The Pairing: Bayley Hazen Blue

by Sophia Stern

Bayley Hazen Blue is definitely a monger favorite. Not only is it sweet, earthy and creamy, but Bayley seems to always fit right in. If someone’s looking for a delicious blue to snack on, Bayley Hazen hits the spot. If someone wants a blue for salad, steak, or dessert, Bayley is the way to go. If someone needs a blue they’ll love, but their blue-adverse relatives will still enjoy, Bayley swoops in to save the day. So this week, we’re leaning in to the versatility of Bayley Hazen Blue and pairing with three different beverages. For a light and fruity option, we picked BrightCider by 2 Towns CiderHouse. For a non-traditional pairing, we chose the Mountain Standard IPA from Odell Brewing. For a classic, decadent experience, we pinned Warre’s Otima 10-year Tawny Port. 

Bayley Hazen is an award-winning cheese from Jasper Hill farms, who’ve been rocking the domestic cheese game for the past two decades. In 1999, in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, brothers Andy and Mateo Kehler, along with their wives, Victoria and Angie, bought a run down dairy farm that hadn’t seen cows for over forty years. The Kehler family, who’d spent summers in Greensboro, wanted to create sustainable, fulfilling work in a place special to them. Today, Jasper Hill is one of the biggest names in domestic cheese and a star on the global stage, winning international cheese awards since 2012. Though Jasper Hill is famous for many cheeses, Bayley Hazen stands out. Modeled on traditional British blues, Bayley is fudge-like, with nutty notes and aromas of grass. There is no peppery kick, making Bayley flavorful, but mellow and easy to enjoy.

If you’re in the mood for a bright, refreshing pairing, try the appropriately named BrightCider from 2 Towns out in Oregon. Only using apples from the Pacific Northwest, this semi-dry, cider is fruit forward and easy-going. On the other end, if you want a funkier, earthy option, go with the Colorado's Mountain Standard IPA from Odell Brewing Company. Mountain Standard is a middle ground between juicy, sweet East Coast IPAs and piney, citrus forward West Coast IPAs. Like Jasper Hill, Odell is a standout domestic producer. They have pioneered much of the craft beer renaissance we still see today. Finally, if you’re looking for luxury, go with a classic and pair Bayley with Warre’s Otima 10-year port. From the Douro Valley, the highest quality wines are selected to age in seasoned oak casks until perfect. The port’s burnt sugar notes meld with the Bayley’s nutty, sweetness, while the acidity in the tawny port cuts through the cheese’s rich paste. Indulge in the multitudes of blue cheese and pick up all three pairings, or go with the one that speaks to you. No matter what, Bayley Hazen Blue will always be there for you.     

Meet Your Monger: Austin

What does your day-to-day look like at France 44 Cheese as a buyer and cheesemonger? 

The highlight of any day is our customers, especially when we have a cheese they’ve been searching for or help them discover a new favorite. There’s a lot that goes into that moment, though: ordering, unloading the cheese truck, stocking the case, routine cheese maintenance like facing and rewrapping cuts of cheese, keeping things clean and cold, countless trips up and down the stairs to the cheese cave, washing your hands a hundred times a day, and of course, eating lots of cheese to see how it tastes and where it is in its life cycle. Michael Pollan called cheese makers (and mongers, by extension) “merchants of rot” because we deal in the spoilage of milk. We’re always trying to get the right cheese to the right customer at the right moment. 

You just competed at CMI (Cheese Monger Invitational). What were some highlights of that experience for you?
Spending a month and a half working with one cheese and devising a perfect beverage pairing, bite, and plate with that cheese is a singular experience. As for the event, being surrounded by people who are all so passionately involved in this thing we call “Cheese” was a great bonding experience. You learn a lot and have a lot of fun.

What cheese is really tasting particularly exceptional in the case for you right now?

We had an Italian air shipment arrive on Tuesday, and I love the playful, three milk (cow, goat, sheep) cheeses the Italians make like il Nocciolo, Rochetta, or robiolina wrapped in chestnut leaves . They have a mousse-like, almost ethereal, texture and a fresh, lactic tang. Pleasant Ridge Reserve is a perennial favorite. I always find a new flavor in that cheese.

What are you currently reading? 

Two of the books I’m reading now are Il bar sotto il mare by Stefano Benni and Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel by Anatoly Kuznetsov.

How do you take your coffee? 

I read the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy as a kid and now I can only take my coffee pitch black.

The Pairing: Carpenter's Wheel

This week we shine a light on the lesser-understood art of affinage, as it relates to the production of artisan cheese here in the US, by featuring a cheese, named Carpenter’s Wheel, born out of a collaboration between FireFly Farms Creamery, in Accident, Maryland, and the affineurs of Crown Finish Caves, located in Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

Nestled amongst the northern Appalachian mountains, on a small farm towards the western tip of Maryland, FireFly Farms Creamery sources fresh goat milk, daily, from a small selection of local dairies, and transforms the milk into small, 6 wheel batches of large-format goat milk cheese, stamped with the same traditional hex pattern, or carpenters wheel, as the one hanging from the farm’s main barn. At this point of the cheese’s production, work on the farm is finished. Wheels of cheese then make their journey to Brooklyn, where they’ll mature for the next 6 months, living in an environment of near 90 percent humidity, and at a steady temperature of around 55° F, in the former lagering tunnels of the old Nassau Brewery, now used for aging cheese by Crown Finish Caves.

Having won the Super Gold award for a similar cheese, Belle Vita, while competing at the World Cheese Awards in 2010, making quality artisanal cheese wasn’t a new concept for FireFly Farm Creamery. The problem they encountered following their recognition, was a lack of space for aging their cheeses on the farm, and as a result, were forced to discontinue production of the award winning recipe and focus on smaller, younger cheeses.

Almost ten years later, FireFly formed a collaboration with Crown Finish Caves to age wheels of Carpenter’s Wheel in Brooklyn, with the first batch of cheeses arriving in late March, 2020, in what would turn out to be the start of a global pandemic. The timing was certainly problematic, but now, more than 2 years later, the fruits of their partnership are now stocked in our cheese cases, and our mongers are excited to share them with you!

Recognized for its mild tang, and smooth, earthy paste, we’ve paired Carpenter’s Wheel with the Flora Prosecco from Col di Luna Winery, hailing from the Veneto region of northern Italy. The wine’s high level of acidy, combined with a generous burst of bubble, promote the cheese’s sugars, leveling and cleansing the palate. With a floral nose, and fruity notes of unripe peach and pear, the Prosecco effortlessly navigates the cheese’s complexities and leaves you wanting more.

Kassboerderij’T Groendal

by Austin Coe Butler

When NASA astronaut and committed turophile Shannon Walker learned she would be on the International Space Station (ISS) for 210 days, she knew she would need some cheese for the journey. She asked her neighborhood cheese shop Houston Dairymaids to send her some cheese and a few weeks later a gouda, OG Kristal (OGK), made by the Belgium cheesemaker Kaasboerderij’T Groendal (Kahss–BOOR-deh-LAY TRUN-dahl) and aged by Van Tricht, arrived on board the ISS. It was an immediate hit and the crew devoured it. Walker requested another shipment of OGK, but something was happening on the earth’s surface….

            All the other earthlings loved it, too! You probably fell for its crunchy-crystally texture, sweet, creamy paste, and brilliant Dutch red rind. The OG in OG Kristal stands for “Old Groendal” (sadly, not “original gangster”), and old it is: it has an aging minimum of 18 months, which is really long for most cheese! It is remarkably creamy and moist for a cheese this mature. Compare OGK with L’Amuse 2-year Gouda, Brabander Reserve (12-18 months), or Coolea Irish Gouda (12 months), and you will find much drier cheeses with a pleasant almond flour or macadamia nut mealiness bursting with tyrosine crystals. The astronauts couldn’t get any more OGK because there wasn’t any on earth. It had sold out, and we would all have to wait months until we could eat it again.

            Aging cheese is a perennial problem for cheesemakers. Most of the cheeses you love that are firm and flavorful like Comté, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and truckles of farmhouse Cheddar have to sit on a shelf somewhere and take up a lot of space while they mature and develop flavor. That whole time they’re not earning any money, and the venture of aging cheese has always been a precarious investment of labor, time, and hope.

            Goudas are large wheels of cheese, typically weighing in between fifteen and twenty-five pounds and need a lot of time to age. One of the first perils of aging large cheeses is that if enough moisture isn’t driven out of them, they rot from the inside and “heave” or explode. I’ve written about this previously with Cheddars, and there’s a reason why “hoven” cheeses were a common problem in England and Holland. Both share a maritime climate with wet summers. But the two cultures, while presented with the same problem, devised different solutions that resulted in distinct styles and flavors.

Whereas the English settled on letting milk and cheese acidify, like during the Cheddaring process, the Dutch decided to “wash” their curds. Once the milk has been coagulated with rennet into curd, and the curd cut, Dutch cheesemakers poured off the whey and added fresh, hot water to the vat. “Washing” the curd not only scalds the curd, driving out more whey, and thus, moisture, but in washing away the whey, they removed lactose, which lactic bacteria convert into lactic acid, and created a milder, sweeter curd before blocks of curd are then placed into wooden molds and pressed. This curd washing not only gave goudas their signature complex sweet flavors ranging from coconut milk and marzipan to butterscotch and aged soy sauce, but allowed them to travel across the world when the Dutch were the leading European Empire. And it turns out it doesn’t just travel well on the seas, but in the zero-gravity of space, too!

            While the affineurs at Van Tricht were waiting for the next batch of OGK to ripen, Johan Deweer and his team at Kaasboerderij’T Groendal wondered how they could make a similar cheese in less time. The answer was in the culture cocktail they added to the milk. The new cheese reached the same sweet, crunchy profile as OGK in nine months, literally half the time OGK needs to mature. OGK and the Farmdal cheeses use the same mix of Holstein and Brown Swiss cow’s milk and make, their only difference is the cultures added to them and their aging time. While we waited for OGK, we all got to enjoy Old Farmdal! And so did the astronauts. Old Farmdal was sent to the ISS where it was received with just as much delight as OGK and now bears one of the coolest cheese labels and designations, “SPACE CHEESE.”

            In celebration of OG Kristal and Old Farmdal, and all things Kaasboerderij’T Groendal, we are promoting their cheeses we carry, which includes the younger version of Old Farmdal aptly named Young Farmdal, and a fantastic trappist cheese named Drunk Monk. Drunk Monk has been washed in a Belgian Blond Ale with Cascade hops called Rex as the wheels ripen. It tastes uncannily like a fresh Parker House yeasted dinner roll, with the same yeasty flavors and mild sweetness while also having and delightfully springy bounce like Babybel.

            Next time you go into space (or just on a picnic or hike), ask your cheese monger to send you with some cheese that travels well.

Meet Your Monger: Joe

Hey Friends! This week we’re featuring Joe. A true gem. Joe is a vital part of our day to day operations in the shop. He serves as local cheese buyer, and he is an absolute Wisconsinite through and through.

What cheese(s) are you enjoying in the case right now?

We got Cabezuela back! I love this little goat tomme from Madrid. I also love Chiriboga blue, a mild, buttery German blue that has become a staple in our case.

What does your life look like outside of France 44?

When I’m not slinging cheese and sammies, I’m a professional choir singer by night, currently involved in 4 different choirs around the Twin Cities. I also love trips to the park with my wife, Laura and dog, Guy.

What’s your favorite retail item in the shop ATM [at the moment]?

Our House F44 bacon. It has ruined all other bacon for me and I will never be able to quit it.

How do you take your coffee?!

Black when I’m working, lots of cream and sugar and chocolate and stuff when I’m not.

Say Hi to Joe next time you stop in!

The Pairing: Robiola Bosina

by Sophia Stern

In Piedmont, right where the mountains meet the hills, isolated villages have produced fresh, creamy cheeses, referred to as Robiola, since at least the 15th century. Robiola is a traditional Italian cheese, classically made with the milk of goats grazing on the hilly countryside. Because Robiola is usually only a few days old, the cheese has a reputation for being extraordinarily runny and soft, with nuanced notes of Piedmont’s native grasses, herbs, and flowers. Today, a beautiful twist on the classic Robiola is lovingly and expertly crafted by a family who’s been in the cheesemaking game since 1881. Cheesemakers Caseificio dell’Alta Langa have opted to make their Robiola Bosina with cow and sheep milk, creating a buttery, sweet, luscious softie perfect for sharing with others. Robiola Bosina’s distinct square shape features a thin rind and a mild yet intriguing paste that is as silky as can be. For the pairing, we’ve gone with a Lambrusco effervescent enough to break through Robiola Bosina’s creaminess and just tart enough to balance the rich cheese without washing it away. 

Robiola Bosina is an excellent example of what happens when tradition and innovation meet. Although the cheesemakers of Robiola Bosina use modern technology, their dedication to local tradition keeps their cheese authentic and delicious. Alta Langa prioritizes small batch production, high quality dairy, and local history in their cheesemaking. They also credit the land they operate on for the excellence of their products, expressing gratitude for the steep countryside, far from commercialized areas, for keeping their traditions alive and free from contamination. Slightly unconventional, Robiola Bosina isn’t made with any goat milk. Goats don’t produce that much dairy, so Caseificio dell’Alta Langa uses their high quality sheep and cow milk supply to make their version of this Italian classic.  When Robiola Bosina is at its youngest, it’s a milky butter bomb with mild floral notes. After a few weeks, Robiola Bosina becomes a little earthier. Aromas of hay, ranging from sweet to musky, start to develop. At any stage, this cheese must be eaten at room temperature or all the nuanced flavors will be overshadowed by the fridge and the texture will be tight instead of ooey and relaxed. 

To go with this rich square of creamy goodness, we’ve picked a loveable Lambrusco from Emilia-Romagna. Chiarli Vecchia Modena Lambrusco is grown in fertile mixed loam soils and made with 100% Lambrusco di Sorbara grapes, a thinner skinned varietal. This combination produces a delicate, light bodied wine with depth and intrigue. The lighter Lambrusco style pairs perfectly with the Robiola Bosina’s delicate flavors, but the bubbles keep up with the rich texture of the young, soft cheese. Pick up some of our featured Red Table salamis to go with this summery pairing to be transported to the Italian countryside. 

Tip: Don’t be intimidated by the unusual topper to this bottle. This wine uses a clamp to keep the cork on, rather than a more traditional cork cage. To open - stick the knife of your wine opener (or a strong butter knife) between the clamp and cork, then twist to pry it off. Keep your thumb over the cork while doing so to prevent unintended projectiles!

Meet Your Monger: Cally

What’s your favorite current item we sell at France 44 Cheese?

My favorite item in the shop is the François Pralus hazelnut cream, “Crème de noisette.”

Describe to us what a “day in the life” of Cally looks like when you’re not making beautiful cheese boards here in the shop?

Outside of work I like to read, hang out with friends and family, and I’m currently learning how to knit and crochet.

What’s your idea of a perfect sandwich?

My ideal sandwich is either brie, apple, honey, and arugula or garlic confit, blue cheese, apple, arugula, and fig jam. (Ok yum…)

Current favorite cheese!?

My current favorite cheese in the shop is Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese! It’s great in salads, on sandwiches, and just for snacking. Although, you can never go wrong with Camembert :)

The Pairing: Coolea

by Sophia Stern

We have a lot of Goudas in our cheese case. At any given time, we have about 5-8 shiny, flat sided, large wheels of Dutch or Dutch-inspired cheese. Each one has its own unique profile, but none of the Goudas are as grassy, as savory, or as vegetal as Coolea from County Cork, Ireland. Although this Irish Gouda is not made in the Netherlands, it is made by a Dutch family living in the mountainous village of Cúil Aodha, anglicized as Coolea. To go with this Irish wheel, we’ve picked a cheerful Italian red made from 100% Barbera grapes in Piedmont. 

Coolea is a beautiful merge of Dutch cheesemaking tradition and Irish terroir. At the end of the 1970s, the Willems, a Dutch family, emigrated out of the Netherlands. They settled in County Cork, Ireland in the village of Cúil Aodha located in the beautiful Derrynasaggart mountains. There, Dick and Helene Willems decided to venture into cheesemaking, using the milk produced by their small herd of cows on their small, but picturesque farm. The Willems family drew on their Dutch heritage, making a Gouda-style cheese unlike any other cheeses being produced in County Cork and named the cheese Coolea, after the anglicized pronunciation of Cúil Aodha. Like most of Ireland, Coolea gets ample rain year round and the land is lush, diverse, and green. The cows grazing on this pasture produce a herbal, grassy milk that balances well with the usually-sweet Gouda style. Since the 70s, the cheese has taken off as an international favorite and won national recognition as one of the best cheeses in Ireland. Now made by Dick and Helene’s son, Dicky, Coolea continues to be an incredible reflection of the Irish landscape.

We’ve pared this Irish delight with the Ercole Barbera. If you haven’t yet had the Ercole wines, now is definitely the time. Ercole is the ideal party wine. It’s affordable, comes in a liter, and has a screw cap for easy access. Most importantly, the Ercole line of wines are really, really good. For the Coolea, Barbera works particularly well. The Italian red lifts the rich, nutty notes in the cheese and keeps the grassy qualities front and center. We picked Ercole Barbera not only for the Irish Gouda, but because it should fit right in with the rest of your Saint Patrick’s Day feasting and festivities. While Ercole is perfect for sharing with a group, it’s also easy to enjoy alone or with a partner as the wine is only 12.5%. Try Ercole with your corned beef and potatoes or go lowkey this Thursday and just party with the cheese and wine. Either way, it’s basically spring, so say a fond farewell to the winter months with this fruity red and savory Gouda pairing. 

Meet Your Monger: Mita

What’s your current “favorite” item in the shop?
I think the best item in the shop is the key lime pie. Super tart and sweet with the perfect amount of whip.

What do you do outside of working at France44 Cheese?
I am a member of 3 dance companies and spend 4 evenings a week in rehearsal. I’m a professional seamstress for one of the companies as well but find myself taking time to play with ideas for new projects.

What’s your absolute FAV sando?
I mixed two of my favorites into one. The sweet monger I call it. It’s got chèvre, sriracha, quince paste, honey, chorizo, and mixed greens.

Meet Your Designer: Dio

What’s your day to day role look like at France44? I do graphic design and marketing for France 44. Day to day I make posters, illustrate foods for recipe cards (my favs pictured here), work on our websites, and generally try my best to communicate all the wide variety of cool things we have going on at France 44.

What’s your favorite Sandwich? When I worked at the St. Paul Cheese Shop it was the Mozz Veg all the way. Now I feel flavorfully attached to the spicymonger.

What’s your current favorite cheese? Last week Sophia convinced me to bring home Capriole Sofia and I’ve been enjoying how that tastes and admiring how it looks. Here are her notes on it if you want some inspiration.

What do you do in your spare time? What spare time?