Craft Pittsburgh (March 17, 2016)–Sasha Davies writes in the The Cheesemaker’s Apprentice: All these foods—cheese, wine, beer and bread—start with the same basic ingredients, and with the addition of craftsmanship, science and carefully honed techniques, those ingredients are transformed int a spectacular range of products.
When the worlds of these artisans converge, our local food landscape broadens to include the fruits of their collaboration. Goat Rodeo Farm & Dairy, a 130-acre home to Nubian and Alpine goats north of Pittsburgh, is producing earthy, luscious cheeses. Their offerings are predominately made of goat’s milk but some also contain cow’s milk from neighboring Le-Ara Farms. The cheesemaker meets the brewer and great things, like Bamboozle cheese, happen. It is a washed-rind or smear-ripened cheese, which are more commonly referred to as “stinky” cheese. This type of cheese is easily identified by the hue of its rind, which can vary from pink to reddish orange. Both are due to the presence of the Brevibacterium linens (or B. linens), a bacteria introduced to the surface, that created the rind. [more…]