I had the pleasure of walking just a few blocks over to where my friend Yoav Perry recently started making cheese at his new business, "Perrystead Dairy". What a privilege to be able to have a cheese-making neighbor a few blocks from my house, and my house is a few blocks from my studio.

Perrystead Dairy will be making fresh, soft and aged cheeses along with yogurts, kefir and who knows what's in store beyond that. He let me choose a cheese model to take to the studio today. Naturally, I picked the most colorful wheel. This is one of 9 wheels made with fellow friend/local cheesemaker Emilliano Tatar of Merion Park Cheese Co. on the very first day of production. This inaugural batch is made with local Buck's County grass fed cow's milk and has a buttery, slight tang and meaty flavor that is incredibly delicious. Not bad for a first try, guy! Bravo.

The rind shows a spectrum of colors due to some major biodiversity. They let the rind bloom, then smeared it with bacterial wash then bloom again; so it has characteristics of both. This cheese may or may not be made again, hence the name "research and development" but it's a colorful and delicious glimpse of the potential of this urban dairy.

Country of Origin: Pennsylvania, USA

Availability: sold