Flamezgeek

cheesenotes:

Bent River Camembert, from the Alemar Cheese Company in Minnesota, is a cheese I’ve been on the prowl after for a while. I was curious to try this cheese after reading Janet Fletcher’s review in the San Francisco Chronicle, but the last time I went looking for it, Lucy’s Whey had already sold out and I couldn’t find it at any of the other cheese mongers in town. Lucy’s Whey recently tweeted that they had some, so I finally got my hands on a half wheel.

Keith Adams, the maker behind Bent River, came to cheese making after years in the bagel business and prior to that as a stockbroker in San Francisco. Although a relative newcomer, he’s obviously a quick study (you can read more about him here, from Minnesota Public Radio). This soft-ripened bloomy rind, inspired by the traditional Camembert de Normandie, is made from the milk of a local farm and a mix of Holstein, Normandy, Jersey, and Guernsey cows.

With a luxuriant, velvety paste, buttery and smooth, in flavor it is milky and barnyardy but in a very subtle way, reminiscent of damp hay after a rain, with herbacous and floral hints and a full, mushroomy body. 

It took a while to get my hands on, but it  was well worth the wait. Definitely a cheese to seek out. 

Purchased at Lucy’s Whey.