Local raw milk cheese

One of the members of my local cooking club also runs a raw dairy group that she invited me to join.  Each week, she passes orders for eggs, milk, and cheese, along with our advance payments, on to our “driver,” a fellow member whose office is near Lawton’s Family Farm in Foxboro.  Lawton’s raises grass-fed, hormone- and antibiotic-free Ayrshire cows, and sells raw dairy by appointment.  Our driver stops by the farm, buys what’s on the list, and delivers it in a cooler to her porch.  Members come by at their leisure to pick up their purchases and leave money for the following week’s order.

Last week, I requested a couple blocks of raw milk cheese from Smith’s Farmstead, which Lawton’s sells alongside its own dairy products.  At $6.50 a block, the cheddar, havarti, and gouda aren’t cheap, but for cheese from their own dairy herd of Holsteins, it’s still a pretty good deal.  The milk is pumped into the cheese vat as soon as the last cow in is milked, and you can’t get fresher than that.

The plain havarti has a much stronger flavor than the store-bought havartis I’ve tried.  It’s tangy and dense, dry rather than creamy.  The havarti with dill was closer to what I’d expected, a little bit sweeter and softer than the plain cheese, but still much more intense than the grocery store standard.

The aged cheddar was the big winner.  I served it at a party, and it disappeared before I could blink.  The cheese has a beautiful buttery tint to it, and a classic cheddar smell that transforms into a rich, earthy flavor in the mouth.  It’s crumbly enough that it’s hard to cut a smooth slice off of the block, but not so dry that it disintegrates on a cracker.

This week, I have a block of regular cheddar to taste, and I can’t wait to get my hands on their gouda.  If you’d like to try it too, check out your local Whole Foods or one of these other vendors.