This October, in honor of American Cheese Month, we'll be posting profiles of 31 amazing artisan producers that all reside stateside. Check in every day for a unique story behind some of Pastoral's favorite cheeses!

Producer: Dutch Girl Creamery

Location: Lincoln Nebraska

Cheeses: Belle Sabine, Chevre Frais, Natalie

Cheeses: Belle Sabine is a hand crafted, goat milk, bloomy rind cheese. It is mild and rich with low acidity and has a soft ripened rind. The Chevre Frais is a fresh, soft goat cheese and creamy in texture. It has a slight lemony flavor and is covered in rosemary, chive, and peppercorn. Natalie is balanced with a light and creamy paste with touches of acidity and ash-ripened rind.

History : ShadowBrook farms has been producing Grade A goat’s milk since 2006. ShadowBrook is a small, family owned farm with 34 acres. They are committed to sustainable practices on their farm. Charuth Loth and her husband have been involved with the farm for 15 seasons. Loth began her dream of creating artisan farmstead cheese with the help of Farmstead First and the NebraskaEDGE program. She specializes in producing organic certified vegetables and herbs, cut flowers, and goat meat and cheese. Their operation includes 55 Alpine goats, which are milked daily and also used for meat. 

The goat milk cheeses that come from this farm would pair with a few wines right from Pastoral. The Mohua Sauvignon Blanc has the aromas and flavors of gooseberry and tropical grapefruit with good acidity. The acidity and crispness from the wine would bring out the lemony and acid flavors present in the cheese. The Cheverny Sauvignon Blanc/Chardonnay has a mineral/chalky finish as well as some lime-peel notes. I believe that the slight dryness of the wine would contrast well with the goat milk cheeses. The citrus and grapefruit aromas in the Elk Cove Pinot Gris would pair very well with the cheese. The El Hada from Rueda Spain has bright fruity and clean aromas of peach and citrus fruit. 

As far as food and spreads go, I believe that the Tupelo honey pairs very well with the Dutch Girl Creamery cheeses because of its light body and delicate flavors. As for crackers I would choose the 34 degrees cracked pepper crispbread to add a little spice to the creamy cheese. If I were to cook with the Chevre Frais, I would whip it and fold in a bit of bread crumb as a binder and stuff a chicken breast and a light green such as spinach. The herbs and peppercorns would intensify in the cooking chicken.

Charlie Funk
Sandwich Bar Associate
Although I am not an official cheesemonger , I still love to try and delve into the culture. I try to taste and pair as much as I can and find it very pleasing to help the local farmers that we have right around us.