Farms For City Kids Foundation
and Spring Brook Farm present
Tarentaise & Reading
Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise and Reading are both produced in Reading, Vermont from the fresh raw milk of over 40 Jersey cows. Both the semi-hard Tarentaise and the seni-soft Reading are artisanal cheeses in every sense of the word.
Tarentaise
Following a centuries old tradition of cheese making, with its origin in the French Alps, Spring Brook Farm began making cheese in 2008. Tarentaise incorporates alpine traditions of European cheese making
while exhibiting a distinct flavor unique to the Vermont
pastures in which the cows graze. Once the milk flows from the
milk house to the make room, it takes over 10 months of care
and aging by the cheese makers at the Farm before it reaches
a peak flavor profile. No preservative, synthetic flavors,
additives or waxes are used. Tarentaise uses a natural aging
process in which the cheese makers encourage the growth and
development of beneficial live cultures on the rind. This
produces a complex flavor and imparts a warm caramel color
to a rind which develops over this time. By the time Spring
Brook Farm Tarentaise is ready for sale, each approximately
20 pound wheel of cheese has been turned and washed at
least 60 times in the state-of-the-art aging room.
Awards
In the relatively short period of time that Tarentaise has been offered, the team work between the cheese house, the Farm and the education program, who are all behind its production at Spring Brook Farm, has been rewarded with numerous awards.
- 2011 Super Gold Medal, World Championship Cheese Contest, Birmingham, England
- 2011 Second Place in Category, American Cheese Society, Montreal, Canada
- 2011 Best North American Cheese, North American Jersey Cheese Awards, Wisconsin
- 2011 Best of Class, US Championship Cheese Contest, Wisconsin
- 2010 Best USA Cow’s Milk Cheese, World Championship Cheese Contest, Wisconsin
Reading
In May of 2010, with the expertise of our French Cheese making consultant, Spring Brook Farm
produced its first make of Reading. Utilizing the same copper vats and cheese making equipment used for
Tarentaise, Reading is a semi-soft Raclette style cheese ideally suited for melting over vegetables, bread
or meats, yet it can stand alone on any cheese plate.
It offers a creamy, nutty flavor that is again unique to
this cheese coming from cows grazing in Vermont
pastures. In the Swiss Alps where Raclette was first
produced, they serve this cheese with tea or other
warm beverages. Reading is aged at least three
months with the same care given to Tarentaise.
Wheels average between 17 and 20 pounds. In the
words of Spring Brook Farm’s Cheese Director,
Jeremy Stephenson, “Our new Reading is a great
complement to our award winning Tarentaise and will allow Spring Brook Farm to offer another excellent cheese to our customers and move a step further in the support of the Farms For City Kids Foundation.”
Awards
After only a year in production, Reading has earned numerous awards and has come to stand alone next to its counterpart, Tarentaise.
- 2011 Silver Medal, World Championship Cheese Contest, Birmingham, England
- 2011 First Place in Category, Gourmet Product Awards, Wisconsin
- 2011 Silver Medal, North American Jersey Cheese Awards, Wisconsin
Farms For City Kids Foundation, Inc.
Farms For City Kids Foundation has been in operation since 1994, bringing groups of children to the farm for a week at a time to experience a farm based curriculum. Besides learning to take care of farm animals and helping with making maple syrup (in season), the educational mission also includes helping with the aging of cheeses. The cheese house is designed to allow students and visitors to view the cheese making process through windows over the make room and offers a venue for students to study economics, chemistry, microbiology, food preservation, health and nutrition. All funds from the sale of Spring Brook Farm Tarentaise and Reading go to support the Farms For City Kids Foundation.
“We are extremely proud of our Vermont made cheeses, the award winning Tarentaise and our new Reading, but we are even more proud of the work we do at Spring Brook Farm with the city kids. Their enthusiasm and sense of pride for everything they help with on the farm is priceless!” – Karli Hagedorn, Chair of the Board of Directors, Farms For City Kids Foundation
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photos by: Photo Art Works
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