This article is part of a series highlighting new makers discovered at the 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City.
You may not think of pairing butter and cheese, but that’s just what Mark Ricigliano wants you to do&mdashp;specifically, Slate Roof Creamery Cherry Butter with Roquefort: “You have the spiciness and saltiness of the cheese with the fruity creaminess of the cherry,” he explains.
Mark Ricigliano of Slate Roof Creamery at the 2015 Summer Fancy Food Show.
It was in fact this very pairing that launched Pennsylvania-based Slate Roof Creamery. The condiment began as a homemade accoutrement for holiday cheese boards, and when two close friends of Ricigliano’s, Rik Morris and Jim Kelleher, (who also happened to be entrepreneurs) tasted it, they knew they had found something special. The two urged Ricgliano to sell his product, to which he replied, “You’re in the business of selling things—we should sell it!” And a partnership was born.
Today, Slate Roof Creamery produces 12 blended butter varieties, some sweet (like the original Cherry Butter, Wild Blueberry Butter, and Classic Honey Butter) and some savory (such as Parmesan Garlic Herb Butter, Fiesta Jalapeño Butter, and Everything Bagel Butter). Try the sweet flavors, dubbed the Artisan Breakfast line, on toast, breakfast pastries, pancakes, or waffles, or melt a slab of savory butter atop a steak. Get creative and pair the butters with cheese—the saltier the curd, the better.
Featured photo courtesy of Slate Roof Creamery’s Facebook page.
Rebecca Haley-Park
Rebecca Haley-Park is culture's former editor and resident stinky cheese cheerleader. A native New Englander, she holds a BFA in creative writing from University of Maine at Farmington.
