Kosher Blog

Spotted: Star-K on Whole Foods Cheddar

KBlog reader Emily sent in this shot – will have to check if Boston-area WFMs have this kosher item.

Update: Found the Star-K’s letter of certification.

Cabot Kosher Extra-Sharp Cheddar Delayed

The Cabot Cheese website is reporting that their OU-certified extra-sharp cheddar scheduled for September availability has been scrapped, and will be available instead in February.

New Extra Sharp OU Kosher-for-Passover Cheddar. The batch we expected to have this September did not meet our cheese graders’ standards, so we will have to wait til February for the next batches to mature. The graders assure us they are aging well at 5 months old, so will be great then.

I hope they’re making a large batch this time — their last sharp cheddar was wiped out before I could order a second time.

Adventures in Cheesemaking: Mozzarella

When Shavuos comes around, a Kosher foodie’s thoughts often focus on cheese. “What cheeses are now available Kosher?” “What cheeses haven’t I tried yet?” “Where can I buy great cheese?” And my favorite “What’s the best cheesecake recipe?” (I have my personal favorite) This year, I decided to try something new – making my own cheese.
Continue reading Adventures in Cheesemaking: Mozzarella »

New kosher grass-fed cheeses, and a pasta in which to appreciate them

This has been a busy summer in the kosher cheese world — or, at least, in my kosher cheese world — as I’ve discovered two new brands of high-end cheese — Mainland and 5 Spoke Creamery.

For no particular reason — the wonderful smells, maybe — I often spend a few minutes dallying through the troves of specialty cheese whenever I get to my local Whole Foods. On one such expedition the most peculiar thing caught my eye — a heksher, and a legitimate one, no less! Of course, on further inspection, the OK heksher was the least extraordinary aspect of the product which caught my eye.

This particular mild cheddar was organic, made of milk culled from grass-fed cows, and imported from New Zealand. The grass-fed milk gives Mainland Organic Cheddar a more complex flavor than any other mild cheese I’ve tried — definitely worth including on your next cheese platter. (The steep price — $7.00 for eight ounces — might preclude you from enjoying it on a more frequent basis.)

Over at my local kosher market, new cheeses also popped up, with equally delightful credentials: these were made of hormone-free raw milk by an Amish farmer. (I can practically hear Garrison Keillor saying “Made by Norwegian bachelor farmers … so you know they’re pure, mostly.”) Well, “5 Spoke Creamery” presents us with three Kof-K certified, artisanal varieties — Red Vine Colby, Redmond Cheddar, and Herbal Jack — all with the complexity of flavor and superb texture one should expect of finer raw-milk cheeses.

They’re also on the pricey side, but I couldn’t help myself from devoting some to a decadent macaroni and cheese. After the jump, enjoy an excellent recipe I’ve adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Continue reading New kosher grass-fed cheeses, and a pasta in which to appreciate them »

New Trends in Passover Cheese

Nearly all kosher wines are also kosher for Passover, in large part due to the injunction to consume it in quadruplicate, but cheese, its eons-old sidekick, has never gotten much respect. That’s all changed this year, as evidenced in both local and virtual dairy cases, with reliably-certified cheeses from France, Italy, Denmark, and Vermont joining the traditional kosher options.

Several bars of Cabot medium-sharp cheddar arrived by UPS today, proudly brandishing an OU hologram. Brookline’s largest kosher market, the Butcherie, has a few French varieties in stock, including Makabi-brand Camembert and a soft, mold-ripened, goat- and cow-milk cheese called Le Pavé. I passed over the tiny two-dollar morsels of blue cheese, in favor of the pungent wedges of Kirkeby Danablu. As usual, they also had the standard Miller’s and Haolam cheeses, the blocks of which actually aren’t bad. We’ve been enjoying those baby Goudas and Muensters for a few years now, and the cholov yisroel Haolam Monterrey Jack is actually pretty decent, absent any alternatives.

In nearby Newton, Centre Market is carrying a large selection of French and Italian cheeses, including honest to goodness wedges of Provolone and Grana Padano (a close cousin of Parmigiano Reggiano) and whole wheels of French blue and Tomme — not to mention the finest prime meats in town.

Online options are also abundant this year — Cabot sells the OU cheddar exclusive at their website, and KosherItalia.com has 31 Passover-friendly products. In fact, they’ve just announced the arrival of both fresh cow mozzarella and fresh buffalo mozzarella, made in Italy on March 11 in preparation for the holiday.

With the simple addition of petite matzah crackers, a variety of jams and chutneys, some sliced vine-ripened tomatoes, and several bottles of fine wine, you’re ready to have a swanky — and fully pesadik — wine & cheese party.

I’ve often remarked that any holiday on which you can have steak and French fries every night isn’t really such a hardship. A well-stocked cheese drawer is yet another reason to believe that Passover could actually be a lot of fun.

Kosher Cabot Cheddar is back!

The OU-certified sharp cheddar we fell in love with last year has finally returned to the virtual shelves. (And this time it’s suitable for Passover.)

Per-bar and by-the-case pricing available directly from Cabot and from KosherGourmetMart.com.

Joseph Farms Cheese

I was pleasantly surprised during my last trip to the local kosher market to discover the much-hyped arrival of OK-certified Joseph Farms cheese. Several varities were prominently displayed in the dairy case, including whole, shredded and sliced cheeses. I quickly grabbed four blocks, checked out, and brought them home for analysis.

What immediately struck me was the reasonable price. They run $6.00/lb. (a little less for the mozzarella) which is a substantial savings compared to run-of-the-mill Miller’s, whose cheeses usually sell for between $9.00 and $11.00/lb.

As for taste, they’re far from artisinal, but they’re a solid average. The medium Cheddar has bit of character, but for the same price, I’d probably stick with Tillamook (until Cabot returns to the kosher market). I found it pretty difficult to pick up much taste from the Monterrey Jack, but since I haven’t seen Anderson International’s Jack in these parts for quite some time, and since Miller’s Jack is terrible, it’s nice to have something to use on nachos. The mozzarella actually had a bit more flavor and pleasant soft texture, but lacked the stringy composition one usually finds in a good mozzarella. Melted on pasta, it was perfectly acceptable so, again, Joseph Farms gets the nod due to a superior’s absence;1 lb. blocks of Cappiello mozzarella are nowhere to be found. Last in the lineup, their Confetti Mix is a combination of Cheddar and Jack — nice to look at, good for a decorative party platter, but no distinctive flavor.

The verdict? It’s great to have more competition in the kosher dairy case, it’s great to have cheeses that will give the staid brands a run for their money, and it’s great saving money on popular varieties. On the other hand, it’s disappointing that so serious an effort to make a once non-kosher brand fully kosher only yields mediocre cheese. That said, until better alternatives appear, Joseph Farms will be the de facto “value” cheese in our refrigerator, and I imagine their kosher endeavor will meet with widespread success.

Joseph Gallo cheeses to be kosher after all

There was some commotion in January about Joseph Gallo cheeses with unauthorized OK hekshers. Turns out that they weren’t unauthorized per se, just premature…

I guess we’ll start seeing their kosher products in August. Some research may be warranted to find out where they’ll be distributing!

UPDATE: Word from Gallo is positive; they’re negotiating with east coast distributors, but don’t have any definitive dates for availability.

Tu B’Shevat Wine and Cheese Tasting

A wine and cheese tasting has been planned at the Young Israel of Brookline in honor of Tu B’Shevat. Here’s the official announcement:

Spring is coming! Sample fruits of the earth and fruits of the vine as you celebrate Tu B’Shevat at a Wine and Cheese Tasting

This Sunday, February 12, 2006
6:00 – 8:00 P.M.
Young Israel of Brookline

To reserve your glass by February 10:
Email wine@frumgeek.com or call 617-738-6131
$5 YIB member / $7 non-member

Without reservation:
$10 YIB member / $12 non-member

UPDATE: Event’s been postponed due to snow. I’ll repost when it’s been formally rescheduled.

Makabi Bleu

After two years of surveying the kosher cheese scene, it takes quite a bit to get me excited about a new product. When I spied an authentic-looking French bleu in KosherItalia.com’s cheese line up a few weeks ago, however, I seized the opportunity to try it. Two days later, the 1 lb. wheel arrived at my door.

Upon unwrapping, an unpleasant odor was immediately apparent (wet dog?) as was its inconsistently moldy exterior (some patches of white fuzz). Undeterred, I wiped the wheel off, cut it in half, and then excised a wedge — nice blue streaks of mold inside, surrounded by ivory. I carved off the questionable exterior, brought the wedge to room temperature, and tasted.

Creamy texture, with slight granularity, and moderately spreadable. Bold, tangy flavor with some stale/bitter notes. On pizza, it melded well with the other flavors but still made its presence known.

By comparison, Kirkeby Danablu is sharper, but far less musty, and has far fewer offensive odors. Miller’s Blue is much milder, but more enjoyable to eat in an appreciable quantity. As a table cheese, though, the Makabi is certainly the most interesting.

In closing, I have to say I’m a bit concerned about the quality of this cheese both because of the rind’s odor and the fact that the larger interior mold “bubbles” were themselves covered with a thin layer of white mold. Perhaps the wheels were stored at too high a humidity and spoiled a bit? Or perhaps my love of cheese only goes so far?