Father's Day Cheese!
I love Father’s Day! Well, I love most holidays, especially those that remind us to say thank you to someone or to be extra grateful for something. Father’s Day, like Mother’s Day, is also wonderful because it can mean so many things! Of course, I want to celebrate my own dad because he’s the best dad (wait, is your dad the best dad, too?), but we can also celebrate the people who embody the best parts of what a father is. To me, this means someone who is supportive, loving, curious, caring, adventurous, and there are so many people I know who have these traits, so I want to celebrate them too. And how do I show love? With cheese, of course! So here is what I’m buying for Father’s Day:
Bear Hill
Grafton Village Cheese Co. produces one of the few sheep’s milk cheeses coming out of Vermont. Bear Hill is smooth and inviting with flavors of brown butter, toasted almonds, and fresh grass. It really sings at room temperature, so if you’re having a picnic or barbecue to celebrate your pops, then this cheese should be outside with you. Try it in a sandwich with some French ham, a slick of mustard, and some pickles. Actually, let’s make this epic for the holiday and create one giant sandwich on a baguette! And grill it to crisp the crust and melt the cheese! Or skip all that and just eat the cheese itself. It can handle that too.
Foxglove
Funkayyyyy and fun, an excellent start to any cheeseboard. Foxglove, made at Tulip Tree Creamery in Indianapolis, is a cross between French Epoisses and Italian Taleggio. This means it tastes earthy and savory at first and finishes a touch sweet and yeasty, almost like you’re eating the cheese on a biscuit, which by the way, would be amazing. The taste is like a rollercoaster – it gets stronger and stronger and when you think, woah is this about to be waaay to strong, the cheese mellows with a sweet cream finish. Oozy and plush, Foxglove is certainly for the adventurous eater, but also isn’t too scary for those willing to try something on the funkier side. And remember, the smell is always stronger than the taste!
Cornish Kern
Ahh Cornwall, a place of many good cheeses and, I’m sure, a place of many good dads. Cornish Kern miiiiight be my favorite cheese from Cornwall, so I’m gonna say it’s Dad’s favorite one too. The cheesemakers at Lynher Dairies scald the curds during cheesemaking, meaning they cook the curds in hot water to wash away tangy lactic acid, to out some serious caramel sweetness in the cheese. It has the snap and chew of milk chocolate and flavors of bourbon and nutty brown butter. Perfect for dads. And anyone.
L’Aigos al Tartufo
I must put this on my Father’s Day cheeseboard because my dad has gotten more and more obsessed with this cheese over time. It is a firm goat’s milk cheese from Sardinia with shavings of black truffle in the paste. As a truffle cheese, it is impressively well-balanced because the tang from the goat’s milk is matched, not overwhelmed, by the earthy truffles. Dad’s favorite way to eat it is on toast that has been doused in olive oil, but he also likes it shaved over steak, grated onto scrambled eggs, mixed into ground beef for burgers, or cut into chunks and tossed into a fresh pea and tomato salad.
The Gracious Gourmet White Balsamic and Hatch Chili Jelly
My dad, and the people I count in my life as father-adjacent, all seem to love condiments, so I wanted to get one into the Father’s Day lineup. My Dad collects condiments the way other people collect baseball cards or vintage movie posters or designer sneakers, and I can already hear him arguing that his collection is the most useful because we can eat it and eating is the best. This spread is HOT (but not so hot you won’t be able to taste anything the rest of the day) and sweet from the white balsamic. Not only is it excellent with cheese, but we have also used it on chicken sandwiches, grilled pork chops, and as a glaze for carrots to great success.
All this is to say whoever you see as the fathers in your life need this cheese. You will be the best, most favorite child. And if there’s anyone else at this picnic/barbeque/beach party/porch party/dinner party will also be very glad you brought the goods and you will be their favorite too.
For the love of cheese and celebrating dads,
Kiri