Sage Cheese

sage cheese is moderately well known in England; sage derby is marbled green as a result of adding juice obtained from sage leaves to the curds when the cheese is being made, while sage lancashire has chopped sage leaves added to the curds, producing a stronger flavour. These sage cheeses were formerly associated with festivals. See also green cheese.

In the USA, there is more to be said about techniques for making sage cheese, and it has been well and amusingly said by Bob Brown (1955). His search for the ‘real thing’ was eventually successful and he noted his reactions on tasting ‘genuine Vermont sage’:

Oh, wilderness were Paradise enow! My taste buds come to full flower with the Sage. There’s a slight burned savor recalling smoked cheese, although not related in any way. Mildly resinous like that Near East one packed in pine, suggesting the well-saged dressing of a turkey. A round mouthful of luscious mellowness, with a bouquet—a snapping reminder to the nose. And there’s just a soupçon of new-mown hay above the green freckles of herb to delight the eye and set the fancy free.