Say Cheese Nashville

We love cheese. Cheesemakers were part of the landscape when we lived in Wisconsin. A four-year-old cheddar was our standard sandwich cheese. While Wisconsin is primarily known for mass market producers there has been an artisanal revival in recent years. Southern states are also starting to make some inroads thanks to a few pioneers. Kenny Mattingly is one of those brave souls. His Kentucky dairy, Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, is one of the most innovative and quite frankly one of the very few in the area.

The kind folks at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel invited us to an artisanal cheese dinner recently. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity, especially when we heard that Mr. Mattingly would be speaking at the affair.

Top on the agenda was Kenny’s famous blue Gouda; it’s a little creamy, a little crumbly and with a lovely blue flavor. Kenny described sprinkling it on top of chili, something he figured out during dinner with his sister. The Tomme de Nena is a firm, brie-like cheese with a slightly creamy texture. Mr. Mattingly explained that the St. Jerome is kind of a cross between Swiss and cheddar. It’s fine on its own and even better melted on crusty bread and served with fig vinegar.

It’s amazing to see how Kenny has expanded his line-up since we first started sampling his cheese six years ago. His wife Beverly remarked that Nashville has changed quite a bit in recent years and people are starting to pay attention to cheese. They’ve had strong supporters from businesses as diverse as Yazoo brewing (they serve his cheese in the taproom) and the Silly Goose (where the blue Gouda is a star in several dishes). You can also find Kenny’s at the Turnip Truck, Whole Foods and Mitchell’s Deli among others.

Loews put this dinner together in part to highlight their adopt-a-farmer program, of which Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese is now a part. All of the Loews hotels are picking some local providers for cheese, beef, chicken and produce. The dinner was prepared by Loews Chef Elaine Taubin. She featured beef from the Gunn Family farm in Robertson County. The Gourmet Pastures tenderloin was firm and a little sweet in flavor. The big standout of the evening may have been the fried green tomatoes, covered with Dallas Mozzarella Company mozzarella and accented by snappy apple cider vinaigrette. The arugula accompaniment provided a tart taste. The combination was fantastic. The bourbon glaze on sweet cornmeal cakes for dessert paired well with brown butter and ricotta ice cream.

Clark Wolf hosted the event. He’s author of “American Cheeses: The Best Regional, Artisan and Farmhouse Cheeses, Who Makes Them and Where to Find Them.” Mr. Wolf points to a revival of American cheesemaking. “We’re just hitting our stride,” he said. He talked diners through the cheese course that included an amazing Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog. The creamy, dark-tasting blue has a line of grape ash running through it. The taste is exceptional. A brined and bold Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk cheese bullied its way around the plate and worked well with a bit of dried apricot.

There are new ways to get your artisanal cheese fix in Nashville. One of the cheesemakers featured in Mr. Wolf’s book is the venerable Cabot Creamery in Vermont. While Cabot is mainly known these days for mass market cheese the cooperative still produces small batch cheeses, including clothbound cheddar. A chunk of that cheese is currently sitting in our fridge awaiting a party, thanks to Kathleen Cotter and her business The Bloomy Rind. Cotter is a cheese purveyor without a shop. She buys cheese for area restaurants and now has started selling her wares at the Nashville Farmers’ Market. It’s a great addition to the main shed.

Last week she featured among many others: Green Hill, Asher Blue and Thomasville Tomme from Sweetgrass Dairy in Georgia; Oma from von Trapp Farmstead in Vermont and Seahive from the Beehive Cheese Company in Utah. Kathleen plans to be out at the Farmers’ Market on a regular basis. Swing by and say hello. It’s a real pleasure talking to her about cheese. Visit the blog for more info: www.thebloomyrind.com/blog

Kathleen mentions that there is a new dairy getting ready to produce cow’s milk cheese near Chattanooga. For the most part Tennessee has been growing in goat cheese production, so any expansion would be welcome. If you are visiting the main shed of the Nashville Farmers’ Market on a Saturday you can find the tasty Noble Springs goat cheese for sale. Dustin says he has a whole new batch of goat babies and things are busy on the farm. We picked up a bit of Santa Fe chevre.

For a list of some other regional cheesemakers (including our favorite Bonnie Blue) visit the Southern Cheesemakers Guild website: http://www.southerncheese.com/index.html A few of our Kentucky favorites are apparently not members and a couple of Tennessee makers are absent, however we spied a couple of places to visit next time we are headed to Asheville.

Here’s to cheese! We have high hopes that we’ll have even more local cheesemakers to challenge our taste buds in coming years.