Driven By Ingredients
Asher Blue, a cow milk cheese from Thomasville, Georgia
Asher Blue Cheese
Asher Blue has earthy, mushroom, and forest floor flavors, with a slight mineral tang and mild salty finish with cocoa notes. What? I’m not kidding, it is so complex and cool and just FUn to look for these tasty tasting notes.
Dive in! Especially you shy, I don’t eat moldy, stinky cheese people. I hear you, read on
Asher Blue comes from Sweet Grass Dairies in Thomasville, GA. Sweet Grass Dairy is a second-generation family-run operation led by Jeremy and Jessica Little, daughter and son-in-law of Sweet Grass founders Al and Desiree Wehner.
The family.
I love, love, love this cheese! I'm not eager to admit this, but blue cheese isn't my first choice on a cheese board. I’m not real fond of the big ones, like Maytag, I need a drizzle of honey or a dab of preserves to take the edge off. I top salads or a burger with those blues too; that’s how I make it works for me.
Wait, why are you trying to make a cheese you don’t like “work”?
I don’t hate Maytag. It is assertive but I appreciate all blues. They can be very diverse from fudgey Italian Gorgonzola to buttery, creamy Forme de Ambert from France. So set a cheese out I’m going to eat it one way or another.
Asher Blue is one of the five core cheeses produced year-round by Sweet Grass Dairy. It is one of the few naturally-rinded blue cheeses being made in the U.S. today. And that rind, it’s the best part.
Not best part like the tomalley in crabs and lobster. That green, best part. Which, by the way, it fulfills the function of both the liver and the pancreas. Sorry, actually not sorry, just no thank you.
If you google Sweet Grass Dairy, and you should to see the cows. OMG, the cows they are adorable. Along with the cows you will be enamored with this family immediately. Not only do they refer to themselves as part country and part rock and roll, but their goal is to promote their cheeses and other small-produced products.
Also, did I mention the cows?
So damn cute! and that grass!
This small artisanal farm makes cheeses using the best milk from their grass-fed cows. The cows feast on beautiful grass pastures every day of the year. From the cheesemaker, "Every batch made reflects the knowledge and insight we have gained over the last 15 years of doing what we do. We blend an artist's sense of creativity, inspiration, and innovation with the hard work, ethics and time-honored skill of the craftsperson. The result is world-class, grass-based, incredibly flavorful cheese. Old-world processes and new-world flavors. All of our cheeses start with the freshness, purity, and taste of our grass-fed milk."
Jeremy Little cheesemaker at Sweet Grass Dairy
Another perfect Union for Food Union!
And who would have known…
Valdosta, GA, is 43 miles away from Thomasville, GA. Forty years ago, my new husband and I drove to Florida for our honeymoon. Our trip took us through Georgia. Visions of peaches and BBQ danced through our heads. We stopped at a gas station in a tiny town, and who knows, maybe it was Thomasville... We asked the gas station attendant (yep, had those back then) where was a good place to eat. In a very thick southern accent, he hemmed and hawed. A kid in the station eagerly approached us; it seemed he had just the place we needed to go. In another fantastic southern drawl, he told us we only needed to go up the road. Up to Valdosta... they have everything!! Why, they had McDonald's, Burger King, and Valdosta even had a Hardee's! We chuckled, drove into Valdosta, spotted a BBQ joint it might have had a pig on the roof, and pulled in. From that day forward, whenever JZ and I found a place too good to believe how many options we had, we quoted our friend in GA; it would be like Valdosta, "cuz they have everything!" Who knew that 40 years later, some of my very favorite cheeses would come from THE Valdosta area!? Well duh! Valdosta has everything!
This wasn’t THE place. But this is in Valdosta!