Each month, your Neighboring Food Co-ops feature our region’s artisan cheesemakers by offering a specially selected cheese at a great price. Look for the “Cave to Co-op” sign in the cheese section at your local food co-op. To find one near you, visit www.nfca.coop/members.
This Month’s Selection:
CABOT CLOTHBOUND CHEDDAR, CABOT, VT
Holstein cow milk from Kempton Farm, Peacham, VT and aged at The Cellars at Jasper Hill, Greensboro, Vermont
In 1919, 94 farmers from the communities around
Cabot, Vermont joined forces to purchase the village creamery and began producing butter and shipping fluid milk as a Dairy Co-operative. The cost of joining the venture was $5 per cow and over the next two decades the Cooperative thrived. In 1930, cows outnumbered people in Vermont by 421,000 to 359,000. That same year, Cabot began making cheese. By 1960, 600 farm families had joined Cabot Co
operative. But as the years went by the number of farms in Vermont diminished and in the 1980s sunk below 2000, less than one fifth of what it had been just a few decades before. In 1992, Cabot Co-operative joined forces with Agri-mark, a southern New England Co-op dating back to 1918. Today the combined Cooperatives include more than 1,200 farms in New England and upstate New York.
In 2003, Cabot Creamery asked Jasper Hill Farm to age a special batch of English-style clothbound cheddar. This was thebeginning of a revolutionary partnership. Kempton Family Farm in Peacham, VT was selected as the sole milk source for Clothbound, and Cabot makes this extraordinary cheese the old-world way – one vat at a time.
Once unmolded from their shaping hoops, the infant wheels are individually wrapped with muslin and brushed with lard before they undergo a ten to fourteen month maturation period. The extra care involved in curing a clothbound cheese requires a customized aging environment, with proper temperature, humidity, and airfl
ow. The cheddar vaults at the Cellars at Jasper Hill are majestic and awe-inspiring – Cabot Clothbound is truly a monumental undertaking. A team of affineurs practice a constant cycle of care for Clothbound and the wheels are tested, tasted, and monitored for quality during their entire life cycle.
Cabot Co-operative Clothbound Cheddar is best enjoyed on its own with a slice of crisp new apple or pear. It has all the characteristic texture of an English-style bandaged cheddar; smooth and dense, slightly brittle, with the sweet caramel and milky flavors that set it apart from other clothbound varieties. It is simultaneously sweet, savory, nutty and tangy.
We can also recommend using Cabot Clothbound in the kitchen. Here are a few recipes, courtesy of Cabot, that utilize this cheddar at its best!
Apple Crisp with Cabot Clothbound Cheddar
serves 6
pre-heat oven to 350º F
- 4 cups of mixed apple varieties cut into small pieces
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice or apple cider
- 1/3 plus ½ cup firmly packed brown sugar, divided
- ½ cup rolled oats, not quick cook
- ¼ cup unbleached white flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- 1 stick -1/2 cup – of unsalted butter
- 8 ounces Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, grated
Combine the apples, lemon juice or cider and the 1/3 cup of brown sugar in a medium bowl. Arrange evenly in an 8 or 9 inch square baking pan. In another medium bowl, combine the oats, flour and spices to mix. Cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly and forms pea size little lumps. Gently mix in the cheese. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the apples and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the juices bubble up and the top is nicely browned. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve with heavy cream.
CAVE TO CO-OP IS A PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN PROVISIONS INTERNATIONAL AND THE NEIGHBORING FOOD CO-OP ASSOCIATION (NFCA) TO SUPPORT LOCAL, ARTISANAL CHEESE PRODUCERS IN OUR REGION AND MAKE THEIR PRODUCTS MORE EASILY AVAILABLE TO CO-OP SHOPPERS. THE NFCA IS A NETWORK OF MORE THAN 30 FOOD CO-OPS IN NEW ENGLAND, LOCALLY OWNED BY MORE THAN 130,000 PEOPLE LIKE YOU. FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT WWW.NFCA.COOP.