May 2024

The Farm at Doe Run

Essays by Chris Loughran

About The Farm at Doe Run

We knew we wanted to carry cheese from The Farm at Doe Run. Before we found our location on Penn Ave, before we settled on the Chantal’s Cheese Shop logo… we knew whatever happened we had to have The Farm at Doe Run cheese in our case. We even reached out to them more than a year before we opened our shop to ask about getting their cheese!

The Farm at Doe Run had been winning awards for a few years at that point (from the PA Farm Show to the American Cheese Society Competition to The World Cheese Awards,) and in a certain sense you couldn’t really open a cheese shop in Pennsylvania without the best cheese made in Pennsylvania. But for us, it was about so much more than awards. It was about the cheese, so many of which are a beautiful combination of world class and crowd pleasing. It was about the farmstead nature of the operation, where they manage three herds of their own; cows, sheep, and goats. And it was about connection to place, as The Farm at Doe Run is only about a ten minute drive from the house I grew up in (where my parents still live.)

When we first visited the Farm at Doe Run in 2019, when it was run by Sam and Stacey Kennedy, we toured the cheesemaking room and the affinage caves. I was struck by the beauty of the place, the panoramic windows stretching the length of the cheesemaking room overlooking the sprawling, lush green pastures; the connection between milk and grass ever present. The three underground caves (a room each for their natural rinds, wax rinds, and bloomy/washed rinds) built with high arches from local limestone were impressive as well.

On our most recent visit this past April, we were welcomed graciously by the whole team. For the first part of the tour, we spent time in the cheesemaking room while Ana Mitchell (assistant cheesemaker) made a batch of St Malachi. We watched Olivia Haver (head affineur) flip some cheeses in a brine bath before touring the caves where we tasted a few cheeses at different levels of maturity.

From here, Olivia, Anaïs, and I piled into the front of an old pickup truck and we were off to tour the property (all of which is closed to the public.) The cheesemaking operation began with seven Jersey cows and a commitment to sustainable farming practices, and has grown since. Today, they have three grazing herds (Jersey and Normande cows, Nubian goats, and Fresian sheep) grazing year round on about 350 acres of pasture. A sprawling property with old stone buildings, beautiful pastures, and in April, newborn lambs and kids.

It was a humorous time indeed! The baby lambs wanting nothing to do with us while the little goats tried to eat our pants!

At the end of our tour, we were graciously invited to the home of Miguel Vivanco (head cheesemaker) and Hope Vivanco (assistant affineur) for dinner with the cheesemaking team, including Olivia and her partner Dave. It was a night to remember, as we enjoyed a delicious spread of cheese, tinned fish, numerous wines, and just chatted away about cheese and farms and life and music and took in all the beauty of The Farm at Doe Run. Just a crew of absolutely wonderful people.

Hear from the Team: Interviews with the people of The Farm at Doe Run

Q: What got you in the cheesemaking business to begin with?

Miguel (Head Cheesemaker): I was working in a Korean restaurant and became very interested in fermentation. I was not seeking work in cheese but an opportunity became available when I decided to leave the restaurant industry.

Olivia (Affineur): I started over a decade ago when I was looking for a part time job in a small town I had just moved to. I have a degree in upright bass playing and was still navigating what my career would look like. Like everyone else in the cheese industry I couldn’t help but fall in love with the flavors, history, and lore of the cheeses I spent time with. Before I knew it, I was taking a 3 month apprenticeship with Jasper Hill in Vermont which turned into a 6.5 year stay.

Q: What’s your favorite part of cheesemaking?

Miguel: The large number of cheeses that can be produced from the same basic process. So many variables can be adjusted to deliver different results. The variability of the components and environment can require you to engage with the process in a different way each day.

Olivia: Affinage is a slow process that can take a week for some cheeses and years for others. Knowing the alchemy that is happening on the rind and in the paste while I slowly watch the cheese transform is my favorite part. Cheese tells you what it wants- being a patient listener and bringing a curious palate opens doors for each batch to guide you.

Q: What does the affinage process look like for each of these cheeses?

Olivia: One of the most important steps in affinage is flipping a cheese over. This allows for even rind development, moisture distribution and fat/protein breakdown. Flipping happens across our collection. Everything you do or don’t do to a cheese that day will stay with it for the rest of its life. Soft cheeses are higher moisture and require more immediate attention day to day. This could include washing, rubbing, and dry brushing. Our hard cheeses are more low maintenance and come into their own by living in a consistent environment. The hard cheese caves have humidity levels that are provided by just the cheese “breathing.” Sometimes they get a brush, and in the case of Seven Sisters or Black Swallowtail they will receive several coats of wax. 

Q: How many people work here?

Meredith (Sales): We have 3 herdspeople that focus on the milking & care of our animals. 6 people work in the creamery: 4 focus on cheese production (2 cheese makers & 2 affineurs) & 2 focus on sales.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about the cheese industry?

Miguel: Making cheese is an excellent workout mentally and physically.

Olivia: The community is amazing. It’s a group of passionate people who love to learn and share their knowledge with each other. Every time I go to a cheese gathering there is an “a ha!” moment I didn’t see coming.

Q:What does the herd eat?

Meredith: All of our herds are raised in our beautiful sprawling pastures. Throughout the seasons we feed them hay that has grown on our farm. When the animals are producing milk, we feed them a locally sourced grain that helps to increase the protein in their diet to keep them healthy.

Olivia: The herds live outside all year round grazing on the seasonal offerings of the land. This lends itself to a milk that is truly a reflection of the flora of Southeast Pennsylvania. When you are milking dairy breeds it is important to provide ample energy to keep them healthy. We work with a local nutritionist to balance out their diets and take into consideration the breed and grass intake. 

Q: What kind of music do they enjoy?

Meredith: In the pastures, our animals hear the music of the local wildlife, which we had a lot of on the farm! Standing outside they hear a medley of birds…robins, wood thrush, goldfinch, house sparrows, & cardinals are often singing in nearby trees. The other day I heard 2 redtail hawks fighting while taking pictures in the fields with the cows.

Who is your biggest influence?

Miguel: The entire community of cheesemakers. I don’t necessarily find a single person to be an influence on my work, but the collective efforts of everybody producing the variety of incredible cheeses we get to enjoy today.

Meredith: For this job specifically, I am inspired by all of the cheese shops that are telling the stories of how each of the cheeses they are selling is special. When I visit a cheese shop & listen to a cheesemonger talking about one of our cheeses to a customer…it makes all of the work week after week worthwhile.

Olivia: My family. They are very warm, appreciate a sense of community, and love to sit down and enjoy a delicious meal. My sensory training started early observing the women in my family cook and listening to the adults at the dinner table discuss food. In addition, my mom has taught me grit and how to have fun along the way.

What’s your favorite type of cheese? 

Miguel: Washed rind sheep cheeses, current favorite is a softie called Mesta from Spain.

Meredith: Of course, aged goudas! I’ve learned so much since I’ve started working here 4 years ago about the diversity that the aging process creates for cheese. I love comparing the creaminess of a younger Seven Sisters to the mature fruit flavors & crunchy tyrosine crystals in Aged Seven Sisters. Both are so delightful & present as two different cheeses!

Olivia: Washed rinds are my favorite style. They are stinky, meaty, and exciting to eat. They are also the most finicky style to work with.

Q: What’s your perfect bite?

Olivia: Crusty bread, with a yeasty, umami forward washed rind on top (ideally with a tropical fruit rind profile!) paired with a dry champagne. 

Meredith: St. Malachi Reserve on a slice of apple with a little drop of honey. It makes me dance with joy!

Miguel: Bread and butter

On Lactose Intolerance, or What We Think We Can Eat vs What We Can

At the cheese counter, one of our major roles as mongers is navigating our customers’ various dietary choices and restrictions to help guide them through our specialty shop. Every day, we engage in conversations about vegetarianism, allergies, gluten… and as a cheese shop, of course, something we talk about perhaps more than any of these is lactose, the sugar found in milk that can be disruptive to many stomachs. Discomfort, bloating, diarrhea – nobody wants these things, and nobody wants to be the one stinking up the room, either. (Let’s leave that to the washed rind cheeses!) So it’s understandable that people who are lactose-intolerant might cut dairy from their diet entirely. But even Anaïs is lactose-intolerant, and she owns a cheese shop! So, really, what’s the deal with lactose?

In order for our stomachs to digest milk, our bodies must produce lactase, the enzyme that breaks down lactose. Prior to the domestication of ruminants (which most likely occurred 10000 years ago in Anatolia – present day Turkey – and the Zagros Mountain range in present day Iran) and for a few thousands years afterward, adult humans would not have produced this enzyme. Milk consumption would strictly have been for infants prior to weaning.

However, at some point in the last 20,000 years, a genetic mutation arose that kept lactase production active through adulthood. This became an advantageous trait that spread amongst the people of various dairying cultures, likely especially during times of famine or drought where having the ability to drink milk would have led to higher survival rates. Despite this proliferation of lactose tolerance (or lactase persistence,) the majority of the adult population worldwide today are lactose intolerant. Without the necessary enzyme, the stomach is unable to break down lactose, and our gut microbes ferment the lactose, creating the acid and gas that wreaks havoc on our system.

The good news is that, through the magic of cheesemaking, starter cultures added to the vat, along with naturally occurring bacteria, convert the vast majority of lactose to lactic acid during the crucial step of fermentation. As coagulation occurs (curds form and whey expelled) some lactose remains in the curd, but most residual lactose migrates to the whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking composed of water, fat, lactose, and protein. This means that in comparison to milk, cheese has significantly less lactose.

In general, fresh and young cheeses – those that retain more moisture – will naturally have more lactose than aged ones. (Processed cheeses also typically contain more lactose – just another reason to avoid them.) This means that for the particularly sensitive, fresh cheeses such as ricotta or fromage blanc, and young cheeses like those beautiful bloomy rind Hummingbirds in this box, might still be cause for concern. 

But once we start to get into hard, aged cheeses, we are talking about cheeses that are virtually lactose free, which at this point probably seems obvious enough – they are drier after all. In some cases, such in Parmigiano Reggiano, it is simply that bacteria is active enough to convert nearly all of the lactose into lactic acid. In others, specific cheesemaking techniques contribute as well. In Alpine cheeses, such as Gruyère and Comté, for example, a step known as pressing the curd expels additional whey, as does the step in cheddar making known as cheddaring, where slabs of cut curd are stacked on top of each other. In the production of Gouda, whey is diluted through the steps of draining and subsequently washing the curd. Essentially, water replaces whey allowing for a higher moisture content without residual lactose sugar.

It is clear there are a lot of cheeses left to be enjoyed, even for the lactose intolerant. Still, there is another component of dairy that can lead to digestive discomfort as well: protein. Specifically the A1 variant of β-casein, which when digested can cause symptoms similar to those experienced by the lactose intolerant. While A1 protein is found alongside A2 protein in cow dairy, it is not found in the milk of humans, goats, or sheep. Since the milk of goats and sheep more closely resemble human milk, cheeses made from these milks may also be easier to digest for some. Recently, cow’s milk labeled as A2 has become widely available, as farms genetically select for cows that only produce milk with the A2 protein. Some breeds that naturally produce higher levels of A2, such as Jersey, Guernsey, and Normande, happen to already be popular for artisan cheesemakers. Possibly, we’ll start seeing more cheeses labeled as A2 cheese in the future.

… and now onward to the cheeses!

Hummingbird

Milk: Pasteurized cow
Rennet: Traditional calf rennet
Age: 6 weeks
Ingredients: Pasteurized cows’ milk, salt, rennet, and cultures
Texture/profile: Soft, buttery and hay with mild notes of mushroom
Pairing idea: L’epicurien Bruschetta w/ Eggplant & Red Pepper

These adorable little oval-shaped bloomy rinds are named after the birds found on the farm, which “sometimes fly up to the windows in the creamery and say hi!” They are based on Robiola – an Italian cheese similar to French Brie. A thin, lactic set cheese made with minimal amounts of culture and rennet, Hummingbird is mild yet flavorful; buttery when young and slightly firm, with stronger vegetal notes as it ages and starts getting a little gooey. We love this one spread over some bread, and think you’ll love it with the Bruschetta.

This cheese won a gold medal at the 2022 World Cheese Awards.

Seven Sisters

Milk: Pasteurized cow
Rennet: Traditional calf rennet
Age: 7-8 months
Ingredients: Pasteurized cows’ milk, salt, rennet, and cultures
Texture/profile: Semi-firm, smooth, milky
Pairing idea: Birdy’s Smooth Whole Grain Mustard

The flagship cheese of The Farm at Doe Run, Seven Sisters has been around since 2010, and with its bright orange wax, you can’t really miss it! Named for the original her of seven Jersey cows who started the whole thing, Seven Sisters is based on a Gouda recipe, using the technique of washing the curd. In fact, this cheese is washed twice (goodbye lactose!) From that step the curds are placed into molds and pressed. Before moving the wheels to the cave, they receive a brine bath.

As its ages in the limestone caves, Seven Sisters received occasional coats of a more permeable wax (that is specially brought in from The Netherlands) that allows for more complex development before the thicker final coat seals it all in.

The cheese everyone’s going to love, we often describe Seven Sisters as a cheese with many notes but nothing overpowering. Buttery with a bit of the nuttiness and sweet notes you’ll find from goudas, a little tang reminiscent of cheddars, and flourishes of grass and hay. Enjoy it with the mustard from Birdy’s a French-inspired recipe made without heat and only few ingredients to highlight the amazing flavors of the mustard seed.

Black Swallowtail

Milk: Thermized cow, sheep, and goat
Rennet: Traditional calf rennet
Age: 6-7 Months
Ingredients: Thermized cow, sheep, and goat’s milk, salt, rennet, cultures
Texture/profile: Firm, flaky, piquant and nuttty.
Pairing idea: Tait Farm Apple Pepper Jelly

A dry, crumbly Manchego-style cheese that brings together all of the milks of the herd. Named for the butterflies that pollinate wildflowers on the farm, the cheese features a black wax coating that fits the color theme. Black Swallowtail is produced during the summer months.

A beautiful balance of the three milks, which brings together some of the best elements of each; the fullness of the cow’s milk, the brightness of the goat’s, the nuttiness of the sheep’s.

The texture of the Apple Pepper Jelly reminds us of a classic Spanish Membrillo (quince paste) which is often paired with Manchego, so here with Black Swallowtail we’ve got something of a slightly-spicy-Pennslyvania-twist on a classic. Enjoy!

St Malachi Reserve

Milk: Thermized cow’s milk
Rennet: Traditional calf rennet
Age: Minimum 1 year
Ingredients: Thermized cows’ milk, salt, rennet, and cultures
Texture/profile: Firm, toasted nuts, caramel
Pairing idea: Island Bakery Oat Crumbles

St Malachi Reserve is really an all-time favorite at Chantal’s Cheese Shop, a staple in our cheese case since day one. Named for the small church down the road from the farm, the younger version of this cheese just won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society Competition 2023, but the reserve has earned many honors of its own, including a Super Gold at the 2022 World Cheese Awards.

St Malachi is a gouda-alpine hybrid, combining cultures and techniques from each style of cheese. We were so excited to watch parts of the St Malachi cheese make, which we already talked about a bit in these essays and the photos in the lactose section are all from this day. Really, we got to see different wheels of St Malachi at different stages of the process. From the vat to the press to the brine bath to the caves. The end result is just marvelous, Reserve or otherwise. But we do have a personal preference for the Reserve, which we are so happy to share with you in this box. You’ll find those little tyrosine crystals delightful alongside the rich, nutty flavor with a balanced sweetness.

Creamery Collection Batch #51

Milk: Thermized goat’s milk
Rennet: Traditional calf rennet
Age: 14 months
Ingredients: Thermized goat’s milk, salt, rennet, and cultures
Texture/profile: Semi-firm, smooth, buttery, earth and hay, cream
Pairing idea: Fennel Taralli

Oh, the Creamery Collection, how we’ve loved you over the years! Small batch experiments still considered in the R&D stage but always a delight for ourselves and for customers at our shop. We are so happy to have one of these in the box!

In Batch 51, we have a clothbound cheddar made with 100% goat’s milk. It is a throwback to the an old style of cheddar production, before the advent of wax rinds and modern plastic wrap, wheels would be wrapped in cloth (which, it’s important to point out, was cheap only due to slavery) and rubbed with lard in order to protect the cheese during the aging process. This process creates a much more complex cheese that has more in common with natural rinds than it does with the sterile environments in which block cheddars are made. Still, there is that distinct cheddar sharpness alongside a brothy depth and notes of hay. Try it with the taralli for a crunchy pairing.