Cheese/Dorch

We’re off on a brief Portland stint soon and have been invited to Louise’s to hang out on her dorch (Is it a deck? Is it a porch?). I consider any invitation to the dorch a great honor.

And she’s making us dinner. So we had to think of something good to take along. Wine, bien sûr. But what else? Almost any (food) thing one takes to Portland feels like carrying coals to Newcastle.

Then Tim thought of the cheese.

Though we live in the somewhat down-at-the-heels section of Parts West, once you leave town limits, you’re back in gorgeous country. Gorgeous country that includes an artisan cheesemaker down the road.

So, as we were driving to a spot where we would soon be taking a glorious September-afternoon hike, we made a stop at the cheesemaker’s. One can buy her cheese around town and at farmer’s markets, but we heard that she’d recently opened a stand at the farm on weekends.

There was no one there, but much of Vermont still operates on an honor system: We go to the refrigerator, choose our cheese (samples available), leave the money. I love that this still exists.

We chose a raw goat tomme, aged 4–6 months; a raw goat grana, aged 10–12 months; and a raw cow washed rind, aged 2–4 months. Two of these cheeses, apparently, have already won awards.

We have also seen these cheeses on the menu of Portland restaurants, including Bar Lola, Fore Street, and Local 188, places dear to our hearts.

Our little cheese-plate sampler, likely less than a pound of cheese, cost about $20. It’s not inexpensive, but no cheese is. Louise (once a resident of France) and Tim have shared more than one cheese plate in their day. It will be the perfect addition.

And it’s made right here in Parts West. How great is that?