Moonglo

Producer

Prairie Fruits Farm

Country

United States

Region

Illinois

Size

6-8 ins diameter 2-3 ins high

Weight

2-2.5 lbs

Website

www.prairiefruits.com

Milk

Goat

Classification

Firm

Rennet

Animal

Rind

Washed

Located near Champaign, in southern Illinois, Prairie Fruits Farm is owned by Leslie Cooperband and Wes Jarrell, who bought it in 2005 with a view to operating a mixed use, small-scale fruit farm and goat dairy.

With careers as professors within the Wisconsin and Illinois university systems, (Wes as head of Agricultural Science, and Leslie with a strong background in soil science and management) both bring a great deal of experience to farming life. Wes generally takes care of the goats and does the milking, while Leslie oversees the cheesemaking, with help from Alisa, who is Assistant Cheesemaker.

The herd of Nubian and La Mancha milking goats currently numbers about 60 within a closed herd system. The milk is of extremely good quality and yields exceptionally high solids.

Leslie produces several different varieties of cheese, ranging from a fresh chèvre through to a raw milk blue. Most of her sales take place at Farmers' Markets or go to select retail stores, where invariably demand exceeds supply.

The most recent development is that Prairie Fruits Farm is buying a limited quantity of sheep's milk from a local Amish dairy farmer. To that end, Leslie has started experimenting with several sheep's milk cheeses that compliment the existing range of goat's milk cheese.

Moonglo is a washed rind Tomme made from raw goat's milk. It is aged approximately two to three months.

The texture of Moonglo is dense and fine with a few holes, or "eyes," and the paste of the cheese is a bone-white color, becoming darker towards the bright orange rind.

Flavors are well balanced, with caramel toasty notes as well as a light citrus tang.