A terrific semifirm tomme from Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom
Looking for a lovely piece of artisan American cheese to add to your next appetizer platter? Maybe something to liven up your next grilled cheese? Ready to lean into the cooler autumn evenings and make some raclette? Whitney could work wonders on all these culinary counts and then some!
The cheese is handcrafted by the folks at Jasper Hill Farm, near the tiny town of Greensboro in what’s called the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. (The town of Barre, just on the other side of the “border” that marks the formal line of the Northeast Kingdom, had a strong anarchist tradition at the turn of the 20th century. Emma Goldman spoke to a packed audience there at the Barre Opera House in 1907. Her speeches at the time were primarily about women’s rights.)
Brothers Mateo and Andy Kehler had grown up visiting the area as part of their family’s annual summer holiday, and they decided to start the dairy in 1998—nearly 30 years ago now! Their first cheeses were already really good, and they’ve done nothing but make their amazing artisan products even better in the years since. As they say, they get to do “meaningful work in a place that we love”:
Jasper Hill’s mission is to make the highest possible quality products in a way that supports Vermont’s working landscape. We are driven to be the standard bearer of quality and innovation in the artisan cheese industry while promoting our regional taste of place.
After purchasing their farm, the brothers began to buy dairy cattle, so they could manage animal health and, therefore, milk quality. The work they put into the herd and the land paid off. Combining that with first-rate skill in artisan cheesemaking and a strong commitment to high-quality cave aging, they were on their way to making great cheese. Jasper Hill has probably won more ribbons at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition than any other dairy—literally everything they make is marvelous!
Most of their cheeses are made from the raw milk of either their own herd or the herds of neighboring farms. All are crafted in old-school copper kettles. They also have natural rinds (no plastic sealing), which makes for a bunch more workbut results in a far more flavorful and fine-textured product.
Whitney is one of the more recent additions to their list of offerings—it’s named not for the New York art museum but rather for Tim Whitney, a senior member of the Jasper Hill team. The cheese itself is semifirm, sort of in the tradition of Raclette, or maybe Vacherin Fribourg. With wonderful fresh flavors and a creamy texture, it’s ideal for making Raclette, paired with boiled small potatoes and a handful of cornichons. It’s great, too, with the delicious dates we get from the folks at Rancho Meladuco, and/or some of that superfine Catalan-stye fuet salami from the good people at Lowry Hill. It’s also awesome with heirloom apples or pears, and it would be excellent on a simit sandwich!
You won’t see Whitney on the zingermans.com Mail Order site, but we’d love to ship some your way. Just email us at [email protected].