Beemster Smoked, the famous North Holland cooperative’s newest cheese, is soft, creamy, flavorful and here!
Handcrafted to a secret Dutch recipe, Beemster Smoked starts with the distinctively rich, especially sweet milk from cows that graze the renowned 20 feet below sea level Beemster polder. After 2 months of careful aging in the Netherlands, the delightfully mellow, buttery smooth cheese is sent to New Jersey to be naturally smoked with hickory wood where it picks up another dimension of flavor and aroma.
Smoky and supple, with the soul of Beemster’s cheese-making expertise and inimitable locale, Smoked is a delicious addition to the Beemster family.
Applications: Beemster Smoked’s creaminess and accessible flavor makes it great for melting and cooking, snacking, as a sandwich and panini addition, topping burgers, or for dicing or shredding into salads and pasta dishes. It goes deliciously well with smoked meats, especially ham and bacon. Beemster Smoked is also lactose and gluten free.
Pairing: The smoky and nutty flavors in Beemster work marvelously with a nice Chianti, providing a wonderful foil to the wine’s fruity tones. For beer, try a Belgian Whitbier, also known as white or wheat beer.
Speck Alto Adige by Recla
ITALY
Product Details: #050087 | 4/1.5 LB
Perfect pairings
Speck is a protected, specialty bacon produced solely in the Alto Adige region of northern Italy. Based on ancient traditions that can be traced back to 1200 AD, Speck is the result of an inimitable mix of Mediterranean and northern European influences that converge in the geographically unique Alpine climate of the Alto Adige.
The Recla family has been making traditional pork products since 1620 and was the first Italian company granted permission by the U.S. government to export Speck Alto Adige to America. Recla follows the unofficial Speck production rule of “a little salt, a little smoke and lots of fresh air,” but officially is very serious about creating the highest quality Speck possible.
Starting with very carefully selected lean, firm, traditionally trimmed thighs from pigs raised on farms renowned for their quality controls, Recla then seasons the meat with a secret family blend of salts and other spices. The 22 to 24 week dry curing maturation process requires an abundance of patience and artisanal expertise. Lightly smoking the pork with beech wood, and exposing it to the complexities of the region’s particular clean, fresh mountain air aids in the development of the distinctively mild, delicate flavor and incredible tenderness that defines authentic Speck Alto Adige.
With no additional cooking required when preparing Speck, it can simply be brought to room temperature, sliced and enjoyed, with or without the spiced crust trimmed away. Speck can also be incorporated into polenta, pasta, rice and any other grain-based dishes, as well as used to add savory flavor to sauces, soups, salads, quiches and other egg dishes. Speck is delicious wrapped around soft goat’s milk cheese or honeydew melon.
Beemster Smoked, the famous North Holland cooperative’s newest cheese, is soft, creamy, flavorful and here!
