the cheese blog

Hendrick’s Farm Parmesan

I was again at Fairfood Farmstand in Reading Terminal and needed to pick up some cheese. I was in the mood to start exploring the “traditional” style cheeses made by some of the local farms. The first selection is a Parmesan from Hendrick’s Farm and Dairy. This one isn’t listed on their website, so it may be something new or they are experimenting. Either way, it was a good choice.

The Parmesan is made from raw cows milk from their heard of Ayrshire cows that are grass fed, and hormone and antibiotic free. This is traditional aged Parmesan, so it had a thick natural rind. The interior was straw colored with lots of eyes and salt crystals. The aroma was slightly acidic and briny. The texture very firm, quite dry, and more splintery than crumbly, but melted in the mouth quite nicely. The taste had the typical Parmesan flavors. It was tart, tangy, with some black walnut and fruit flavors, a very slight sweetness, and then slightly spicy on the finish. This was a really nice cheese. It was great on its own and over a simple pasta dish.