Join us on Sunday March 4th for an evening of decadent fondues & raclettes!
We will have 4 stations set up, each showcasing a fondue or raclette from a different area: Midwest, East Coast, France & Switzerland. Each station is $10 and includes the cheese as well as bread, meat, & other accoutrements that pair well with the featured cheese. Beer pairings will also be available at each station for an additional fee.
Lydia from Marion Street Cheese will be on hand to discuss each cheese.
To secure your spot go to Brown Paper Tickets & buy access to two stations for $20. You can use both stations for your own indulgence or you can split it with a friend. You will also be able to buy additional stations once you arrive (you know you’ll want to!). Spaces are limited for this event, so we suggest you buy your tickets early!
The event runs from 5:00 – 8:00.
Info about the cheese served at each station:
East Coast Raclette course:
Reading Raclette ~ Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Spring Brook Farm ~ Reading, VT
A stellar homage to the European original. This raclette is the textural equivalent of cheese velvet. Silky-smooth, and superbly meltable. The flavor strikes a delicate balance between milky and light, and salted, toasted peanuts. This flavorful, easy melter is great out of hand or as an American Artisanal twist on the traditional Alpine favorite. These cheeses were made in between August 24th and September 8th, 2010, from cow’s that were grazing on grasses out on the pasture…
Midwest Fondue course blend of:
Pleasant Ridge Reserve ~ Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Uplands Farm ~ Dodgeville, WI
When Mike and Carol Gingrich retired, they chose the life that most of us working stiffs can only dream of: cheese maker. So they bought a farm in Wisconsin and started making Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a rich and hearty Alpine-style cow’s milk cheese with a stately coffee brown rind. Pleasant Ridge is only made 10 weeks out of the year when the cows are out on pasture, and is a perfect expression of the low grassy valleys of southern Wisconsin in the summer time. Now under cheesemaker Andy Hatch, Uplands has managed to one up its already pristine reputation; in August Pleasant Ridge took best in show at the American Cheese Society competition for the third time, an unprecedented accomplishment for any single cheese.
Blended with
Emmentaler ~ Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Edelweiss Creamery ~ Monticello, WI
Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker Bruce Workman is the first & only to craft an Emmenthaler in the traditional Swiss method outside of the Alps; he has imported special Swiss copper vats in order to create the 180 pound wheels here in the states, & only makes the cheese from pasture grazing cattle, upholding the tradition of Alpage. One taste & you will understand why he has gone to all this trouble: all the sweet & savory onion & nutty flavors you come to expect out of an Emmentaler, followed by a clean brown butter finish. Savor all the flavors of Southern Wisconsin in the spring & summer as encapsulated in this mammoth cheese all year round.
Swiss Raclette course:
Alpage Gruyere A.O.C. ~ Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Fribourg, Switzerland
Make no mistake Alpage gruyere is not your average gruyere! These high mountain cheeses are made between June and September, by small independent cheesemakers using very traditional methods and equipment in their mountain chalets. The flavours are savoury and almost toasty, with hints of cocoa nib, & tropical fruit. These cheese are produced in large copper vats over open wood fires which are located literally next door to the barn where the animals are housed. About 2 cheeses are made from the milk of 50 cows. Our wheels were made between July – September of 2009, seeing over 28 months of age & hence developing ample studding of the calcified proteins or “crunchy bits” we love.
French Fondue Course:
12-14 month A.O.C. comte
Blended with
Cantal ~ Raw Cow’s Milk ~ Allanche Pays de L’estive ~ Auvergne, France
Cantal is the oldest of all French cheeses, dating back to the time of the Gauls, & mentioned in the oral history of Pliny the Elder written in the 1st century A.D. Auvergne is a region known for a thousand volcanoes, blessed by mountain storms, a blazing summer sun, & dotted with fertile pasture lands. Cantal cheese manages to capture all the richness of these elements: a well-ripened Cantal has a vigorous taste, whereas a young cheese has the sweetness of raw milk. The paste is firm & homogeneous, with a thick, smooth, dry, grayish-brown rind. It smells of earth, grass, & soil, & has a tangy buttery taste. This quintessential country cheese is pure perfection melted on a baguette & served with cornichons. (We challenge you to find a cheese that melts more sumptuously than this guy!)
