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(cheese, cont.) Inside the plant, 22,000 pounds of milk fill a rectangular vat to the brim. A worker throws handfuls of salt onto thousands of cheese curds as they cook in another vat at the opposite end of the plant. All workers wear hairnets. The plant is meticulously clean and maintained. The stainless steel glistens. Before leaving Cedar Grove, I paw through the open-topped cooler in the store piled full of specialty cheeses. I sample an organic Monterey jack, an aged brick and a limburger. And sure enough, I spot a few pale orange wedges of Gingrich’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve. The organic Monterey jack has a squeaky texture and full flavor. The limburger has a soft texture and tastes of salt and of pepper, in that order. The aged brick has a pungent smell but a light, slightly buttery taste. Before I sample Pleasant Ridge Reserve for myself, I remember Carpenter telling me the cheese goes well with fresh, sliced pears. “It’s a semi-hard cheese with a hint of earthy flavor,” she says. “It has a strong, complex taste, at moments both sweet and sharp. You can taste the grass that the cows fed on.” And Carpenter is right; there is something different about the Gingrich’s Pleasant Ridge Reserve. I don’t know if I’d say it tastes of grass, but I could swear the earthy favors do come through. As Carpenter says simply, “Sometimes it’s just the feeling that you’re eating something special that makes all the difference. And I think that’s what people want.”
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