Seattle - October 19, 2009

Curd Is the Word

Kurtwood Farms's Dinah's Cheese

Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet, eating low-fat cottage cheese.
When along came a guy with farmstead Camembert, she knew well enough to say please.

Who wouldn’t want super-gooey, additive-free Dinah’s Cheese, made of Grade A pasteurized milk from Kurtwood Farms (99 percent), small amounts of cultures and enzymes, and a little salt?

Farm owner Kurt Timmermeister crafts the bloomy rind fromage from fresh cows’ milk in just 25 days. Named for one of his beloved Jerseys, Dinah’s Cheese isn’t technically a Camembert (since it’s not made in France) but does get the official farmstead stamp (it’s produced just twenty feet from the bovines).

Unbelievably small batches of the ripe golden cheese have restaurants like Spring Hill, The Corson Building, Lark, and Cantinetta sweeping in to place orders.

Making dishes everywhere run up against spoons.

Available at Picnic, 6801 Greenwood Avenue North (206-453-5867 or picnicseattle.com); Vashon Thriftway, 9740 Southwest Bank Road, Vashon (206-463-2446 or islandmarketfoods.com).

Photo: Courtesy of Kurtwood Farms

  Farm Fresh, Local, Locavore