Shy Brothers Farm Cheeses

Many of you are already familiar with Shy Brothers Farm in Westport, Massachusetts, makers of cow’s milk cheeses.  They are especially well known for the ones called Hannahbells, those very tasty and cute little thimble-shaped cheeses.  For the last several weeks here at Rendezvous, we’ve been serving another one of their cheese products, a fresh cow’s milk curd — as part of our Monday Night Tapas Bar menu — drizzled with a special linden flower honey from Provence, a little cracked black pepper and a few slices of lightly grilled sourdough bread from Iggy’s Bakery.  It’s been a huge hit!

This tapas preparation is inspired by a visit to Inopia Tapas Bar + Restaurant in Barcelona a couple of years ago with my friends, Ihsan and Valerie Gurdal of Formaggio Kitchen (Cambridge, Boston and New York).  There, as a sort of semi-savory dessert substitute, they served a fresh cheese from the region nearby along with some honey from the village where the famous el Bullí Restaurant is located, about an hour to the north.  Not being big dessert eaters, it was just the right alternative for us after a sensational array of delicious tapas for dinner.

When I first sampled the fresh cheese curd from Shy Brothers Farm, I imagined that it might work well serving that same purpose on our tapas menu here.  Although technically it is not exactly the same type of cheese product, the test was a success.  This fresh curd, only about a week old, is not really a cheese.  It bears more of a resemblance to cottage cheese, but is much richer in butterfat, salt and acid, and is less creamy.  I was surprised how strong and well-balanced all of these flavor qualities were in such a fresh, young product.  As the last few weeks (4 weeks of shelf life) have gone by, it has evolved quite a bit: the individual curds are less noticeable and the general texture has developed into more of a very rich, thick yogurt.

I am pleased to be able to serve such a unique and wonderful food here in the restaurant that is being produced in nearby southeastern Massachusetts.  I have a longtime personal connection to the area around Westport, where farm and pasture land often go right up to behind the dunes at the ocean’s edge.   We are lucky to be able to benefit from all the great products of our farmer and fishermen friends along the south coast of Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

For more information on Shy Brothers Farm and their cheese, I am including the link to their website:  http://shybrothersfarm.com/