Food, Food Artisans

Cheese of the Month: Detroit Street Brick!

$5 off during November at  Zingerman’s Deli and Zingerman’s Creamery

Throughout November, we’ll be featuring one of our all-time favorite soft-ripened goat cheeses. A recipient of American Cheese Society Awards in 2006, 2007, and 2012, the Detroit Street Brick is quickly becoming a fan favorite in restaurants and shops throughout the Midwest and along the West Coast.

Detroit Street Brick

Detroit Street Brick

This velvety bit of goaty goodness gets its start from some of the very best regional mixed-herd goat dairies we’ve had the pleasure of working with. After a very gentle low-temperature pasteurization, we allow the milk to set for hours and hours, so this subtle and complex goat’s milk imparts as much flavor as possible to the resulting curd.

Whereas the majority of cheesemakers still use comparatively less expensive calf rennet (from cows) to make their goat’s milk cheese, we opt for kid rennet (from goats) which remarkably alters and enhances
both the flavor and texture of the finished cheese.

While subtle, there is an immediately recognizable note of citrus in the paste of this cheese, and over time we’ve come to use whole and freshly cracked green tellicherry peppercorns to tease this citrusy essence out even further. The balance of this cheese is astounding, and it always brings a smile to our faces to pull one out of our aging room, cut through its fluffy rind, and taste the interplay of some very intriguing flavors.

Honored by Cooking Light as one of its favorite cheeses for the holiday season, we feel that the Brick really soars in the Fall, thanks mainly to the comparative richness of autumn goat’s milk. As the temps start to drop, we see a marked increase in both the butterfat and protein content of our goat’s milk, and richer milk translates directly into richer cheese. The Brick pairs wonderfully with all sorts of late season root vegetables and squashes, but our favorite way to enjoy this cheese is one of the simplest: get a baguette from Zingerman’s Bakehouse, put a thin slice of Detroit Street Brick on it, grab a bottle of your favorite olive oil, drizzle away, and enjoy!