Excerpt from Ari’s Top 5 enews
A taste of South Georgia showing out at the Deli
One of the great things that food has brought to me over all these years is the multitude of wonderful relationships I have with generous and caring craftspeople. It’s been well over a decade since I first met Jessica and Jeremy Little, and they—and their cheese—have been part of the extended Zingerman’s ecosystem ever since. We’ve been proudly selling the Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses at the Deli for years. Jessica and Jeremy have been regular students at ZingTrain and big readers of the Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading books. This year the Littles and their team at Sweet Grass made the (always challenging) transition to a newly-built dairy facility, where I’m confident they will be able to make their cheese even better than it’s already been. Last week Jessica shared: “I’m already happy to see the quality, efficiency, and safety measures of the new creamery and look forward to Jeremy being able to expand our offerings as he continues to work on some R&D projects.”
We rotate regularly though half a dozen of the Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses, but the Green Hill has long been my personal favorite. When we first started bringing it to Ann Arbor, Jeremy shared, “It’s a cheese close to my heart! Green Hill really represents the roots of Sweet Grass Dairy.” The Green Hill is a double cream with a mellow but still full, creamy flavor. Nicely buttery, perky, earthy. The folks at Culture magazine say Green Hill has “a golden-yellow paste, aromas of sautéed mushrooms and cream on the nose, and a rich, silky texture that coats the mouth. Flavors of sweet butter and popcorn linger, with hints of cellar and funk.” When it’s younger the Green Hill is milder, and, as it ages, it gets more full-flavored. Either way is excellent. It’s accessible to those who gravitate towards milder flavors, and at the same time, it appeals to artisan cheese lovers as well. The Green Hill is a great cheese to recommend to French folks who are still skeptical about American cheese making; anyone who’s into French cheese like Reblochon will likely like this one. Superb for snacking, spreading on toast, or melting on just-cooked potatoes.