Patricia Michelson

Pholia Farm (Rogue River, Oregon)

Appears in
Cheese: The World's Best Artisan Cheeses, a Journey Through Taste, Tradition and Terroir
Cheese

By Patricia Michelson

Published 2010

  • About
What is important to this cheesemaking team is their commitment to the land and to their animals. Allowing the goats to forage and graze in the open pastureland means they have an ever-changing choice of food.

Elk Mountain is very much like a Pyrénées Tomme d’Aydius, with its washed and rubbed rind giving a smooth finish to the crust and patches of natural white bloom. The 2.5–3 kg (5½– 6½ lb) cheeses need three or four months of slow ripening to reach their potential.

Hillis Peak looks very much like a Spanish hard cheese with a herbal acidity and a gentle salty tang. The basket-mould pattern on the outside rind, which has also been rubbed with oil and smoked Spanish paprika, acquires a dusting of white bloom during the 6–8-month ripening period.