Thursday, July 4, 2013

Point Reyes Toma

Happy 4th everyone!

I hope everyone is having a fun and safe day! I'm currently sitting in 106 degrees at my grandparent's house in Lake Havasu City, AZ. We saw some pretty epic fireworks over the lake and have thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

The cheese that I'm going to talk about today is a cheese that I actually had at the beginning of the week at the office. It's a locally made cheese in Point Reyes Station, CA and was quite a hit!


Cheese: Toma
Producers: Point Reyes Creamery
Location: Point Reyes Station, CA
Milk: Pasteurized cow's milk
Rennet: Microbial (vegetarian)

In Italian, the word Toma means "cheese made by the farmer himself". This is a classic example of a farmstead cheese where the cheese is made from the milk of the cow's on the same farm. It has won a bunch of awards - most recently at the 2012 American Cheese Society in Raleigh, NC where it won a second place ribbon in the American Originals - Cow's Milk category.


The flavor of this cheese is pretty incredible. It is nutty and sweet with a nice salty finish. I especially like pairing this cheese with sweeter fruits because they cut the saltiness a bit. The day I served this cheese I paired it with some sliced apple and I totally loved the combination. The paste of the Toma is super smooth and would be perfect to melt and cook with. I could see it being incorporated into a macaroni and cheese or even a Philly cheesesteak in place of the tradition Provolone.

I served this cheese around the office and almost every single person came back to me asking me for the name of the cheese. Not every Whole Foods carries this cheese, but it is definitely worth a taste if you see it at the cheese counter.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday and I look forward to sharing more cheesy knowledge with you all in the near future. Until then, eat, drink and be happy!

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