June 2012 - Oser Communications Group

28
CHEESE
Brazos Valley Cheese is a six-year-old
company based in Waco, Texas. Rebeccah
Salmeri saw a regular surplus of spring milk
in her homesteading community, so she
checked a how-to book and began experimenting.
Her brothers built her a makeshift
press; her hard cheese mold was a gallon
tin can with holes drilled in it, and her
“aging cave” was an old refrigerator. Since
then, Salmeri has written a how-to book of
her own, and now teaches cheese making
to students from all over the country.
In 2005, Salmeri’s cousin Marc Kuehl
visited from Denver, and that year the
cousins began Brazos Valley Cheese.
Starting with a weekly load of one
farmer’s market and two 36-gallon batches
of milk, the company has since added a
custom 400-gallon vat from the Netherlands
and built their own aging cave. Their
cheeses have received four American
Cheese Society medals––including a 2011
First for Eden, a fig-leaf wrapped Brie with
a line of vegetable ash, and a Second in
2010 for Brazos Select, a limited edition
Brie painted with their own sorghum syrup,
Old Amsterdam
GOURMET NEWS JUNE 2012
Brazos Valley Cheese:
award-winning raw milk cheeses from Texas
Jana Foods LLC
Jana Foods is proud to import Vermeer ® ,
named World Champion at the prestigious
World Championship Cheese Contest
2012 in Madison, Wis. The full-flavored
aged gouda was chosen over some 2,500
great cheeses from around the world to
win this year’s contest.
Vermeer is part of “A Dutch Masterpiece,”
the line that also includes 2004
World Championship Cheese winner Rembrandt,
an extra-aged gouda. Just as
sales of Rembrandt went up triple digits in
the year after winning the WCMA World
Championship in 2004 (and kept increasing
in double digits thereafter), Vermeer
has taken off like a rocket since it was
named champion.
Produced by Royal Friesland Campina,
Holland’s leading dairy cooperative, Vermeer
is a mature cheese with a full-bodied
taste, but with less fat, salt and cholesterol
compared to the average medium-aged
gouda. It is aged naturally for 22 weeks to
achieve the best possible taste.
wrapped in mesquite and garnished with a
grape leaf––and can be enjoyed in major
Texas cities and seven other states, including
California and New York.
Today the company focuses on
six raw cow’s milk cheeses. Please see
their ad in this issue, contact marc@
brazosvalleycheese.com, call 254-230-
2535 or visit www.brazosvalleycheese.com.
Jana Foods is the exclusive importer
of Vermeer and the entire line of “A
Dutch Masterpiece,” Orange Windmill
and Kroon ® cheeses produced by
Royal Friesland Campina and sold to
fine distributors, retailers and foodservice
operators nationwide. For information
on this unique cheese, visit
www.janafoods.com.
Old Amsterdam is a premium aged Gouda
cheese with a smooth texture and rich, robust
taste. Old Amsterdam does not have
the dry, salty properties of an ordinary
Gouda, but has a delicious, rich flavor and
is easily sliceable. As a result of years of
dedication and craftsmanship, the Westland
family successfully formulated a culture
and unique ripening process that
imbues Old Amsterdam with its distinctive
characteristics—a beautiful balance of savory-sweet
flavor sparked with fine ripening
crystals.
This makes Old Amsterdam a perfect
addition to any cheese board, along with
fruit, crackers, rustic bread––and, of
course, wine. Old Amsterdam is also a
versatile recipe ingredient, with a taste that
enhances everything from appetizers to
entrees to desserts. Master cheese makers
in Holland constantly oversee the production,
monitoring taste and quality. Old
Amsterdam is released for sale only when
it reaches the perfect taste and quality. To
order, contact dseife@norseland.com or
call 203-324-5620, ext. 329.