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The possibilities of clouds.
No, we haven’t opened the Westport Rivers sparkling wine yet. But we are excited about what Karl is doing these days. He’s been playing with a dairy product that is very popular in France and we think he’s got it! The new baby is called des Nuages, which means Clouds. It’s a lactic cheese that is soft and unmolded. So the moisture content is higher than with Hannahbells, and it has the texture of cottage cheese. The similarity ends there! Des Nuages (Clouds) is divine. A chef friend of ours calls it “renaissance ricotta.” It is an artisanal curd made from our girls’ milk of course.
We first played with des Nuages a few weeks before Thanksgiving. We wanted to stuff our Thanksgiving turkey with it, so we tried it out by stuffing a chicken. Man oh man…the des Nuages baked up like a ricotta, capturing all the aroma and flavor of the juices from the chicken, and the chicken itself was moist-just the way we always hope the turkey will be. So we used it on Thanksgiving Day stuffing the turkey. The turkey did not take longer to cook (interesting…), and was quite moist. Meanwhile, we pulled the cooked des Nuages out and served it with bruschetta as one of the hors d’s. At dinner, our guests went back in the kitchen to get the rest of it on their plates. Made Leo, the chief cook of our family, look like a superstar. But then, he is.
The reason we named Karl’s new creation Clouds: the chefs we’ve given samples to have been limited only by their creativity! One has stuffed quail with des Nuages, two have made gnocchi, another has used it in a soup, you get the picture. We remember lying on the grass watching clouds take different shapes. The same thing is happening with this artisanal curd. What else could we name it?
We plan to bring the des Nuages (Clouds) out for chefs and caterers first so we can use the great distributors who are working with us. If it continues to work for them, we’ll create a retail package and label and get it in the stores. Meanwhile, we’ll be selling it by the half-gallon, which is 3.5 pounds, more than most consumers need. If you’re interested, email or call me/us.
Happy, Happy New Year!
Barbara