Seattle's Best Cheeses Are Ready to Take on the World
Do you really, really, really love cheese? Seattle is home to some surprisingly great locally made cheeses, particularly the famously sharp Northwest cheddars. Beecher's Handmade Cheeses
Beecher's is as famous for their hand-crafted cheeses as they are for the space they are made in. Located in the famous Pike Place Market near the Seattle waterfront, Beecher's makes all their cheeses in a glassed-in room visible from the street, allowing you to watch the cheese being made in front of your eyes. Beecher's Aged Flagship Cheddar was the 2009 American Cheese Society's 1st place for mature cheddars, and their famous mac 'n cheese is notably indulgent and a must-have.
WSU Creamery's Cougar Cheese
While not strictly from Seattle, Washington State's famous Cougar Cheese is likely to please your tastebuds just as much as it will irritate nearby Husky fans. Ignore the intercollegiate rivalry and pick some up from the Cougar Connections store in the Westlake Mall in downtown Seattle. Cougar Gold is their flagship cheese, a white cheddar that gets deliciously crumbly and sharper with age.
Black Sheep Creamery
Prefer cheese made from sheep's milk? Black Sheep Creamery has you covered, with 70 sheep on a family-owned farm in Adna, Washington. Their unique Mopsy's Best variety is only made by BSC, and the semi-hard cheese has a tart flavor upfront reminiscent of Swiss but with a warm, nutty finish characteristic of aged sheep cheeses. Their hard Pecorino is also widely acclaimed. You can find BSC cheeses at DeLaurenti Specialty Foods in the Pike Place Market.
River Valley Cheese
Raw cheese connoisseurs know that good unpasteurized cheese is worth a bit of a hassle to get to. River Valley is a licensed Grade A Raw Dairy in Fall City, a 40 minute drive from Seattle via I90 that makes slightly unconventional but very tasty cheese. Their Naughty Nellie is a raw tomme-style cheese washed in Pike Pub & Brewery's Naughty Nellie ale, giving it a flavor that Seattle Magazine raved about ("With aromas of white truffle and sweet onion, this complex little cheese tastes of fresh milk and fresh mushroom."). River Valley Cheeses may be carried by Seattle retailers, but the best bet is to make the trek to Fall City and get it as fresh as possible.
This post was contributed via Seed.com, AOL's new platform for freelance writers.
