Cowboys & Indians / January 2010 / Pass the goat cheese, please

 Print

Pass the goat cheese, please

Cattle aren’t the only things cowboys are rustling up on the open range. Now they’re rustling up goats, too. And for good reason. Goats are sociable, nimble on even the rockiest mountainside, and able to subsist on plants that humans and other animals can’t tolerate. Their milk is easier to digest than cow’s milk and less prone to cause allergies in humans. It’s full of nutrients and readily preservable as cheese — soft and hard, fresh and aged. Which is why historians think goats have been fixtures on Western homesteads since pioneer days, even though their presence has often been overlooked.

“People had goats; they just weren’t widely discussed or documented,” says Dawn Jump, owner of Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy in Buena Vista, Colorado. When she was 10 years old, Jump bought her first goat as a companion for her horse. She later got into goat cheese through an Old West acting gig: While working at the Littleton Historical Museum reenacting pioneer life in the late 1800s, part of her role involved making cheese. “Goat cheese was made at home for the [frontier] family,” Jump says, “but that’s as far as it went.” Laura Werlin, cheese expert and author of several books on cheese, agrees: “Most likely people were making goat cheese all along [in places] peppered throughout the country, but it was only eaten [or sold] locally. It wasn’t until about 15 years or so ago that goat cheese in America developed into a commercial market.”

As consumer interest grew and word spread, so did the number of start-ups. Today, dozens of small artisanal farmstead goat-cheese operations have popped up across the country, fostering a lucrative market. The competition has also raised the bar among goat-cheese craftsmen, making it easy to find high-quality artisan cheeses across the West. Jump is a good example. She recently expanded into a new 4,200-square-foot dairy operation — complete with a 12-foot-deep aging cave lined with river rock and plaster to ensure proper ventilation. Her ambitious line of goat cheeses includes fresh chèvre, cheddar, Gouda, Taleggio, raclette, and even a Swedish caraway cheese.

Near Austin in Dripping Springs, Texas, the Pure Luck Farm and Dairy was founded
by Sara Bolton, one of the first goat-cheese pioneers in the area. “My mom bought the land so we could grow up eating fresh organic food,” says Amelia Sweethardt, who took over the family cheesemaking operation along with her sisters after their mother passed away. “[Mom] fell in love with goats after she babysat one for a friend; then she started making goat cheese soon afterward.” First Bolton made it just for friends and family, but the fresh, clean-tasting basket-molded chèvre was so popular that in 1995 she decided to sell it commercially. Today, Pure Luck still sells its chèvre in a variety of flavors, along with a goat feta, a soft-ripened Camembert-style cheese called Del Cielo, and a signature semifirm blue-veined goat cheese called Hopelessly Bleu (the company’s biggest seller).

Amaltheia Organic Dairy, a farmstead operation just north of Bozeman, Montana, is another story of serendipitous entry into cheesemaking. When Melvyn and Sue Brown named their 20-acre farm at the base of the Bridger Mountains after the goat that nursed Zeus in Greek mythology, they didn’t realize they’d end up nursing a goat-cheese operation: “At first we just sold goat milk to a cheesemaking facility,” says Melvyn, “but two years later in 2002, the cheesemaking plant closed down. That’s when we got into the business.”

Now home to more than 500 goats, Amaltheia sells fresh organic chèvre (all made using vegetable rennet) in several flavors, including sun-dried tomato, roasted garlic and chive, and Périgord Black Truffle, plus goat feta and a whole-milk goat ricotta. When they were featured recently on the Food Network, the Browns and their goat cheese made a big splash among chefs in New York City. But success in the big city isn’t going to undermine their ideals: The organic and sustainable farm uses its own homegrown compost, and in the future the Browns plan to cut energy costs by switching to solar and wind power.

Jump, Sweethardt, and the Browns —  Western goat-cheese entrepreneurs, all. But spread some of each maker’s goat cheese on a cracker, and you’ll taste the difference. The individual creativity and skill of each cowboy cheesemaker have something to do with it. But part of the difference comes from the land itself. As with wine, the characteristic terroir — the traits of the place that become embodied in the product — also subtly influences the flavor and composition of the milk. Jump’s goats munch on Arkansas alfalfa, wildflowers, and clover native to the Rocky Mountains, supplemented with barley, corn, and molasses. Sweethardt’s goats enjoy a different diet of Texas juniper, New Mexican alfalfa, and oak leaves. The Browns credit the high mineral content in the rich black Montana soil for their unique cheeses. Whatever the secret, try your own tasting of a selection of Western goat cheeses. Like the West, goat cheese is both humble and noble. Gourmets like it paired with wine and — surprise — coffee. So break out the water crackers or bagels and explore this farmstead favorite for yourself.

All Things Cheese

Want to learn more about great American artisanal cheeses? Check out The New American Cheese (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2000), Laura Werlin’s beautiful and informative book on all things cheese. Along with profiles of 50 of America’s great cheesemakers and 80 recipes, Werlin explains how cheese is made and how to taste, buy, store, and serve it. Find the book at www.amazon.com or on Werlin’s website, www.laurawerlin.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gettin’ Your Goat

A roundup of the best of the West in goat cheese.

Amaltheia Organic Dairy — In 2000, Melvyn and Sue Brown opened their organic dairy at the base of the Bridger Mountains near Bozeman, Montana, with 90 goats. They now sell a wide selection of fresh organic farmstead goat cheeses, including chèvre, feta, and whole-milk ricotta. 3380 Penwell Bridge Road, Belgrade, Montana, 406.388.5950, www.amaltheiadairy.com.

Black Mesa Ranch — This 280-acre working goat farm is located just nine miles east of the pioneer town of Snowflake, Arizona, in the White Mountains. Literally operating off the grid (the ranch is powered by solar and wind energy), the ranch is populated by a herd of Nubian goats, whose African descent helps them take the heat. And speaking of heat, be sure to try their jalape"o chèvre. 928.536.7759, www.blackmesaranch.com.

Coonridge Organic Goat Cheese Dairy — Everything used at Coonridge is certified organic. That includes not only their wild goat feed, but also the sunflower seed oil, olive oil, and fresh herbs used to flavor and preserve their cheeses. Located in the western New Mexico “wilderness” at 8,000 feet, the dairy’s Nubian, Oberhasli, Alpine, and La Mancha goats freely range the rim rock under the watchful eye of the family’s Maremma guard dogs. 888.410.8433, www.coonridge.com.

Cypress Grove Chèvre — For more than 25 years, Cypress Grove Chèvre has been making superb artisanal goat cheese. Owner Mary Keehn set the standard for the industry with Humboldt Fog (a soft ripened cheese with a ribbon of edible vegetable ash in the center), Bermuda Triangle, and Purple Haze. 1330 Q St., Arcata, California, 707.825.1100, www.cypressgrovechevre.com.

Estrella Family Creamery — This family-run farm located in the Puget Sound makes 18 different handcrafted raw-milk cheeses. Of the goat variety are Grisdale Goat, a semisoft rind cheese; and Subblime, a bloomy-rind blended cow-and-goat cheese named for “Subby,” a La Mancha doe who, while healing from a broken neck, resembled a submarine. 659 Wynoochee Valley Road, Montesano, Washington, 360.249.6541, www.estrellafamilycreamery.com.

Harley Farms Goat Dairy — Dee Harley rebuilt a 1910 cow dairy farm to house a milking parlor, cheesemaking room, and a herd of 220 American Alpine goats on 9 acres.. A native of Yorkshire, England, Harley is known for the edible flower and dried fruit decorations on her fresh goat cheeses. 205 North St., Pescadero, California, 650.879.0480, www.harleyfarms.com.

Haute Goat Creamery — From the French Room to Fearing’s, Nancy Patton’s goat cheeses are on the menus of Dallas’ top restaurants. Her small herd of close to two-dozen goats frolics on an old tennis court (minus the net), while the afternoon milking “happy hour” calls for a glass of fine wine (for milker and milked). Try the rustic Tequila Abbey, which is washed biweekly in tequila and chipotle. 109 N. Norwich St., Lubbock, Texas, 806.792.6400, www.hautegoatcreamery.com.

Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy — Although this Longmont, Colorado-based cheesemaking operation no longer raises goats, it does make excellent fresh and aged goat cheeses. Some notables include the award-winning raw-milk cheeses Queso de Mano and Red Cloud, as well as a chèvre marinated in herbes de Provence and olive oil. 1121 Colorado Ave., Suite A, Longmont, Colorado, 720.494.8714, www.haystackgoatcheese.com.

Jumpin’ Good Goat Dairy - Buena Vista, Colorado’s sweet valley grasses make for a flavorful cheese. Stop by the dairy on Saturday afternoons for a tour, or head next door to the Jumpin’ Good Country Store to sample and purchase Dawn Jump’s farmstead arti-sanal cheese. 31700 U.S. Highway 24 N., Buena Vista, Colorado, 719.395.4646, www.jumpingoodgoats.com.

Pure Luck Farm and Dairy - Because Pure Luck’s European style cheeses are only sold locally in Texas (be sure to check the cheese aisle at Central Market and Whole Foods), visiting Pure Luck Farm is worth the trip. Sisters Gitana and Amelia also teach workshops at the farm on how to make your own cheese and raise your own goats. 101 Twin Oaks Trail, Dripping Springs, Texas, 512.858.7034, www.purelucktexas.com.

Three Ring Farm — The home of Rivers Edge Chèvre, Three Ring Farm is located about 10 miles inland from the coastal town of Newport, Oregon. Owner Pat Morford creates Up In Smoke, one of her award-winning goat cheeses, by gathering maple leaves in the surrounding woods, wrapping handrolled balls of her artisanal chèvre in the smoked leaves, then smoking the wrapped cheeses over alder and hickory chips. And don’t forget the final spritz of bourbon for a festive holiday touch. 6315 Logsden Road, Logsden, Oregon, 541.444.1362, www.threeringfarm.com/cheeseroom.htm.

— D.W.

Filed under: Food-Wine, Food