Dear fellow food-lover,

Welcome to The Cheese Plate , a monthly email from Oldways with curated information about different types of traditional cheeses, with ideal pairings. Let The Cheese Plate be a guide to put wonderful traditional cheeses on your plate.

Visit our Cheese Store Directory to find where to buy traditional cheeses and to support cheesemakers and retailers during these challenging times. For tips on buying cheese, download our e-book, The Cheese-Lover’s Guide to Cooking with Traditional Cheeses .
American Ingenuity
Producers based in the United States have made significant contributions to cheese-making by building on European practices and knowledge. American artisan cheesemakers' innovation can be seen in how they experiment with new flavors, tweak techniques, and employ research to understand and update the craft of making cheese. Their success is evident in the awards they win in competitions around the world and by the flavors and textures of the incredible cheeses they produce. This month's cheeses are all the result of American ingenuity.
Humble
Maker: Parish Hill Creamery   
Location: Vermont 
Presented by: Gourmet Imports  
Parish Hill Creamery is known for high quality raw milk cheeses, made with their own native cultures, traditional rennet, and local salt. The cheesemakers are masterful at leveraging the cultures to tease out the rich, rustic flavors in their cheeses. 

To develop Humble's unique qualities, t hey wash it weekly with hard cider as it ages in their caves. The miraculous result is a springy, silky cheese with the flavors of fresh vegetables, cultured cream, and a hint of sweetness reminiscent of the cider wash. 

Showcase Humble by placing slices of it on your cheese board with grilled apricots or wedges cut from a sweet cantaloupe.     
Pleasant Ridge Reserve
Maker:  Uplands Cheese    
Location: Wisconsin 
Presented by: Fortune Fish and Gourmet
Pleasant Ridge Reserve has won best in show at the American Cheese Society's annual competition an impressive number of times (2001, 2005, and 2010). In fact, Pleasant Ridge has won the most awards of any cheese made in the US.

A seasonal cheese created from the milk of cows that graze on lush pastures, Pleasant Ridge Reserve is only made when the cows are out in the fields. By honoring the cycles of the seasons, the producer uses the best quality grass-fed milk the fields produce. The resulting complexity is decadent. The flavor is nutty and full of umami. The smell is of warm hay. The texture is firm, and yet, easy to melt.  

Serve Pleasant Ridge Reserve in a sandwich with a tangy condiment like dijon mustard or cornichons. Your taste buds will rejoice as the acid brings out the cheese's creaminess and delightfully salty caramel notes. 
Comeback Cow
Location: Illinois 
Presented by:  Savencia Cheese USA
Comeback Cow is a surface ripened cheese with a bloomy rind. The cultures and aging process result in a dreamy ooey-gooey texture. It permeates with the umami flavor of cooked mushrooms.  

Try this brie-style cheese during the summer on a night when you have your grill fired up. Lightly grill a thick slice, and enjoy it with a fresh fruit salad of melon, berries, grapes, and a touch of mint. It also goes well with a piece of berry pie.
  
Dorothy's Cheeses is investing in a new generation of innovation through a scholarship for outstanding female students majoring in dairy or food science at Iowa State University.
Check out our 12 Great Ways to Use Herbs for more ideas about using and preserving the precious flavors of herbs.
Featured Pairing: Herbs
Basil. Lavender. Rosemary. Dill. Mint. The list of herbs that work well as accompaniments to cheese goes on. Their distinct flavors give cheese an aromatic finish that is undoubtedly worth a try this summer.

A few suggestions for pairing cheese and herbs :
  • Create an infusion of honey with lavender or rosemary to drizzle on top of surface-ripened cheeses.
  • Blend up a batch of pesto (basil) or gremolata (parsley) to spread on toast or crackers with semi-hard or hard cheeses.
  • Garnish any fresh cheese like goat chèvre, feta, or queso fresco with dill or mint.  
Choose It or Lose It: Support the Artisan Cheese Industry
Victory Cheese  is an all out effort to save and sustain our artisan cheese industry. Join the movement to ensure a future for dairy farms and families and preserve the cheeses you love. 

Tag  #VictoryCheese  on social media to raise awareness, and visit  VictoryCheese.com  to learn more about what you can do to help.
The Cheese Plate is made possible through the generous support of Emmi Roth , Gruyère AOP , and Parmigiano Reggiano .