I’ve been enjoying this cheese for decades, but the wedge pictured here was the best ever. It should have been underwhelming. It had endured a lot—too much shipping and too much time in my fridge. But it was as creamy, luscious, balanced and compelling as any blue cheese I’ve had in a long time. My husband rarely eats blues with enthusiasm, but he practically fought me for this one. The creamery believes it may be the first cow’s milk blue wheel produced in America. What better choice for your Independence Day burgers or holiday cheese board?
Iowa’s Maytag Blue debuted in 1941 and employees say the recipe hasn’t changed since. That’s a bit of a stretch. About 15 years ago, Maytag Dairy Farms sold its dairy cows so the cheese is now made with milk purchased from neighbors. But the biggest change, in my view, happened about three years ago when the creamery decided, after 75 years of making raw-milk cheese, to start pasteurizing the milk.
If the wheel I recently sampled is indicative, that decision has done no harm. The cheese was moist and tender, with a clean, lactic aroma and a tangy buttermilk or sour cream flavor that reminds me of ranch dressing. I used to think of Maytag Blue as too salty for me and too lactic. Did it change or did I? I’ve tried it a few times since the switch to pasteurized milk, and the cheese seems more mellow, more approachable and salted just right.
Maytag Blue is a four-pound rindless wheel matured for anywhere from three to six months, getting creamier and tangier with age. Fred Maytag, grandson of the appliance company founder, worked with Iowa State University’s dairy-science department to develop the recipe 80 years ago. Maytag’s father had a herd of champion Holsteins, and Fred wanted to use the milk to produce a blue that would rival those from Europe. I’d say the professors nailed it. Maytag Blue resembles nothing from Europe; it is an American original, from a creamery that is still owned by several descendants of Fred Maytag.
You’ll find Maytag Blue in the “Red, White & Blue” Victory Cheese Box that I curated for igourmet, the online cheese merchant. Before the pandemic, I never ordered cheese online. (Why would I? My community has several great cheese shops.) But I’ve been impressed with igourmet’s fulfillment. The cheeses arrive cold, properly cut and vacuum sealed. Even after I abused the Maytag Blue by taking it in and out of the fridge several times, it tasted amazing.
The objective of the Victory Cheese Box effort is to support struggling American cheesemakers and dairy farms. As an added incentive to purchase, igourmet is donating $10 from every Victory Cheese Box order to World Central Kitchen. And once you receive your box—one of a dozen different theme collections I curated for them—you can enjoy a brief guided tasting on my YouTube channel.