Sweet Grass Dairy Velvet Rose

I usually find myself writing my staff pick about anything exept for all things made in the U.S.A. Hmmm.... guess that does make me a bit of a Europhile. I write today inspired by one of the many stellar American cheese producers that are often overlooked and underrated. The Sweet Grass Dairy hailing from Thomasville, GA have won 5 awards from the American Cheese Society. When you taste their cheeses, you immediately understand why. The Velvet Rose is a flat, soft ripened, disc of cows milk cheese that is surpisingly pungent. Cheese afficianados be aware that this humble looking cheese from Georgia packs a whallop and is much closer to a French camembert than its more mild, domestic competitors. Pungent with pastoral flavors of grasses, mushrooms, hay and nuts. You will find that Sweet Grass Dairy produces superior cheeses that are suprisingly less reliant on salt and more reliant on the delicate and complex quality of the flavor of the milk used. Serve and enjoy as you would a rare, French camembert.