Cheese Curds in California?

I always thought the only place for cheese curds was Wisconsin.  Probably people in Wisconsin would say that anything calling itself a cheese curd that doesn't hail from Wisconsin is a total imposter.  But that isn't to say that they aren't available elsewhere. In fact, when I braved my local Farmer's Market this morning - dodging triplet strollers and huge stalks of lilies, focusing instead on the rainbow of beautiful fruits and vegetables - I stopped at the Spring Hill Cheese Company stall.  The creamery is in Petaluma (ie - Sonoma County and pretty far from LA!), so I'm not sure if the cheese drove down that morning, or was shipped to a local distributor.  Must check.  I'm assuming it took longer than a few hours for them to get to my Farmers Market.  Next to the quark (a kind of German yoghurt cheese.  I may need to try that next week), I spotted lumpy vacuum bags of cheese curds nestled in some ice.  White, not the traditional orange, but none-the-less, what a find!

I'll mention here that I am from Michigan, but have never been to Wisconsin, and have never eaten world famous Wisconsin cheese curds.  But I've always felt a little deficient because of this.  To understand some of the hype surrounding those bright orange Great Lakes curds, check out this awesome website.  This site comes complete with cheese curd etiquette including  "Never yell out that you have fresh Cheese Curds in a crowded Wisconsin theater."  The site also features info on how curds are made, and curd poetry.  It's a very extensive. 


Cheese curds are simply fresh curds (generally cheddar curds) that haven't been put into a shaped mold and let to sit and become aged cheddar cheese.  They have a characteristic squeak because there is still a lot of air trapped inside them.  There is a great quote from the New York Times that equates the squeaky sound to "balloons trying to neck."  How fun is that! 


The squeak is elusive, however.  Curds must be fresh, fresh, fresh!  That is one of the reasons you can't find them in many places.  They tend to start loosing their squeak within 24 hours, and extreme cold doesn't do them any favors.  They must be eaten at room temperature for full harmonic convergence.    Sadly, even after I got my curds home, broke them up into individual curds and brought them to room temperature, I couldn't detect the slightest bit of squeak.  And they needed salt.  I suppose they were already a little too old to squeak in the traditional way, though they still tasted very milky and fresh.  They might be tastier if I do another Mid-Western thing - dip them in beer batter and deep fry them!  What's not to love there!  If the DH doesn't consume all of them the minute he gets home tonight, I will give that a try and post the results.  


Any cheese curd lovers out there?  Apparently, you never forget your first one.  

Have I Mentioned Marisa?

I've been meaning to share this sheep's milk cheese with you for a while, but I've been too happy munching on it!  This amazing cheese (named for the cheesemaker's daughter) from Carr Valley Cheese Company in Wisconsin is aged for six months and has an incredible earthy, nutty-ness.  Plus, as a sheep's milk cheese, it has a naturaly high butterfat content, which gives it a great richness.  I could snack on this all day (and I have been)!

I've now shared this cheese at two parties - a Pinot Noir tasting and at Thanksgiving.  (In the picture, it's the one in back.) It went great with the Pinot, and at Thanksgiving, even though it was competing with a lot of stunners (more on that later), it really held it's own.  The Professor appreciated it's mid-western roots, and I love the fact that it almost has the texture of a cheddar, but it is clearly something else all together.

I read a restaurant review lately that described one dish as "the nice sister that holds your hand after [another really strong flavored dish] has verbally assaulted you." Perhaps out of context it doesn't make any sense, but Marisa really is the nice, interesting sister who might not  be the one you notice first when you walk into the room, but once you meet her, you keep wanting to go back and spend more time with her.

If you can find this one, buy it!  Keep it around for snacking on and sharing with friends!