Sartori Artisan Goat Cheese Takes Top Honors at Wisconsin State Fair
PLYMOUTH, Wis., July 1 /PRNewswire/ -- The new Sartori Caprimenthe™ goat cheese was honored with a first place finish at the prestigious Wisconsin State Fair Cheese and Butter Contest this weekend. The award was one of seven awarded to Sartori in this year's competition.
Caprimenthe goat cheese is a new and unique cheese for Sartori. "It was our first foray into using goat milk," states Pam Hodgson, artisan cheesemaker at Sartori. "It has taken our team several years of experimenting with different cultures, aging processes and complementary rubs to get the cheese to be just right. What a wonderful achievement to be recognized as the best in the state of Wisconsin – home of the best cheesemakers in the world."
Unlike most goat milk cheese which is soft and crumbly, Sartori's Caprimenthe is hand made in 20 pound wheels, aged for nearly a year creating an incredibly unique 'hard' goat's milk cheese. The wheels are hand rubbed with a proprietary blend of imported olive oil and spearmint, delivering a mellow Mediterranean style flavor profile. The creation of goat's milk cheese has a long history in the Eastern Mediterranean area, and is still considered a staple in their diet.
Sartori's Caprimenthe cheese combines traditional Mediterranean flavors with a distinctive hard texture, and a citrus zest. "The majority of goat's milk cheese sold today are young, soft and fresh. It took nearly three years to develop this very approachable, aged goat's milk cheese," says Hodgson.
The green outer layer is spearmint which is used to enhance the citrus flavors of the goat's milk from the Wisconsin terrior. It also creates a striking appearance with the green outer texture and the bright white cheese interior.
"This cheese is excellent eaten on its own," states Mike Matucheski, artisan cheesemaker at Sartori, "or when matched with the proper accoutrements. It pairs nicely with Weiss or Belgian Wheat beers and Riesling wines. We find that hard Italian salami, sausage, grapes, and apricots also bring out the finer aspects of the cheese."
According to Matucheski and Hodgson, the creation of this new cheese was a challenging project. "Goat's milk doesn't act the same as a cow's milk, but as cheesemakers trying to create new and exciting tastes, sometimes you just have to try something and have faith it will work."
Caprimenthe will be available in finer cheese shops later this summer.
About Sartori Foods
Sartori Foods has been producing artisan and premium cheese for seven decades for the Specialty, Retail, Ingredient, and Food Service markets. Based in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Sartori Foods has an impressive array of award winning cheese noted for innovative approaches and consistent top quality across their entire line. For more information, please visit www.sartorifoods.com or call us directly at 800-558-5888.
SOURCE Sartori Foods
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