Fore River Tomme
- Producer
- Silvery Moon Creamery
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Maine
- Size
- 8 in diameter x 3.5 in height
- Weight
- 4 lbs
- Website
- www.silverymooncheese.com
- Milk
- Cow
- Treatment
- Pasteurised
- Classification
- Firm
- Rennet
- Microbial
- Rind
- Washed
Flavor Added - Style
- Alpine-style
- Flavor
- Flavor added to rind
Silvery Moon Creamery is located at Smiling Hill Farm near Portland, Maine, which has been in the Knight family since the 1700s. The Knight’s Holstein cows graze outdoors seven months per year, and in the winter they eat haylage from the farm’s pesticide-free pastures.
Silvery Moon Creamery was born in 2003 from a partnership between cheesemaker Jennifer Betancourt (who first learned the art of cheesemaking at the Squire Tarbox Inn on Westport Island, and later at Cornell University), and the Knight family. Today cheese production continues under the direction of Dorothee Grimm, who was born and raised in Germany and worked for years as a researcher in microbiology. After moving to Maine, Dorothee took cheesemaking classes from different local cheesemakers and made yogurt and cheese at home before applying for a position at Silvery Moon. “I still work in microbiology, pampering the good microbes and keeping the bad ones out,” Dorothee says. “But now, I can eat the results of my work at the end of the day.”
This raw cow’s milk tomme-style cheese is aged for at least three months, during which wheels are washed in Semi Sweet Mead produced by Maine Mead Works three times per week. The cheese’s name is inspired by the Fore River, which runs through Maine Mead Works’ hometown of Portland.
Tasting Notes
Firm wheels of Fore River Tomme exude initial aromas that are sweet and milky, with mild vegetal and grassy notes that hint at a touch of age. Flavor is sharp and lemony, and we detect aromas of raisin, honey, and minerals, as well as peaks of olive-brine saltiness throughout. The mead manifests itself in a slightly alcoholic flavor.
Pairings
Pair Fore River Tomme with a mead or with a Riesling.
