This August 5–7, prepare yourself for a cheesy musical odyssey the likes of which you’ll be jazzed to hear about—culture: the word on cheese is partnering with Napa Valley winery Long Meadow Ranch to bring you Cheese Lands, your one-stop shop for cheesy treats at this year’s Outside Lands Music Festival in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park! If you’re attending, stop on by and eat some cheese! If not, make these plates at home and stream the whole thing from your couch!
If you plan on being in sunny foggy San Francisco this weekend for Outside Lands, add stopping by the culture’s #CheeseLands for the artisanal nibbles of your dreams to your to-do list. Alongside a kingly collection of cheese plates, we are offering up an arrangement made for protein-lovers: the Meat Spirit plate. (Radiohead’s headlining this weekend, so how could we resist?)
Photo Credit: Fabrique Délices
The plate starts with Saucisson Sec Fabrique Délice, a French charcuterier based out of Hayward, Calif. Think of Saucisson Sec as French salami—fresh pork is mixed together with fresh garlic, sea salt, and black peppercorn before being slipped into a beef casing, dry-cured for 30 days, and tied off by hand.
What would a meat plate be without pâté? Les Trois Petits Cochon (that’s “three little pigs” in French) started out as a little shop in Greenwich Vilae in 1975, and they’ve been going strong ever since. And their Organic Pâté de Campagne will astound your taste buds. If you aren’t familiar with pâté, it’s a French dish that could be called a “meat paste,” or alternatively, “the meatiest umami bomb you’ll ever put in your mouth.” The Les Trois Petits Cochons version is basically ground pork, pork liver (don’t freak out), and garlic, all mashed together and molded into a beautiful loaf. To break through the richness, we’re serving these fellas with Les Trois Petits Cochon’s Cornichons—little sour gherkin pickles you’ll want to snack on for days.
Similar to pâté, Meat Spirit will also be offering the duck liver mousse from Alexian Pâté and Specialty Meats in Neptune, N.J. Mousse could be considered a kind of pâté, but whereas the regular iteration of the latter has a little more substance, mousse is creamy and spreadable. because it has a smooth and creamy texture. In our case, pork is mixed with duck liver and cognac to bring out flavors of brandy, onions, garlic, and dried mushrooms.
Photo Credit: Losada / Philosophy Foods
And last but not least, what better way to cut rough all this meat than the perfect touch of savory salt in the form of Zorzaleña olives from Losada. These olives come straight from the orchards of Western Andalucia in southern Spain. What’s so hot about these olives? They’re naturally cured, meaning all they get is a bath in salty brine rather than being treated with lye like the black olives on your pizza. The latter is not necessarilly harm nor foul, but with the former you’ll really be able to taste slight differences in ripeness and the true character of the olive.
This big beautiful meat plate also comes 34 Degrees Natural Crisps and La Panzanella Mini Original Croccantini.
Where’s the cheese, you might be saying? Click here for the full Cheese Lands menu!
Becca McGilloway
Becca McGilloway studied Writing, Literature, and Publishing at Emerson College. When she isn't on the hunt for the latest cheese-permeated vegetarian recipe on Pinterest, she's probably binge-watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix.
