OU Cabot Cheese!
From the Cabot Cheese website:
OU Kosher Sharp Cheddar – Cabot Vermont Sharp Cheddar that is certified kosher by Orthodox Union (OU-D) will be available exclusively from this website starting this March. All of the cheeses in our online store (except for Smoky Bacon Cheddar) are already certified kosher by Tablet-K and certified halal by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA). However, we have received many consumer inquiries about providing OU-certified cheddar, so we are conducting this market test. If successful, we will make this product a permanent addition to our web shopping selection. In the future, we may even explore making it available through your local supermarket. It’s coming here in March — be sure to tell your friends.
Many thanks to elf for pointing this out!
UPDATE: Coming March 12!
Wow! Popular demand really does work! What should we target next?
Whoever else we’d like to see raise their kosher cheese prices to reflect the cost of OU supervision…? Have you compared the cost of OU cheeses to cheeses that real people can afford? Let’s not confuse OU = kosher, anything else = treif. The kashruth of cheese making seems to be open to a rather large amount of interpretation regarding the rennet composition and the nature of required rabbinic oversight for the process.
I’m more than a bit concerned these days about the nature of larger certification agencies such as the OU. As far as I can tell, there is exactly nothing different about the Cabot cheese that went into the package either before or after the OU symbol was added – the OU already had certified some of the larger/commercial packages of the same cheese. Interesting, huh?
Cappiello 16-ounce blocks of mozzarella are a fine example of reasonably-priced, OU-certified cheese that is competitive with quality non-kosher alternatives. Additionally, when I look at other products in the supermarket, I don’t see any such disparity in price between equivalent OU’d national brands and uncertified national brands: cornmeal, pickles, tomato sauce, etc.
As to your second point, the “large amount of interpretation” you mention is actually a dispute between the Rama and the Shach. (This article fully explains the halachic situation.) To summarize, the Rama posits that general supervision is enough to make cheese kosher; the Shach requires active Jewish participation (i.e. physically adding the rennet) to make cheese kosher (gevinat yisrael). In the 1800s, the Chochmat Adam sided with the Shach (strict), and the Aruch Hashulchan sided with the Rama (lenient) but encouraged following the Shach. In the last century, R. Moshe Feinstein adopted the view of the Aruch Hashulchan (lenient okay, but strict encouraged), and R. Zushe Blech (who has worked for the OU, cRc, and MK) indicates that the generally accepted practice is the stricter one. So, it would seem that in normative Orthodox circles, there isn’t much disagreement.
In either case, the ingredients are the same; it’s the participation that matters! So it’s not surprising that the OU can do a special commercial run of Cabot cheese in a straightforward manner, as we saw with the “Shapes of The Cape” crackers.
But in its day-to-day operations, does Cabot adhere to this stricture? I haven’t the foggiest. But I choose to live in a particular community with a particular rabbi, and I trust his decisions on what’s kosher and what isn’t. So for me, an OU heksher means I can eat — and so do a lot of other widely-known hekshers. I’d be happy if Cabot chose any of them, and they’re certainly free to choose.
My order has been placed… can’t wait.
Koshergourmetmart is also selling the cabot cheese (direct link). It is the same price as on Cabot’s site, however, we will donate a percentage of orders on our site to charity at the end of the year.
Received my cabot cheese order on Wednesday. It definitely has a stronger cheese flavor and smell than the other cheddars I’ve tasted, except maybe the Tillamook kosher cheddar, though it seems to be a bit more moist than the tillamook (if that’s the proper term).
I recieved my cabot cheddar on Thursday. It is creamier and just slightly sharper than tilamook’s kosher cheddar. I love it but wish that the shipping charge wasn’t so expensive (I paid $17 for 2 packages of cheese and the shipping charge was about the same as the cost of the cheese itself).
I just made my order, and look forward to buying it. everyone should know that the shipping charge, at least on Koshergourmetmart.com, is the same whether you order 1 or 10 blocks (clue: order 10 and share them with your friends) after that, it is something like $0.70 per additional bar. Interestingly, 20 bars costs twice what 10 bars cost, so if you can put together a group to get 19 bars, i think you are getting the best possible deal.
I received my order this past Friday (I ordered it on Monday). the cheese is sharp and is unlike other kosher cheddars. It is yellow/white color not the orange color that cheddar seems to be known for.