Guest blogger Liz Thorpe, author of the forthcoming book The Cheese Chronicles and Murray’s Cheese guru, gives you, dear readers, the skinny on some not-so-skinny weekend diversions:
Every June, 25,000 trade types descend on the Javits Center to taste some ungodly number of specialty foods (like, 250,000 different choices) and talk shop at the Fancy Food Show. The influx of food makers from across the U.S. and Europe is what makes the FFS—I get to taste Creminelli’s wild boar salami and the first batches of Graham Kirkham’s Lancashire cheese from Goosnargh, England. But the downside is that nonindustry folks are non grata.
In response, a couple of Murray’s alums decided to create a counterpoint to the FFS two years ago. Sasha Davies and Tom Mylan (now head butcher at Marlow & Daughters) organized the UnFancy Food Show. Admittedly, its third incarnation is a bit of a Brooklyn lovefest (click here for a list of confirmed exhibitors). Don’t miss these two highlights, near and dear to my heart, for folks looking to learn and taste food with makers from farther afoot:
Consider Bardwell Farm: Cheese maker Peter Dixon, with owners Chris Gray, Angela Miller and Russell Glover, are crafting superlative cheeses from their herd of 100 Oberhaslis goats and their neighbor’s 20 Jersey cows on the New York–Vermont line. Highlights to look for: Mettowee, their fresh round that is to die for with Bee Raw buckwheat honey. The cheese has got a slight muskiness to it, like damp tree bark, so it’s like eating goat’s milk made solid. Also worth seeking out is Manchester. It reminds me of better goat tommes from Southern France: incredibly dense and buttery, with a pungent, musty rind and hazelnut interior.
Jasper Hill Farm: Owner and cheese maker Mateo Kehler was an UnFancy original; any chance to drink beer and he’s there. What makes JHF especially interesting this go-round is its brand-new project, the Cellars at Jasper Hill, a 22,000-square-foot facility with seven aging caves built into the land behind the barn. I’m hoping Mateo won’t just have JHF’s predictably delicious raw cow offerings, but he’ll also be sporting some newbies from the Cellars.
Keep an eye out for the amazing raw goats of Twig Farm, the new Maharney from the Von Trapp brothers (yes, for reals, that’s their last name) and the Welsh Caerphilly-like Landaff cheese.
The UnFancy Food Show goes down from noon to 6pm on Sunday 28 at the East River Bar, 97 South 6th Street, Williamsburg. Just $5 buys you admission, beer deals and the promise of special guests.—Liz Thorpe
