Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread & Wine presented the city with the ability to meet the people behind the products at the Chicago French Market to show off their skills. Its first Artisan Producer Festival on April 30th brought cheese, bread, winemakers, and farmers from all over the country to share their products and hear their stories.
With a turnout of over 5500 food enthusiasts, the lines were enormous. But those who were patient were well rewarded. Samples from over 30 producers included award-winning cheeses as well as honey, jams, beer, crackers, caramel, and chocolate. All the products are available year-round through at least one of Pastoral’s three locations around the city.
Finding out what tastes best with what was really the glory of the event. Conveniently placed next to each meat, cheese, bread, wine, and preserve was a suggested pairing that went far beyond wine and cheese. Don’t be afraid to get a bit creative with your taste buds.
A taste of the suggested pairings:
Quince & Apple Sparkling Wine and Apples Preserve with Cellars and Jasper Hill Oma Cheese:
In order to accompany an array of fine cheeses, Pastoral asked Quince & Apple to craft an exclusive preserve which goes well with any buttery cheese. “Once we came up with the original recipe we went back and forth with Pastoral and they made some comments on how they wanted the texture to be so it was really a perfect cheese-pairing preserve, and then the final recipe was really a joint effort,” says Clare Stoner Fehsenfeld, one half of the couple behind Quince & Apple.
Prairie Fruits Farm Goat Cheese with Ames Farm honey:
Pastoral was proud to introduce the only farmstead cheese makers in Illinois, Prairie Fruits Farm who believe the farm is “all about embracing the quality and the seasonality of the milk,” explains Leslie Cooperband, co-owner of Prairie Fruits Farm. The “single source” Ames Farm honey comes in a variety of flavors, based on the flower the bees are exposed to. Man behind the honey Brian Fredericksen believes “a hive of bees takes a floral snapshot a couple times during the season” and that it is important to recognize each jar of honey as an individual process by “capturing what the bees have done on their own.”
Zingerman’s Creamery Manchester cheese with chutney:
The tart, lactic cheese with a shelf life of only two weeks really gives people a taste at what the farmers are doing. “Our primary goal is to create an atmosphere where the farmers are thriving,” Zingerman’s cheesemaker John Loomis says. He hopes to preserve the seasonal flavors as much as possible and says it pairs perfectly with something sweet.
Sartori Bella Vitano on mac n’ cheese or pizza:
The cheese is palatable and when melted, buttery and nutty. Espresso, Merlot, and salsa can be hand rubbed into the rind and add to the tasting experience of their award-winning cheeses. “The treatments never mask the core flavor of the cheese but the complement it and add to your tasting experience,” Sartori representative Ryan Gillespie explains.
Potter’s Crackers Rosemary Cracker with Uplands Farms Pleasant Ridge cheese:
These crackers are in high demand by people who needed a cracker to go with their cheese. “It’s really fun when you get a cracker that’s really flavorful and can stand great on its own but oh, it’s also great when you combine it with these things,” owner Nancy Potter explains. The cherry rye cracker pairs well with blue cheese, the garlic and baby onion cracker with goat cheese, and the seasonally changing graham crackers with spreadable cheeses.
Photos by Edible Chicago and Culture Magazine.
