Week 3 – Strawberry Season is Here

If any of you reading this also subscribe to the newsletter for Ohio City Provisions, you have probably heard me profess the glory of Marchant Manor Cheeses of Cleveland Heights.

Marchant Manor is perhaps Ohio's newest artisan cheese maker and in my opinion, guaranteed to be a star. I first met cheesemaker Kandice Marchant about 3 years ago when she came into Ohio City Provisions as a customer. She brought us a sample of some homemade cheese she had. At first bite, we knew she was a good cheesmaker.

By day, Kandice works for the Cleveland Clinic and has a scientific background. Her attention to detail and understanding of the chemistry behind cheesemaking are key assets in her being a talented cheesemaker.

Kandice's first commercial cheeses were triple creme cheeses made from our Guernsey milk. They are still available at Ohio City Provisions any day of the week - the Henley, Elmsted Ash, and Lapworth.

But Kandice's talent as a cheesemaker extends beyond triple creme, bloomy and washed rind cheeses. She understands my vision for an artisan cheese that doesn't always conform to the industry standard.

Case in point - cottage cheese. About 2 months ago, I asked Kandice to make a small batch of cottage cheese. It's a "fresh cheese" meaning that it is made with pasteurized milk and is not aged like firmer raw milk cheeses (think cheddars and gouda). Cottage cheese on the commercial scale includes a lot more than just milk and cream - look on the label at the grocery store and you'll find stabilizers, preservatives, and more.

Cottage cheese is part cheese curd and part dressing. For us, the dressing is made from fresh cream and milk while the curds are made from whole milk. The challenge in making a cottage cheese is to keep the dressing from separating (hence the stabilizers often used) and to provide a reasonable shelf life.

Kandice conquered both challenges by "fermenting" her dressing. She added a live culture to the dressing to essentially turn it into creme fraiche first. This provided a heftier body, a longer shelf life, and a unique acidic ting.

This cottage cheese in my opinion is the perfect cottage cheese - creamy with a slight acidic tang that will pair perfectly with some strawberries and a drizzle of honey.

In addition to fresh cottage cheese, Kandice also is offering this week a limited amount of Guernsey milk ricotta. This isn't your normal part-skim ricotta offered at the grocery store. This is a whole milk - in fact cream enhanced milk - ricotta that is rich in butterfat and flavor. It's more firm than typical ricotta with a buttery taste and slightly nutty finish. From the photo below you'll see it stands out in crowd - a rich yellow hue and firm texture set it apart. This artisan ricotta is also a perfect pairing to the season's fresh strawberries.

Both are available for pre-order only online.