Spruce Reserve Creamy Goat Cheese

To make this spruced up cheese, Firefly Cheese in Maryland uses fresh goat milk. The goat milk is first pasteurized and cooled to the perfect temperature for bacteria to do their best work. Then, it is fortified with Penicillium Candidum. Vegetable rennet is added, coagulating the milk and creating a stronger curd mass bond, faster. The resulting mass is then cut into cubes, drained of whey, stirred, then drained again. 

From there, it’s scooped in molds and brined.. Before aging, its exterior is wrapped in a lovely layer of spruce cambium strapping to provide the cheese with a bit of support as it ripens and softens fully.

Similar cheeses are France’s Saint-Marcellin or Spain’s Torta del Casar.

Try pairing with a Pinot Noir or an oaky white wine with candied nuts or honeycomb.