28 February 2014

Landaff: from the Welsh farmstead to the White Mountains of New Hampshire

Greetings caseophiles!

This may have been the longest hiatus we've ever had from a new fromage-du-mois post. I suspect we will be back with more frequency in the coming months...

We hope that you have stayed inspired and have continued tasting.

Many years ago, we blogged about the semi-soft, lactic-heavy Welsh cheese called Caerphilly. This is a cheese that matures quickly, has a high salt content, and was a favorite among Welsh miners during the 19th Century: it was a purported salve for all of the toxins inhaled underground.   The Welsh town of the same name today hosts an annual festival, during the last week of July, called The Big Cheese.

In any case, we recently had the opportunity to try another Welsh cheese, slightly similar to Caerphilly in taste. The cheese is called Landaff and it is produced exclusively by the Landaff Creamery, a small, family-run artisinal cheese operation in a small town in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  (Despite its remoteness, there dose seem to be several ways (a way, other way) to get this cheese wherever you might be).

Landaff is a really fantastic and full addition to a cheese course . We found it to have a semi-soft, creamy, slightly chalky, and buttery mouth-feel.  It is less lactic-heavy than its Welsh counterpart, but still carries a hint of sharpness. This is a dense cheese and is very filling. Others have said it has a "buttermilk tang".