Smoked Provolone (Silvery Moon Creamery)
- Producer
- Silvery Moon Creamery
- Country
- United States
- Region
- Maine
- Weight
- 2.5 - 3 lbs
- Website
- www.silverymooncheese.com
- Milk
- Cow
- Treatment
- Pasteurised
- Classification
- Firm
- Rennet
- Vegetable
- Rind
- Smoked
- Style
- Pasta Filata (mozzarella-type)
- Flavor
- Smoked
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 50 Holstein cows graze outdoors seven months per year, and in the winter they eat haylage from the farm’s pesticide-free pastures.
Head cheesemaker and creamery co-owner Jennifer Betancourt first learned the art of cheesemaking at the Squire Tarbox Inn on Westport Island, and later at Cornell University, where she majored in Animal Science and helped to produce the school’s NY State Cheddar. After meeting her husband David and moving back to Maine, she worked for a few years in nonagricultural jobs before gradually turning her Portland apartment kitchen into a cheesemaking facility, sourcing her milk from Smiling Hill Farm. Eventually, in 2003, Jennifer and the Knight family decided to form a more official partnership and to move cheese production to the farm, and Silvery Moon Creamery was born. Today Jennifer and David live in the apartment above the barn, and Jennifer works seven days a week to produce, age and sell the cheese.
Silvery Moon Creamery’s Provolone is a pasta filata cheese, which is cultured and hand-sculpted in the traditional manner (fresh chunks of curd are dunked in hot water or whey causing them to become malleable and making them easier to form into desired shapes). The ball-shaped cheeses are hung to age for one month. This version is cold-smoked using applewood from Jennifer’s Grandfather’s orchard.
Tasting Notes
With a scent strongly reminiscent of applewood smoke, this Smoked Provolone has a thick dark rind that almost resembles wood. Paste is firm and crumbly, almost a bit grainy, with buttery notes. Away from the rind, smoky flavor becomes less pronounced, and a nice balance between salty and smoky is achieved. Woodsy tones linger in the finish.
Pairings
Pair this Smoked Provolone with a wheat beer, or melt it on top of a burger.
