Photograph by Caitlin Abrams
Minnesota Cheeses
Many of these cheeses can be found at local grocers like Lunds & Byerlys, Kowalski’s, and others. MN cutting board ($20), from Patina, patinastores.com
When restaurants had to abruptly shutter this spring due to the pandemic, the trickle-down effect hit artisan industries and local agriculture just as suddenly. In a recent study, 58 percent of surveyed cheesemakers reported a decline in overall sales. Even worse, they can’t get unemployment compensation for hungry sheep and cows. Helping these small Minnesota farmers, shepherds, and family cheesemakers—so that we might maintain our notable craft cheese culture—is as easy as curating a locally sourced cheese board on a warm August night. Allow us to start you off.
1. Caves of Faribault, Faribault
America’s first cave-aged blue cheese, created in Faribault in the 1930s, is still made with the same techniques, which include using raw cow’s milk and aging the cheese in hand-dug sandstone caves. You already love the AmaBlu and the limited-release St. Pete’s Select. Now you can dig into Felix. The youngish, 65-day-aged blue, named for founder Felix Frederiksen, lies completely open in the caves while it ages, lending it a fudgy texture with sharp, peppery notes and hidden moments of sweetness. Like most of these cheeses, it's available at Lunds & Byerlys and Kowalski's locations. faribaultdairy.com
2. Alemar Cheese Co., Minneapolis
Since 2008, Alemar’s small-batch cheeses, like the rich and standard-setting Bent River Camembert-style, have earned national accolades. Keep an eye out for Craig Hageman’s fall cheese, known as Sakatah, which is Dakota for singing hills. It’s aged in brandy-soaked Marquette grape leaves harvested from Chankaska Creek Winery. alemarcheese.com
3. Singing Hills Dairy, Nerstrand
On 25 rolling acres near Big Woods State Park, happy goats of mixed Saanen, Nubian, and Alpine breeds roam. Lynne Reeck, who learned her craft at neighboring Shepherd’s Way, turns her goats’ milk into crazy-good fresh cheese for sale at the Mill City Farmers Market. Grab some semi-hard farmer cheese for your pizza, some curry feta, or some dill cheese curds, but for our board we love a swipe of the simple herb chèvre. Or, the goat milk caramel sauce, by the spoon. singinghillsdairy.square.site
4. Shepherd’s Way Farms, Nerstrand
Jodi Ohlsen Read’s Friesago cheese is an American Cheese Society Competition first-place winner and a bedrock of Minnesota cheesemaking. A mild sheep milk cheese with a light nutty finish, it’s an anchor for any cheese board and a friend to any cook in the kitchen. shepherdswayfarms.com
5. Redhead Creamery, Brooten
You can take tours and watch the cheese being made right on the family farm of said readhead, Alise Sjostrom. You can even grab a seat on the tasting room patio and dig into some North Fork whiskey-washed Munster, which is made in the French style but washed with local Minnesota 14 whiskey from nearby Panther Distillery. It’s a stinker, in the best way, and ultimately creamy. redheadcreamery.com
