Cottage Gold, sibling to Niagra Gold
It’s not my camera, it’s the Guernsey milk. The cheese really is this intense colour. All due to the elevated beta-carotene levels found in the milk of the Guernsey cow. (It also has more protein and vitamin A and D than Holstein milk.)
Let’s stop picking on the Holstein and concentrate on the fact that this cheese is A. only here for the summer and B. the summer is not that long. (I’m being a pessimist like my mom, who on the first day of a long-awaited vacation will point out “well, it’ll all be over in 10 days– also there’s a lot of rain in the forecast.)
Cottage Gold is a cheddar-like version of Niagara Gold (an Oka-style cheese) made by Upper Canada Cheese, who are also known for Comfort Cream and the lip-smacking and grillable Guernsey Girl. Cottage Gold is dense, salty and buttery with a pleasant earthiness at the rind. Avoid the rind if you prefer but if sliced thinly the “earthy” quality appeals on the palate and evokes a real sense of the outdoors.
Today was my first time trying the Cottage Gold and I can already see it doing a heelside front flip on the wakeboard and then drying off with a threadbare “Florida: The Sunshine State!” towel obtained from a long-ago family drive to Daytona Beach. Also I can see Cottage Gold reclined on a patio chair drinking a cold beer. Actually, that’s me on the chair with a beer, and a slice of cheese. Or maybe I’d melt it onto a burger or pack it with some pickle chips and apple slices for an afternoon outing to Snake Pond (childhood reference–insert any mucky, deliciously squishy-between-the-toes pond with frogs and dragonflies from your own youth).
Cottage Gold in 11 words or more: The Guernsey cow breed, originally from the British Channel Island of the same name, was introduced to North America in the 19th century and officially imported to Canada by future prime minister Sir John Abbott in 1878. If you’d like to know more, check out this informative review of Cottage Gold by Stacey at A Taste of Cheese. I’m going to eat more cheese.
cheese and toast 