Say Cheese

Saturday evening, while recovering from the glory that was Beerfest, I saw a Facebook update from Shatto Milk Company saying their hotly anticipated cheeses would be available at the Whole Foods at 93rd & Metcalf. Needless to say, I was in the door around 4PM and casing the joint for creamy goodness. Not being familiar with healthy food or comfortable in the company of hippies, I wasn't quite sure where to start. A quick peek in the dairy section will net you a lovely bag of cheddar cheese curds. Like the milk and ice cream products before them, the plastic bag of curds sport the black text on the right. They might say "squeaky," but some better words might be salty and/or delicious. But the real stars of the show were just around the corner.

Wedges and wheels and samples, oh my!

Lucky for me, Whole Foods was slicing up samples of each of the five cheeses to taste before having to drop $10 on a half-pound wedge. Of the five aged cheeses, two are cheddar followed by a smoked gouda, havarti and port salut. I pressed hard for the gouda, but we ended up walking out with the port salut (which they labeled/named Perrin) and the Lilly cheddar.

Shatto hopes to have the cheeses more wildly distributed in the near future, but for now Whole Foods is your only option. I doubt they will have samples out every day, but as long as you go with what you like, I don't think you can go wrong. My two favorites were the gouda and havarti, and I happily walked out with two completely different offerings. It feels like Shatto has hit another home run with this venture into the premium cheese market. And now for some cheese porn...

Curds in the way

Sharp looking cheddar

Cutting the cheese