From the aforementioned Beehive Cheese having national distribution, to Randy Ramsley’s raw goat French Alpine-style Mesa Tomme pressed one wheel at a time in the Mesa Farm market’s tiny farmstead kitchen overlooking red rock cliffs. A bit of dairy terminology geekery - the American Cheese Society designates “artisan” cheeses as those made mostly by hand in small batches “farmstead” cheeses are made only from the milk of animals raised on site. There’s a little bit of something for everyone at all levels of production, and for cheese lovers of all preferences. She told me of Beehive Cheese, "I remember tasting their Teahive cheese for the first time and being blown away! My instinct was to pair honey 'caviar' with the cheese as an 'amuse.'" (An "amuse-bouche" is a savory bite of food to tease the palate before a meal.) This was the perfect bite for the pop-up since it showcased local, artisanal creative cheese with the modern technique of spherification using local honey in the 'caviar.'" (Read: " Utah Food Trails - Honey, Fruit, Burgers & More") When she’s not chef-ing and cheese making at a fly-fishing lodge in Montana, Chef Weinner hosts twice monthly pop-up events at Salt Lake venues like art galleries and after-hours cafés, and she prefers Utah cheeses for several memorable dishes. You may remember her waxing poetic about the delights of dairy during her stint on "Top Chef" season 12 in Boston. SLC POP Chef Katie Weinner - a Midwest transplant to Utah who came west for the snowboarding years ago and now couldn’t imagine living anywhere else - is pretty serious about artisanal cheese. Of Utah’s 183 dairy farms, nearly all are family owned, operated and managed. Utah has a long tradition of family dairy operations and artisan cheese making, with products ranging from smoked parmesan-style hard cow’s milk cheeses to creamy raw goat chèvre. These producers regularly make a huge splash in the competitive pool of world cheese aficionados. The Beehive State’s cadre of artisan cheese makers is small in number but mighty talented. Take the “Dairy Farm Tour” to observe the “Robotic milking system”.When thinking of the great cheese-making regions of the United States, Utah may not immediately come to mind. For adults they offer a variety of cheese making classes including Mozzarella and Burrata. See if you can find your way out of the maze made entirely of bales of hay! There is also a “Corn Pit” to play in and a petting zoo. Over Halloween, bring the kids along for a “Hay Maze & Pumpkin Patch” Heber Valley Artisan Cheese also hosts a variety of Events for all ages. If you happen to visit the store try a “Grilled Cheese Sandwich (a local’s favorite) and a scoop of ice cream. You can buy their cheeses at the store on location or online. They make an assortment of cheeses including “Wasatch Back Jack-Salsa Pepper Jack”, “Snake Creek Sharp- 2 Year Old Aged Cheddar”, “Lemon Lavender: Flavor Rubbed Cheddar” and many more. They attribute their cheese making success to the 150 cows that are grass fed and roam freely in the Midway pastures. In 2011 the family reinvented themselves by building a new creamery where they began using their farm’s milk to make and age an assortment of cheeses. For nearly 100 years the Kohler family has focused on producing “Pure premium milk”. Located in the quaint community of Midway, Ut, about 20 minutes from Park City, Heber Valley Artisan Cheese is a small family dairy. If you are a cheese lover, take an afternoon to visit Heber Valley Artisan cheese.
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