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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Forsyth location Cheese Feature: Tomme Crayeuse

Each of our stores carries a different selection
Come in for a taste as all of our cheese is fresh cut

Schmidhauser Cheeses from the Rhône-Alpes
Schmidhauser Tomme Crayeuse
In 1996, Max stumbled upon what is now the company’s trademark cheese – Tomme Crayeuse. Its creation was purely accidental – they were looking to improve on a Tomme de Savoie recipe – a cheese they found to be a bit dull. During one of the first iterations of the experiment, the wheel was cut open to reveal a chalky interior with a more supple paste near the rind. The cheese was a resounding success; everyone who tasted it praised the cheese for its dual textures. Max chose the the word “crayeuse” as it literally translates to “chalky.”

Our Tomme Crayeuse is made from raw milk. The first thing you’ll notice about the cheese is how striking the rind is, it might look intimidating to the untrained eye, but to a cheese-hound, this rind is a thing of beauty. Natural rinds on cave aged cheeses take to whatever is in the air, so on any one wheel of cheese you might have twenty different strains of molds present. The result is a velvety soft rind, with a patchwork exterior of yellow, gray, brown and white molds.

Cutting the wheel open reveals the dual nature of the cheese. The rind surrounds a half to full inch of soft pliable cheese – more akin to a brie or camembert than a tomme, while the center of the cheese remains dense, fresh, and “chalky.”

Tasting Notes: The aroma is heady with barnyardy notes of hay, fresh grass and terragon. The smooth paste next to the rind is mushroomy, and rich, with the “chalky” interior being fresh, milky and pleasantly tart. The finish is long and clean with a buttery aftertaste.

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