The Weblog
From vendor features & product spotlights,
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Tonight's featured vendor?
Covington Cheese Company!!
I thought I had met people whose passion for producing quality food consumed them – then I met Andrea Littlejohn, gregarious, passionate, and full of energy. I’ve read of and spoken with so many growers who had great ideas for a value added product, only to find the regulations and restrictions so daunting, they never got further than the research phase.
Prior to accepting the manager position with the Virtual Market, I sat down to read the different food production rules in Ohio, and nationwide, finding just how intimidating food production can be, for a small-time, start-up operation… what type of crates you can use to legally haul your produce to market, the licensing required to transport frozen and refrigerated goods, what you’re allowed to incorporate into your baked goods, which butchers are licensed and inspected appropriately for reselling… I could go on all night, without even touching on the cost!
Then take such an involved process as cheese? How driven would a person have to be to go thru all that rigmarole? Well, meet Andrea Littlejohn, the cheese-maker extraordinaire of Covington Cheese Company!
And not just any cheese, but a wide variety of handmade, raw milk artisan cheeses, as she’s committed to presenting the healthiest, most natural cheese possible. And where does she create such a product? Her 20’x20’ USDA licensed commercial kitchen… stepping from her lovely home into that pristine workplace, I was undeniably impressed – it was immaculate, and impeccably organized. To stand there and think how much cheese can be made by one grey-haired lady, I was envious of her energy and her talent… if anyone could make such a business endeavor flourish, it’s Andrea!
Being a business owner with several federal licenses and a fully-licensed and inspected facility is a far cry from the woman who began her cheese-making career four years ago, before she learned what an uphill battle she had in front of her. Having been licensed to sell in April of this year, she still has testing and courses to complete regularly to keep her licensing current, from her milk-hauler license to her weekly milk testing for antibiotics. So this is definitely a woman who loves what she does!
Having always sourced the milk for her cheese locally, she currently turns to Lauxfield Farm, a Grade A Jersey dairy in Houston. Conveniently only 6 miles from her home, Andrea heads to the farm once a week for the milk she’ll turn into her artisan cheeses, knowing the importance of trusting the dairy responsible for milk she’s sourcing to produce her craft.
Jerseys are famous for the cream and butterfat in their milk, and all of that cream goes into Andrea’s cheese. Not only that, but her cheese is as natural as possible, as she uses only rennet, salt, cultures and fermentation to create the different varieties – and often the only cultures in her cheese are the natural cultures from the raw milk!
Cheese made from raw milk must be aged for a minimum of 2 months, and some of Andrea’s selections, such as her parmesan, are aged for more than a year!
Andrea is convinced cheese is an art form, and she’s just as adamant there’s nothing better than sharing her art. When she started giving me ideas for using some of her full-flavored cheeses as a garnish in quiche, for an incomparable mac ‘n cheese, or the perfect accent to a party tray, I realized just how much I’d been missing all my life, as I was completely unfamiliar with Fontina, Gruyere, Havarti, Brie, Manchego… and to think I can now experience such variety from a local producer, with a truly local, exquisite product? Not ooooh and aaaah, but Mmmmmm and thanks!
www.miamicounty.locallygrown.net!