By Peg Todloski, Specialty Department Merchandiser
This year, we’ve started bringing in small-batch, artisan cheeses a couple of times a month. We’re calling it our Special Delivery program: we bring in a limited amount of these amazing cheeses and sell them at a crazy-good price. When they’re gone, they’re gone, but not to worry, there’ll be something else on the way. Be sure to stop by our cheese counters to find out what Special Delivery we’ve received lately.
We in the cheese departments here at Weaver Street Market cannot contain our excitement over the arrival of this week’s special delivery cheese: Harbison. This one hails from the Cellars at Jasper Hill in northern Vermont. The farm has a creamery that makes cheeses, including Harbison. Each cheese is made from the milk of a single herd. The cheeses, as well as cheeses from other farms, are ripened to perfection in an underground cellar.
Harbison is a soft-ripened cheese with a rustic, bloomy rind. Its outer rind is wrapped in strips of the inner bark of the spruce tree, harvested from the farm’s woodlands. When the cheese is young, the bark can be removed, and the cheese can be portioned just like you would with a camembert or brie. But the real magic happens once it’s aged a bit, when the bark is fused into the rind and you can break through the top layer of rind and simply scoop out the oozy, gooey near-liquid paste. Harbison is woodsy and sweet, balanced with lemon, mustard, and vegetal flavors.
Watch a video about the making of Harbison at http://www.jasperhillfarm.com/harbison.
Dip your favorite crusty bread into this amazing little bundle of joy! These won’t be around long, so get yours today. Oh, and you can thank us later!