Fresh cheeses, fresh vegetables and Spring

Our cheese whizzes greet Spring
and reveal how-tos for two cheese plates

Our experts tell their secrets

Savenor's cheesemongers are excited about
Spring, when young goat and sheep's milk cheeses are at their best. Jesi, in the Boston store, and Patrick, in Cambridge, tell us what to look for now. "I think seasonally," says Patrick. He loves the very fresh goat cheeses from Lazy Lady in Westfield, Vt., where only 40 goats are milked, and he also likes the sheep's milk cheeses from Willow Hill. There are always new stars such as Nettle Meadow's Kunik, a triple cream of goat and cow's milk from upstate New York.

Patrick doesn't just favor American cheeses. Another spring favorite is Rove des Garrigues from Provence where goats graze on wild lavender and other herbs. "They yield a small amount of very potent milk," he says.

Jesi's spring dreams also include goat cheeses with "bloomy rinds" and hints of flowering herbs. Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery's Coupole is a winner at her Friday evening tastings, she says. She tries to have a unifying theme each week, such as French or local cheeses. Jesi has found that people love to taste blue cheeses. A stunning Point Reyes Blue from California calls to her "because this to me tastes like the ocean." And she keeps a whole shelf of blues in her densely-packed cheese case. "My problem is that I can't buy everything I want" to offer customers, she laments.

Both Patrick and Jesi work hard to make sure Savenor's cheeses are at their best -- and to help you find the cheese of your dreams!!
cheese display

Perfect pairings

Patrick's Picks:
Tomme Fleur Verte -- A very fresh goat cheese from France pressed with tarragon, parsley, and chervil.
Hudson Valley Camembert-- A beautifully creamy sheep's milk from upstate New York.
Tarentaise-- A Vermont Alpine cheese of cow's milk that complements cured salami.
Lazy Lady "Sweet Emotions"-- A cow and goat's milk that is soft and delightfully creamy.
With the cheeses, Patrick would serve caramelized pecans, fresh berries, and muscat grapes plus crusty baguettes.

Jesi's Picks:
Point Reyes Blue --From California, a cow's milk blue cheese aged five months with a creamy finish and slightly crumbly texture.
Blue Ledge Farm Lake's Edge -- A fresh and irresistible goat cheese delicately veined with ash.
Mt. Alice -- A creamy Camembert-style cheese from the Von Trapp brothers in Vermont.
Beehive-- A cheddar-style cow's milk cheese, rubbed with sea salt and honey.
Jesi would add some jam, such as Doves & Figs Picnic in Paris, a strawberry, orange, apple and lavender jam made in Arlington. Along with that, she'd serve Marcona almonds, and some baguettes.

Lamb: How to Butcher and How to Cook

Want to know all about lamb -- from butchering a whole lamb to how to cook each cut? At Lamb 102 at the Cambridge store, Savenor's Chef Mark will lead you through the basics of butchering through the fine points of cooking everything from leg of lamb to lamb breast. He also promises enlightenment on how to cure lamb bacon and turn other cuts into fine lamb charcuterie. This course, Saturday, April 27, will be a highlight of the season, and you'll go home with plenty of lamb to turn into delicious meals. Sign up here. And a bonus: an easy but hearty Lamb Stew to whet your appetite.

Bring Back the Rabbit!

Welsh Rabbit is a more than just a quirky name. This dish from the British Isles was popular in the 1950s and 1960s when hostesses would make the sauce in chafing dishes for buffet brunches or suppers, and sometimes fancified the name to "rarebit." The original name was really rabbit; some say it came from the fact that the Welsh were so poor they had to substitute cheese for the popular English rabbit. In any case, this combination of tangy cheddar-style cheese and beer is a delightful supper or brunch dish.

You might try making this with Jesi's suggestion, Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar from Ford Farms in England, or Patrick's choice, Vermont's Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. And since April is Grilled Cheese Month, Welsh Rabbit could be viewed as an Open-Face Grilled Cheese. Call it what you will -- great cheese and a classic Welsh Rabbit recipe will warm your heart.

It's Spring in the Produce Dept.

Spring teases in April. One day it's warm, the next chilly. But you crave all the good vegetables and greens of the season after winter's chill. Savenor's is getting in fiddlehead ferns, spring onions, spring garlic, garlic scapes, and ramps, all signs that spring is really here. Don, the produce manager at Savenor's in Boston, loves ramps, his cue to usher in the season. He says his girlfriend makes a pesto of garlic scapes. And he thinks spring onions grilled outdoors are smashing for an early grill session. It's not his fav, but his customers, he says, "buy up rhubarb like nobody's business." Here's an heirloom Rhubarb Custard Pie for you rhubarb fanciers.

A Meeting of Minds -- and Knives

The New England Meat Conference was a chance for Ron and others at Savenor's to join with other master butchers, educators, innovators, and marketers to expand their horizons around meat and learn the latest in local, artisanal growing and producing of meat for the New England market. Here, Ron crosses knives with master butcher Kari Underly, author of "The Art of Beef Cutting," who demonstrated butchering techniques. The 2-day session in Concord, NH, the first in New England, was held in late March.