Cheese for a Wednesday - pt. 29 Washington State's Seastack

My birthday was a while back.  As crazy as life was that month, I still needed to celebrate, and I wanted cheese!  Getting to Andrew's for my weekly fix had been elusive and what better excuse than a birthday!  I was going to need to share my cheese "cake" with others that afternoon, so I thought it might be a little dangerous to bring out the stinky blue cheeses or some muenster.  One needs to gently help people toward a love of the more "black diamond" cheeses.

I didn't have to think about it very long before realizing that Mt. Townshend Creamery's Seastack was the perfect cheese "cake" to share.  With a circumference a bit bigger than a hockey puck and about twice as thick (if my early memories of what the shape of a hockey puck is are correct), Seastack is the perfect size to share (or horde to yourself...).

Because of it's rind, it looks a lot like brie, which makes it accessible to those without a lot of cheese experience, but the similarity ends with the visual.  This edible rind is a result of rolling the cheese in vegetable ash and salt before the aging process as opposed to the bloomy bacterial rind on brie.  The folks at Mt. Townshend say the rind bears a "subtle resemblance to the picturesque islands sprinkled along Washington's northwest coast."  Reason enough to visit, I say.  The paste is rich and creamy, with a hint of sweet pasture and just enough saltiness to encourage you to grab a glass of crisp glass of Pinot Grigio.  Just look at the fantastic goo seeping out of the rind! It spreads beautifully on a cracker, and would probably go well with apples or pears if you had them cut in advance.  Wait until after people have had a taste, and there won't be any left by the time the wedges are ready!

This is my new go-to cheese.  Not only did I have it for my birthday, I've taken it to a baby shower with great success.  Ask for it by name.