It's not that I have to eat local cheeses, and I'll turn a blind eye to anyone smuggling me in some real brie.  Likewise, I've never met a piece of Jasper Hills that I would not eat.  Nevertheless, I am enthralled by my world of local cheeses--meaning cheeses from WI, MI, IL, IN and IA (well, there's a couple from MN I like but I do not generally see them around the Chicago area).  There are so many quality cheeses from around here, that I just never want to have to eat non-local cheese.  Moreover, there's so much to like in the way local cheesemakers operate.  Even the big guys like BelGioioso are worth supporting.

Getting back to the cheese opened and sampled today.  Maple Leaf Co-op makes some of the best cheddars out of WI, and that says a lot, huh.  It's English Hollow cheddar has won several recent awards including an award at the 2008 World Championship (!).  The English Hollow is indeed good, and it is, what I'd call a classic WI cheddar, with a bit of sharp bite to it.  The 1910 Recipe cheddar is much milder, but it is also a cheese that shows that mild is not the same thing as flavorless.  In fact the first taste on the tongue is the raw milk funk.  It is only a second or two later that sweet milk creaminess takes over.  It's a cheese not too easily found around Chicago.  Cheese lovers should make the drive some time to the Monroe, WI area for the cheeses, including Maple Leaf.

Please tell us about your favorite local cheeses.