their own herd. This week we introduce their newest blue - and it’s indeed a macho one. We tried it up at the Fancy Food Show this past January and we’re excited to finally have it in. We’re also featuring a couple of Rogues tasty cheddars. We introduced the Lavender Cheddar last week and this week it’s joined by one of our longtime faves, the Chocolate Stout Cheddar, infused with beer brewed at nearby (but unaffiliated) Rogue Brewery. Come discover one of America’s best!

• ROGUE CAVEMAN BLUE Assertive, biting blue aged 6-12 months. Great with reds, ports & Barleywines
• ROGUE CHOCOLATE STOUT CHEDDAR Block cheddar made from raw cow’s milk and chocolate stout beer. Pairs with (duh) big stouts. 
  
• ROGUE LAVENDER CHEDDAR Creamy raw cow’s milk cheddar with dried lavender sprigs.


• ROGUE OREGONZOLA Fruity, gorgonzola-style blue, cave-aged120+ days.

BOCCONCINI Mini balls of uber-fresh mozzarella, from Gioia our fave burrata producer (El Monte, CA)

BLACK BUTTE RESERVE Seasonal cheese from Pedroza Dairy in the Sierra foothills. (Orland, CA)

BURRATA FRESH (2 days!) balls of Gioia Burrata - only market available at this market!! (El Monte, CA)

CABOT CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR One of our all-time favorite cheddars. Won ACS Best in Show in 2008! (Waterbury Center, VT) 

CARMODY Bellwether Farms makes an excellent line of cheeses. This is our favorite! (Petaluma, CA)

COLOROUGE From MouCou Cheese Co., creamy washed-rind rounds (Ft Collins, CO)

DANTE Firm seasonal ewe’s milk cheese from award-winning Wisconsin Sheep Co-op. (River Falls, WI)

ETUDE Firm goat cheese, aged 6+mos from Soyoung Scanlon of Andante Dairy (Petaluma, CA)

HOOLIGAN Incredible washed rind cheese made from raw milk. (Cato Corner, CT)

HUMBOLDT FOG MINI’S The same great cheese you know, but in 1lb rounds sold whole or halved (Arcata, CA)

PLEASANT RIDGE RESERVE Award-winning Alpine style cheese (Dodgeville, WI)

PURPLE HAZE Soft chevre blended with lavender & fennel pollen (Arcata, CA)

RED DARLA New (to us!) one from cult producer Estrella Creamery! My distributor (whose opinion is usually cheese gospel to me) says this washed-rind, raw, cow’s milk cheese is “perfect”. Read about Estrella Creamery here.

TILSTON POINT BLUE Washed-rind blue with a grainy texture and nutty flavor (Mineral Pt, WI)

WINCHESTER JALAPEÑO GOUDA Sharp and spicy raw milk Gouda from Winchester Cheese Co (Winchester, CA - near Temecula)