Photographed by Nina Gallant styled by Madison Trapkin
Terroir can be an elusive concept. Often defined as “the taste of place,” it doesn’t just refer to the animal’s diet or a brisk sea breeze, it also encompasses the culture of the region. When Padgett Arnold and her husband Nathan founded Sequatchie Cove Creamery in 2010, they had a goal to create cheeses that would truly reflect their corner of Tennessee. “We thought, ‘What’s unique about this place and how can we show it off?’” says Arnold.
When it comes to all-encompassing terroir, there may be no better taste of Tennessee than Sequatchie Cove Creamery Shakerag. The Roquefort-inspired blue cheese is made with pasteurized cow’s milk from a nearby dairy in the Sequatchie Valley and wrapped in locally sourced fig leaves that have been soaked in Chattanooga Whiskey. “If there’s one thing Tennessee is known for besides Elvis Presley, it’s whiskey,” jokes Arnold. “Shakerag is the sexiest, over-the-top fun, boozy, and luxurious cheese we make.”
But it’s Shakerag’s labor-intensive aging process that really sets it apart. After the cheese is formed, it spends several weeks in a 50-degree aging room, where it begins to develop a rind. But before a full-blown rind can form, the wheels are covered in wax and put into an even colder room. This slows down the ripening process and helps with flavor development. “We bring the gentle, sweeter flavors about very slowly,” says Arnold. After about 100 days, the wax is carefully removed and replaced with the whiskey-soaked fig leaves, which are delicately pressed on to force the whiskey into the wheel and impart a complex, earthy flavor.
Arnold describes the entire process as a “total labor of love,” explaining that during the height of the fig leaf harvest, she almost single-handedly collects 15,000 to 20,000 leaves. “We had to make a leap, wrapping blue cheese with fig leaves and whiskey, because we’re crazy and needed to create a monster like that. Once we made it and it turned out so well, it became really popular, and we were like, ‘Oh my God, this is so much work. How are we ever going to tame this monster?’ But we have. We’ve dialed it in. We’ve figured it out.”
The end product of all that labor is a sumptuous blue cheese with a dense, creamy paste that melts in your mouth and has notes of candied bacon and toasted coconut—excellent on a dessert cheese plate or paired with fortified wine. Arnold has come to rely on Shakerag as a mood lifter, too. “I call it a little bite of serotonin. It makes me happy and I want some every day.”
Josie Krogh
Josie Krogh is culture's Digital Strategy Lead. She earned her master's degree in Agricultural and Applied Economics from The University of Georgia. Josie developed a love of food while working at farmstands in the D.C. area as a young adult, and discovered her love of cheese while living and working on a dairy farm on Martha's Vineyard. Josie currently lives in Catskill, NY.
