From clockwise from bottom-left: Cardona from Carr Valley in La Valle, WI, Evalon from LaClare Farms in Chilton, WI, Landjaeger with Door County Cherries from Zuber’s in Monroe, WI, and Eleven Brothers from Boston Post Dairy in Enosburg Falls, VT.

The grassy, herbaceous flavors of goat cheeses are complemented by the sweet and salty counterpoint of the landjaeger sausage studded with Door County cherries. The Cardona is soft and meltingly rich. The Evalon presents clean and clear flavors of goat milk, aged to a firm texture. The Eleven Brothers, a rind washed goat cheese, has a texture similar to a Pecorino Romano with all sorts of nutty, grassy flavors bursting through in the long, lingering finish.  I can hardly claim that a rural Vermont farmstead dairy is part of Great Lakes Cuisine, but it it is a kindred spirit.

Simple, full flavors.  Pair with a Sprecher Mai Bock when in season or a Bell’s Two Hearted Ale, which each balance the strong goat cheese flavors with a balance of hops and malt flavors.