Kashar

Producer

Parish Hill Creamery

Country

United States

Region

Vermont

Size

4 in diameter x 7 in height

Website

www.parishhillcreamery.com

Milk

Cow

Treatment

Raw

Classification

Firm

Rennet

Animal

Rind

Flavor Added

Style

Pasta Filata (mozzarella-type)

Flavor

Flavor added to rind

After working 30 years as a cheesemaker and as a cheesemaking consultant, Peter Dixon opened his own creamery in 2013 in Westminster West, Vermont, along with his wife Rachel Fritz Schall and her sister Alex Schall.

 Parish Hill’s cheeses are inspired by the traditional cheeses of Italy. They’re handmade in small batches using raw milk, which is produced at the Elm Lea Farm at the Putney School. The farm is just five minutes down the road from the cheese house, and its milking herd grazes on fresh pasture from June to October. Parish Hill cheese production happens from May to November in order to take advantage of the pastures that give a highly aromatic quality to the milk, resulting in complex and subtle flavor variations.=

Milk for cheesemaking is ripened using homegrown cheese cultures, which are produced by inoculating the farm’s raw milk with pure bacterial strains and then propagating them continuously. Traditional calf rennet is sourced from Europe and Quebec, and sea salt is sourced from the Maine Sea Salt Company in Marshfield.

Kashar is a Balkan-style pasta filata cheese inspired by basket cheeses of Turkey and Southeast Europe. It’s produced using the same curd that is made into Suffolk Punch, but instead of being hung to age, the curd is turned out into basket molds to form drums. During at least two months of aging, wheels are rubbed with olive oil and polished to create an edible rind.

Tasting Notes

Firm and smooth when young, Kashar becomes increasingly flaky and drier with age. Flavor is buttery and tangy, with notes of pepper becoming more pronounced throughout the affinage period. 

Pairings

Pair Kashar with a Sauvignon Blanc or a Beaujolais when young, or with an Amarone or Nebbiolo once it is aged.