Alpine Stars - A sneak peak at 4 new cheeses from OTR and a big range of BIG CHEESE
Alpine style is the next big thing. Big wheels of aged, nutty, yeasty and fruity cheeses are the go. The best part about these cheeses is that they're easy to handle. In most cases the cheese just gets better. In a retail cabinet they make a big presence. At foodservice level, these styles of cheese are always able to be on hand.
Today, I had a sneak preview of the new "aged" cheeses being developed at Jindi for the "Old Telegraph Road" range. Franck Beaurain and his cheesemakers at Jindi have 4 big Alpine styles coming up:
Port Franklin - reminds me of a cross between and Port Salut and a Raclette. Good nutty tones.
Gruyere - Promising. The sample I tried had only been washed once and still needs a few months. Early indication is this will be good.
Gippsland Tomme - Again, young and the sample presented good acid and a salt level that will be more pronounced with age. It will definitely hit the mark.
Mount Ash - Straight out of the bag it reminded me of a Morbier. The streak of ash that looks blue gave it away and it needed more time, but, as I said, this was a sneak preview of pre production samples.
Ivan Cook, the man responsible for launching "Old Telegraph Road" is excited. He is expecting that we can see product being delivered in the next 2 months.
While we're on the topic of the big cheeses in the Alpine style, Kirkfood carries a nice selection of the matured varieties. Of note are the following:
Beauforte
Comte
The famous Riches Montes Raclette and Heidi Raclette
Gruyere from Heidi
Heidi Tilsit
Contact has recently been made with a Farmhouse producer in Northern New South Wales called Marrook Farm - small production and truly artisan although a bit young at this stage. Stay tuned as talks progress. We've also tried product from Fromart in Queensland. And coincidently, today, we've also been contacted about putting on a range from the famous Maitre Fromager, Rolf Beeler of Switzerland. The range includes:
o Gruyere, raw milk, matured over 18 months
o Emmental, raw milk, matured over 18 months
o Sbrinz, raw milk, matured over 4 years
o Freiburger Vacherin, raw milk, matured over 6 months
o Raclette, raw milk, matured over 6 months
o Hoch Ybrig, raw milk, matured over 6 months
Big cheeses, big range form Kirkfood in 2012