Each month, your Neighboring Food Co-ops feature our region’s artisan cheesemakers by offering a specially selected cheese at 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 special cheese is Storyteller from Grafton Village Cheese, Grafton, VT
The Grafton Village Cheese Company was founded in 1892 as the Grafton Co-operative Cheese Company, to convert surplus milk from local dairy farmers into cheese. In 1912, the cheesemaking factory burned down and the community had no cheese facility until 1962, when the Windham Foundation restored the factory and brought cheesemaking back to the community. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting the rural communities of Vermont. The profits from Grafton Village Cheese go back into the Foundation to further its commitment to keep rural Vermont alive and thriving. Today, quality and taste are still the hallmarks of the company’s products.
The Grafton Cave Aged line of fine cheeses takes Grafton beyond its roots in Vermont Cheddar cheese. The cheese is carefully matured in Grafton’s own cave aging facility using raw milk that is thermalized and contains no artificial hormones. The rennet used is non-GMO microbial rennet, suitable for vegetarians.
Storyteller is a Pyrenees-style cave aged sheep’s milk cheese made with 100% unpasteurized/raw sheep’s milk sourced from the Central New York Dairy Sheep Milk Producers Co-operative. The majority of co-op’s sheep are pastured on a clover grass mix during the summer months, producing milk with abundant herbaceous flavor. The producers are part of the Amish community, farming with horse drawn machinery, and milking the sheep by hand.
Storyteller is aged in traditional basket-weave molds for at least six months in Grafton’s caves. Its creamy paste, earthy aroma, balance of nutty and grassy flavors, and a lingering/long finish, make it an ideal representation of sheep’s milk cheese.
Try Storyteller on your cheese board as it has a firm texture and pairs well with marcona almonds, Serrano ham, dried apricots, figs, dates, and red wine. It is a stellar table cheese.
Marinated Storyteller
- 1 head of garlic, cloves separated and peeled (about 12 cloves)
- 1 small orange, quartered through stem end, thinly sliced crosswise, seeds removed
- 1⁄2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 3 sprigs rosemary
- Kosher salt
- 1 lb Storyteller, cut or broken into 3⁄4″ pieces
Cook garlic, orange, and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic starts to turn golden, 10–12 minutes. Remove from heat and add rosemary sprigs. Season with salt and let cool.
Pour garlic mixture into a medium bowl, add cheese, and gently toss to coat cheese. Cover and chill at least 12 hours before serving.
Cave to Co-op is a partnership between Provision 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 40 food co-ops in our region — including yours — that are working together to advance their vision of a thriving regional economy, rooted in a healthy, just and sustainable food system and a vibrant community of co-operative enterprise. For more information, please visit www.nfca.coop.