Always happy to find a reason to sneak milk into our household, Kurt recently enjoyed this tasty treat, straight off the boat (or truck perhaps...) from Providence, Rhode Island. Though the Narragansett Creamery has oodles of local artisan products, including their you-can't-go-wrong-with-this Fresh and Feathery Mozarella (left), their best is one of their most recent product creations, Mediterranean Grilling Cheese (below).
Until moving abroad, like most Americans I was not familiar with "grilling cheese," also known as halloumi. Once I tasted it, a standard fare in a number of parts of the world, it was an immediate favorite. The cheese is squeaky clean and perfect on a number of tasty complex treats or simply a slice of local, grilled apple. Grilling cheeses have a deeply savory taste that pairs well with just about anything, standing up to heat by becoming crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Is your mouth watering yet?! Though we may be a cheese-centric country, this is one kind of cheese Americans need to learn more about!
What's even better than good cheese? Good production practices. At Narragansett Creamery, local milk, kind bacteria, vegetable-based rennet, and salt are used to produce a pure and responsible product. Narragansett supports fair-trade and local ingredients to the best of their ability, their farmers pledge to not use growth hormones, and they are proud to be a family-owned company providing products to their local community of New England.
Do try a slice today... just don't remind me and my dairy free tummy what I'm missing! Sigh...
Need a few fantastic ideas of how to incorporate Narrangasett's Grilling Cheese into your next meal? The BBC may not be local, but they do know their halloumi cheese! Check it out here: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/9-new-ways-serve-halloumi
Find Narrangassett Cheeses in these local markets:
Massachusetts: Allandale Farms * American Provisions * Bacco’s Wine & Cheese * Bacon Street Farm * Bartlett’s Family Garden & Market * Bartlett’s Ocean View Farm * Bee’s Knees Supply Co. * Big Y * Blue Blinds Bakery * Boston Wine Exchange* Broadway Marketplace * Brothers Marketplace * Cape Abilities * Cape Cod Package Store * Cardullo’s * C’est Cheese (NH)* Chatham Cheese Company * Chatham Village Market * City Feed & Supply * Coastal GreenGrocer * Common Crow Natural Market * Crusty Ventures * Dave’s Fresh Pasta * Deluca’s Market * Donelan’s * Fancy’s Market * Five Seventy Market * Foodies Urban Market * Formaggio Kitchen * Fruit Center Marketplace * Guaranteed Fresh * Harvest Co-op * Holmes Farm * How on Earth * Joppa Fine Foods * Lambert’s Farm Market * Last National Wine Co. * Lees Market * The Market at Pinehills * Milk & Honey Green Grocer * Morning Glory Farms * Natural Food Exchange * Nauset Farms * Needham Center Fine Wines * Prime * Quality Fruitland* Roche Bros. * Savenor’s * Savor Wine & Cheese * Siena Farms * Spring Brook Farm Country Store * The Spirited Gourmet * Sudbury Farms * Tangerini Farm * Tastebuds Fresh Marketplace * Tendercrop Farm * Vidalias * Ward’s Berry Farm * Water Fresh Farm * Whittier Farms * Whole Foods Markets * Windfall Market * The Wine Cask * The Wine House * The Wine Vine * Woodberry Food Market
Connecticut: Big Y * Caseus Fromagerie & Bistro * The Common Bond Market * Fairfield Cheese Company * Jonathan Edwards Winery * McQuade’s Marketplace * P & M Orange Street Market * Whole Foods Markets
New York: Manhattan: Barnyard Cheese Shop * Battery Place Market * Beecher’s * Cheese on 62nd * Dean & Deluca Madison * Eataly * Eli’s * Forager’s Market * Formaggio Essex * Inwood Gourmet * Lucy’sWhey * Malt & Mold * Market Basket * Milk & Hops * Saxelby Cheesemongers * The Wine Merchant * Westside Market Chelsea * Willoughby General * Whole Foods Market, Bowery * Zabar’s Brooklyn: Blue Apron * Brooklyn Larder * Brooklyn Victory Garden * Court Street Grocer * DePanneur * Eastern District * Forager’s Market * Green Grape Provisions * Lucy’sWhey * Marlow & Daughters * The Meat Hook * Park Slope Co-op * The Ploughman * Stinky Bklyn * Valley Shepherd
Long Island & beyond: * Ahabs Corner Shop * Beacon Pantry * Cold Spring General Store * Deciccos * Loaves & Fishes * Plum Plums * Stuarts Seafood Market * Tarry Market * Village Cheese Shop * Whole Foods Lake Grove * Whole Foods Port Chester
