Special Tasting:
Cheddars & Great Lakes Cheshire
Sunday, January 29th — 4-6pm
To celebrate all the big and beautiful new wheels of Great Lakes Cheshire that are emerging from our aging room this month we are hosting a tasting featuring two cheeses that share a long and intertwined history. The first cheese made in the New World, these days cheddar comes in many different styles and is made from Vermont to Wisconsin. It’s waxed in blocks and cloth wrapped in wheels; aged in plastic and in caves. It comes both with blue and without, and is made from goat’s milk and cow’s milk. It can be earthy, sweet, crunchy—and sometimes smells like sulfur and dirt.
Come meet our cheesemakers Aubrey Thomason and John Loomis as they guide you through these cheeses and discuss where our Great Lakes Cheshire fits into the Cheddar and Cheshire Continuum.
$30/person. Call 734-929-0500 to make your reservation.
January’s Cheese of the Month — The Bridgewater!
$2 Off All Month Long at both the Creamery & Zingerman’s Deli!
Milk — Cow
Rennet — Animal Rennet
This penicillium candidum mold-ripened snowball features a supremely dense paste cut through with freshly ground black tellicherry peppercorns. Made with locally sourced, low-temperature pasteurized cow’s milk and inspired partly by the centuries-old French Gaperon, the Bridgewater is a true Zingerman’s Creamery original developed by our very own John Loomis. This hand-made cheese exhibits a peppery, full-flavored front-end which gradually recedes to a very clean finish.
We age it for a week to two weeks depending on when the mold gets to the point where we like it, and then they’re good for roughly a month after that. Coincidentally, this is one of our very favorite cheeses to pair with a nice bourbon or port (come to think of it, it’s also good with madeira and amontillado). Stop by the creamery to taste this robust beauty!
Winter Gelato Flavors to Your Door!
Did you know that you can enjoy a big scoop of our award-winning gelato sent anywhere in the US? Whether you are in SoHo, Memphis, LA, or Anchorage, our friends at Zingerman’s Mail Order got your back. You can have a box of 6, hand-packed and handmade gelati dropped off at your front door! Eating gelato is more of an event than a dessert – thick, luscious, and creamy, and certain to make any sweets lover swoon!
You can send a pack to friends, family, or yourself from here!
Flavors
We’ll send six of our favorite flavors, twelve ounces of each:
- Vanilla—Real vanilla taste from Madagascar’s famous bourbon vanilla beans. This is a BIG flavor you can’t get with the more common “vanilla” shortcuts.
- Peppermint—Made with Hammond’s peppermint candies and the best mint oil we could find, this is a perfect treat for the Wintertime.
- Dulce De Leche—Rich and luscious dulce de leche from Argentina swirled throughout.
- Dark Chocolate—Made with Scharffenberger cocoa, this gelato has an intense chocolate flavor that will surprise even the most ardent chocophile.
- John, Do Ya? (Gianduja)—An Italian classic using chocolate-hazelnut mix from Turin.
- Raspberry Sorbet—No dairy in this one, just sweet and delicious Michigan raspberries.
The Great Lakes Cheshire
Our most recent batches of Great Lakes Cheshire have been tasting extraordinarily complex. These “winter cheshires” are quick-ripening variants of the traditional Cheshire, which feature a wonderfully dense, slightly crumbly paste and a super-earthy rind. Aged for 60 days, we make ours with unpasteurized milk from Andy Schneider’s herd of Dutch-Belted cows in Westphalia, MI (just outside of Lansing). Visit the Creamery for a taste! [Scroll down to watch a video of Andy Schneider and cheesemaker Aubrey Thomason discuss Dutch-Belted milk]
Mozzarella Classes
The 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, 12-2:30 pm at the Creamery – thru May!
Come learn with the masters of mozzarella how to stretch your own from-scratch fresh mozzarella. We will guide you through the steps to set up the curd from milk and teach you the technique we employ to stretch the curds into marvelous mozzarella of your very own!
$60/person, registration required. Save $5 when you pre-pay. Call 734.929.0500 to reserve your spot today!
Andy Schneider and Our Very Own Aubrey Thomason Discuss Dutch-Belted Milk!
Our Dutch-Belted cow’s milk comes to us from Andy Schneider’s Dairy Farm in Westphalia (northwest of Lansing). This dairy has a herd of Dutch-Belted cows which are extremely rare in the U.S. (there are slightly more than 200). What makes the Dutch Belted cow’s milk unique is its high butterfat and protein content, and the way in which the butterfat globules bond to one another. The bonds are small, creating a supremely dense, rich curd. Originating from the Alps, Dutch-Belted cows gained great popularity in Scandinavia until finally being introduced to the US.
Andy Schneider takes pains to produce a milk that is significantly better than the norm. The calves are provided their mother’s milk for ten months or until the mother kicks them off the teat, and the Creamery only gets the excess that the calves can’t drink. (This is the distinction of a dairy cow as opposed to meat cattle–the dairy cow produces more milk than the calf can take in). In the interest of economy, dairy farmers usually put the calves on formula and sell all the milk. Giving calves the milk that was intended for them creates an extremely healthy herd and allows for cows that the Schneiders milk well into their teens. Healthy cows equal healthy milk. Perfect for rich, complex cheeses that allow the natural flavor of this milk to come through.
Culture Magazine: The Word on Cheese!
If you aren’t familiar with this publication, Culture magazine is one of the oldest dedicated to the art of cheesemaking. They have published countless articles that are worthy of being in queue on any cheese-lover’s reading list. Earlier this year, Matt Rubiner of Rubiner’s Cheesemongors & Grocers in Great Barrington, MA came out to spend some time with us and wrote a great article on his adventures with the Creamery. Filled with drool-inducing shots of cheese and some expert wordsmithing, I’d love to invite you all to read the full piece.
Culture was kind enough to post a PDF of the article for you to download if you’d like to check it out. Thanks, guys!
Who We Are
Zingerman’s Creamery is dedicated to crafting handmade cheeses and gelato using traditional methods to both honor the rich tradition of the art of cheesemaking and create the most full-flavored products we can. Using local milk from both Calder Dairy and Green Meadow Dairy, low-temperature pasteurization, and lots of time to draw out and enhance the amazing flavors of the milk, we make our products to-order every week for our wholesale customers and our Cheese Shop.
We think all of that adds up to cheese and gelato with flavor that truly stands out. But while we may think you can really taste the difference, the only taste that truly matters is your own. We’d love to share a taste of what is exciting us for the day, or something that looks intriguing to you, whatever it is, everything you buy from us is 100% guaranteed. If you aren’t happy with your purchase, just let us know and we’ll get you another slice or scoop on us, or refund your hard-earned cash!
Founding Member of the Michigan Cheese Makers Cooperative!
Thank you for reading.
All the best,
