Cowgirl Creamery

Cowgirl Creamery is a company located in Point Reyes Station, California, which manufactures artisan cheeses. Founded in 1994, the company manufactures its own cheeses[1] and sells other imported and domestic cheese.[2] Its own cheeses include Red Hawk and Mt. Tam (named after Mount Tamalpais). The company operates a storefront in the Ferry Building of San Francisco. Founder Peggy Smith worked for years in the kitchen at Chez Panisse, and the restaurant is among many Bay Area establishments to incorporate cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery into its menu.[3]

Cheesemaking

St Pat, a spring seasonal cheese

Cowgirl Creamery crafts its own cheeses using organic milk from the neighboring Straus Family Creamery. Mt. Tam, a triple cream cheese similar to Explorateur, and Red Hawk, also a triple cream, washed rind, unctuous cheese, are the more well-known of their aged cheeses, but the company also makes Pierce Point, St. Pat, and Devil's Gulch on a seasonal basis. Only two of their aged cheeses are in a slightly different format: Inverness looks like an aged goat cheese but is actually made with cow's milk; and Wagon Wheel, which is a firmer cheese, is made in 25-pound wheels. They make an unpublicized aged cheese, S.F Drake, which is the same size and shape as Mt. Tam, but is washed in Muscat wine and topped with macerated currants and has a stronger, sweeter flavor.

Their aged cheeses are named after landmarks or other features local to the Marin Headlands. Cowgirl Creamery also makes fresh cheeses: a clabberd cottage cheese, a fromage blanc, a crème fraiche, and Niloufer's Panir (which is named for chef Niloufer Ichaporia King).

History

The company was started in 1994. In addition to its San Francisco store, a storefront in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C. (where founders Sue Conley and Peggy Smith are from) was open from 2006 to 2013.[4]

On May 17, 2016, the company announced that they had been acquired by the publicly-traded Swiss dairy company Emmi AG.[5]

Popular culture

Cowgirl Creamery was referenced in episode 6.1 of the popular TV sitcom Will & Grace, "Dames at Sea", in the scene where Will is trying to ease the mind of Jack in suspicions of a drunken rendezvous with each other.

See also

References

  1. Fletcher, Janet (2005-02-24). "Cowgirl Creamery strikes it rich with a triple cream". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  2. Hall, Christopher (2013-05-29). "5 Stops on a California Cheese Trail". The New York Times.
  3. Nicholls, Walter (2006-06-21). "Some Old Friends Say 'Cheese'". Washington Post. p. F01. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  4. Sidman, Jessica (2013-12-13). "Cowgirl Creamery Closing at the End of the Month". Washington City Paper. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
  5. "Cowgirl Creamery sold to Swiss dairy company". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-05-17.

External links


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