What Separates These California Cheeses From The Rest?
Let's be honest: When you think of great cheese, French names like Brie and Camembert come to the top of the list. But it may surprise you to know that a 152-year old California Cheese Maker's collection of hand-crafted cheeses so impressed a prestigious French Cheesemaker, Rians, that they bought the company six years ago. That cheesemaker is now called Marin French Cheese and its bounty of cheeses are well worth any cheese fancier's attention.
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Cheesemaking came to Marin County, California in the middle of the 19th century when a woman named Clara Steele started making cheese from wild Spanish cattle. Then in 1865, one Jefferson Thompson opened the company that he and his family ran for 133 years. The family owned Hicks Valley Ranch whose cattle grazed on pastures that yield a particularly high quality milk which the Thompson Family used to make their cheese. They never strayed from small batch production using only 20 gallon buckets and French techniques to create their finished product.
Their first cheese was a breakfast cheese, a so-called 'bar cheese' which was served to dockworkers in San Francisco. That cheese is still part of their portfolio and its tangy flavor and a texture reminiscent of cheese curds give their Petite Breakfast cheese its unmistakable character. To commemorate its 150th birthday, Petite Breakfast carries a vintage label proudly claiming its origin in 1865. There is now an entire Petite Classic Collection which includes not only the original Breakfast cheese but also a Petite Cendrée with a thin layer of ash, a Petite Supreme, an extra creamy Brie and Petite Truffle which adds black truffles to create an unmistakable aroma. Each cheese is created to pair beautifully with everything from Wheat Beer (Petite Breakfast) to Pinot Noir and Cabernet (Petite Cendrée), to Prosecco (Petite Suprème). And Petite Truffle perfect pairings include both Pinot Noir and California Sparkling wines.
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The company prides itself on its all-natural milk which it enriches with local, additive-free cream. The moniker Single Crème is a mixture of 96.5 percent milk and 3.5 percent cream. Triple Crème Brie consists of 94.5 percent milk and 5.5 percent crème while Suprème is the top of the line at 10 percent cream and 90 percent milk.
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Even with a collection that now numbers 40 cheeses from Brie to Camembert and wash-rind triple crème Schloss, Marin French Cheese continues its artisanal cheesemaking craft. Each cheese is made with the same attention to detail, one cheese at a time, aged in the original hand dug cellar, hand-weighed and packaged. Marin French Cheese is truly a tribute to both California and to France.
How to get the most out of your cheese platter:
"To serve soft-ripened cheese, unwrap the wheel and cut in half, then again into quarters and then again into eighths, depending on the size of the group you are serving. To ensure best flavor, always bring cheese to room temperature for at least an hour before serving."—Marin French Cheese