Do you eat more blue cheese in winter? I know I do. That big, spicy flavor is what I want when it’s cold outside. I love it melted on polenta, crumbled in an escarole and radicchio salad with walnuts, or on a cheese board after a bowl of vegetable soup. So this new blue from New York landed in my kitchen at just the right time. I think it’s dreamy, and even my husband—not a blue-cheese enthusiast—gave it a rave.

Old Chatham Creamery’s Boujee Bleu (above) is 70 percent cow’s milk with the remainder an even split between sheep’s and goat’s milk. Mixing milks is common in some cheesemaking regions of Europe and a growing practice here, in part because it allows a cheesemaker to stretch a relatively small supply of precious sheep’s milk. But like a winemaker blending grape varieties, a talented cheesemaker may also view blending as a way to add complexity.

I would have guessed Boujee Bleu had more sheep’s and goat’s milk than it does. It smells and tastes like a young, mellow Roquefort, not like a nutty, toasty Stilton, and it has the whitish hue I associate with goat cheese. It is firm yet creamy, with an aroma like buttermilk and a rich, deep and balanced flavor. It isn’t peppery or piquant, the qualities that drive some people away from blues. The three-pound wheel is rindless, like Roquefort, and sold in a foil wrap; it is released at two months.

I confess that I am old enough that I had to Google the meaning of boujee. Dictionary.com defines it as “hip-hop slang for something luxurious in lifestyle yet humble in character.” But you knew that.

I’ve tried this new cheese only twice, from samples sent to me by the creamery. The first wheel was obviously not right—the texture was dry and the cheese had some round eyes that I knew shouldn’t be there—so the creamery sent another piece, which was perfection. The cheesemaker had some theories about how to explain the flaws in the first wheel. My takeaway is that blues are really challenging cheeses to make and achieving consistency with a new recipe probably takes a while. That said, the second sample of Boujee Bleu was one of the most enjoyable American blues I can recall tasting, and I think it will have broad appeal.

Many cheese lovers know Old Chatham Creamery, an American sheep cheese pioneer (under the name Old Chatham Sheepherding Company). The creamery debuted its first cheeses in the mid 1990s and quickly found success with offerings like Nancy’s Hudson Valley Camembert and Ewe’s Blue. Fast-forward twenty years and founders Tom and Nancy Clark were ready to sell. Fortunately, the perfect buyers stepped up in 2014. David Galton is a retired Cornell professor of animal science who, with his wife, Sally, raises dairy cows, sheep and goats near New York’s Finger Lakes. The Old Chatham sheep were moved there and the Galtons built a larger plant near their animals to grow Old Chatham’s cheese and yogurt business. Boujee Bleu is part of a new collection of three-milk cheeses from this state-of-the-art creamery.

Look for Old Chatham Creamery Boujee Bleu at Sprouts Markets on the West Coast and online at Artisanal Cheese, Field Goods and Saxelby Cheese (back in stock shortly.) In New York, look for it at Honest Weight (Albany), Hawthorne Valley Farm Store (Ghent), Citarella (NYC), Second Mouse Cheese Shop (Pleasantville), Healthy Living (Saratoga) and at Guido’s in Great Barrington, MA. In California, look for it at California Organics (Nevada City), Scotty’s Market (San Rafael) and Montecito Village Grocery (Santa Barbara).

Time for Cheese O’Clock!

It’s a cheese party! Please join me and fellow cheese expert Laura Werlin for Cheese O’Clock, a four-week series of you-are-almost-there virtual tastings. Zoom registration is free, but we encourage you to order each week’s unique cheese collection and wines to taste along with us and our featured guests.

“Cheese O'Clock outdid itself. The quality of the product was world class stunning and we loved the evening.”
Ray and Diane A.

“Thank you for sharing your knowledge and passion in such an engaging, accessible and magical way.”
Suzy F.

Thursday, February 18
“Europe Off the Beaten Path” with WillaKenzie Estate
All details here

Thursday, February 25
“Italian All Stars” with Captûre Wines and Tenuta di Arceno
All details here

Thursday, March 4
“Wonder Women of American Cheese” with Cambria Winery
All details here

Thursday, March 11
“Aged to Perfection” with Galerie Wines
All details here