EPISODE 6

Allison Hooper

How Allison Hooper Introduced Goat Cheese to America

The actual G.O.A.T. of Goat Cheese! Meet the woman who literally introduced goat cheese to America. Allison Hooper's 40-year journey from a college student working on a French farm to co-founding Vermont Creamery reads like a masterclass in entrepreneurial courage. Learn how she and co-founder, Bob Reese, fought for credibility when American artisan cheese "didn't exist" and why getting rejected by snooty New York cheese shops only made them stronger.

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IN THIS EPISODE 🧀

IN THIS EPISODE 🧀

Course 1 Cheese:
Hooper⁠

Producer: Vermont Creamery | Websterville, VT

Cheese Profile: Blend of cow and goats' milk with a touch of cream. This donut-shaped Geotrichum cheese is soft and sliceable, boasting a creamy, luxe mouthfeel.

Pairing: Champagne Strawberry Jam, Effies Oatcake

Taste: Like Champagne and cheesecake, this unctuous and yeasty cheese is complimented by the sweet and floral flavors of the jam while being supported by the toasted and buttery oatcake.

Course 2 Cheese:
Wabash Cannonball

Producer: Capriole Goat Cheese | Greenville, Indiana⁠⁠

Cheese Profile: A semisoft paste with a gentle, creamy, slightly acidic flavor

Pairing: Honeycomb

Taste: Simple pairings are honestly the best. To highlight the quality of the goat milk in the cheese, this pairing utilizes the sweetness of honey to balance the lactic tang of the paste while adding some light floral qualities to the overall finish.

Course 3 Cheese:
Linedeline⁠

Producer: Blakesville Creamery | Port Washington, Wisconsin⁠

Cheese Profile: Soft, light ash-coated goat's milk cheese with a bright citrusy, milky, and truffly flavor.

Pairing: Yuzu marmalade

Taste: Vegetable ash lining the center and outer rind makes this cheese unmistakably mineral and chalky. To compliment this, the addition of yuzu marmalade brings both a pleasant citrus backbone and a sweet lactic finish to the overall pairing.

Course 4 Cheese:
Mittica Garrotxa⁠

Producer: Catalunya, Spain⁠

Cheese Profile: Goat’s milk cheese, full-bodied and flavorful with a long, smooth finish, there are strong hints of nuts and herbs

Pairing: Cucumber, black pepper⁠

Taste: An earthy tomme with nutty and milk forward flavor only needs the lightness and freshness of cucumber to brighten up the pairing. Just a sprinkle of black pepper to add a complimentary savory and piquant note to round out the pairing. 

Course 5 Cheese:
T’Groendal OG GOAT

Producer: Groendal, Belgium⁠

Cheese Profile: Sweet cream tones blend perfectly with notes of caramel, butterscotch, and no prominent gamey goat's milk notes.

Pairing: Toffee pretzel chocolate

Taste: The sweet and nutty profile of the goat milk cheese is compounded by the decadently sweet and lightly salty chocolate to bring you quite possibly the best dessert known to mankind.

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EPISODE 7

EPISODE 5

Hamilton Morris

Barry X Ball