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138 GOURMET NEWS www.gourmetnews.com EXPERIENCE MT STERLING CO-OP CREAMERY'S FINE CHEESES By Patricia Lund, Marketing Director, Mt Sterling Co-op Creamery At this year's Summer Fancy Food Show, we are introducing great cheeses from Mt Sterling Co-op Creamery. Mt Sterling Co-op Creamery's entire product line of goat cheeses are made with one of nature's most perfect foods, goat milk from producers dedicated to natural farming practices. In Mt Sterling, Wisconsin, we are a mem- ber owned and operated cooperative. Mt Sterling is located in the beautiful hill country of SW Wisconsin, known as the Driftless area. Since 1976, we've turned our milk into cheese with the skills and dedication of our cheesemakers. We have raw-milk cheddars, country jack fresh in plain and seven flavors. We also have a goat Mozzarella, goat feta, and pasteurized cheddars. Our newest products include sliced raw milk goat cheddar, whey cream goat butter, artisan blends goat MUSCO FOOD CORP PROVIDES OLD WORLD FLAVORS FOR NEW CUSTOMERS The history of Musco Food Corp. is both interesting and inspiring. In the late 1800s, the Musco family business was started in Sicily. Local cheeses were purchased from farmers, aged and cured, then distributed throughout Italy. In the 1920s, family members immigrated to America, importing these cheeses and many other specialty Italian foods for distribution in the United States. When it comes to cheese, there is a true, deep-rooted passion and connection. According to Phil Musco, "Our family has been involved in the cheese business for many years and it's where it all began!" Musco has always been acknowledged as one of the premier importers of Parmigianno Reggiano, Grana Padano from Ambrosi, Provolone and Pecorino Romano. Musco also takes pride in being one of the few importers to offer cheeses from our native Sicily like Incanestrato and Ragusano, which were favorites of the early Italian Immigrants when they arrived in the United States. Musco believes that the 2013 Fancy Food Show is the perfect time to introduce these two cheeses to the gourmet retailers who may never have had the opportunity to taste or sell to their customers. These cheeses have strong, complex flavors that gourmet consumers should now be ready to appreciate. Incanestrato is a sheep's milk cheese from Sicily (Picurinu Sicilianu in Sicilian dialect) BERTIE COUNTY PEANUTS: A NAME WITH A PURPOSE In 1919, the Powell and Stokes families opened a farm-supply business, Powell & Stokes, Inc. Over the years, the company expanded its reach and added cotton and peanut buying stations. By the 1970s, peanut buying was hugely important to Powell & Stokes, and in the early 1990s the family began discussing a retail arm to showcase the quality peanuts grown in eastern North Carolina. As with most family operated ventures, the use of the family name would have been appropriate for the fledgling retail operation. However, after thinking through the options and looking at the big picture, the owners decided to go in a different direction. Bertie County is one of the poorest and most rural counties in North Carolina. And by extension, it is therefore one of the poorest counties in the United States. Despite having an abundance of timber, farmland, and waterways, the economy of the county has floundered and stagnated since the 1970s. While the use of its natural resources continued to be vitally important to the economic well-being of the county, the '80s and '90s saw a growing PASSAGE TO EUROPE COOKING SAUCES: CLASSIC RECIPES MADE EASY Passage Foods keeps cooking with the launch of Creamy Beef Stroganoff Simmer Sauce, Spanish Chicken Casserole Simmer Sauce and French Beef Burgundy Simmer Sauce. Each of these European classic dishes is made with all fresh ingredients to ensure the full flavors are captured for a true restaurant quality meal served at home. Originating in the haute cuisine of the 19th century, these Passage to Europe™ simmer sauces are certified gluten-free, all-natural and preservative-free. Each sauce is added to a choice of meat, vegetables and simmered to be ready in less than twenty minutes. "There has been such a focus on nouvelle and fusion cuisine that sometimes we fail to give justice to traditional and the tried-andtrue recipes," said Passage Foods' Mark MacKenzie. "These three dishes are wonderful, classic comfort foods. They may not be esoteric, modern day ingredient creations, but they are always a huge success at the dinner table. Restaurant trends tend to dictate what consumers want at home and traditional, comfort foods have stepped out as one of the leading food growth areas of the last few years." More than 74 percent of American consumers believe comfort foods are a rising trend, outdistancing health food (61 percent) shreds, feta crumbles and our artisan cheese line: the Sterling Reserve, a caveaged raw milk goat cheddar, and Sterling Bleu, a cave-aged raw milk goat blue. Just as our farmer owners practice sustainable farming methods, our cooperative focus is on building a sustainable, independent company. We cut and package all of our cheese by hand to provide a product our customers can buy with confidence. We monitor the quality of our milk to assure a safe prod- n JUNE 2013 n GOURMET NEWS uct for our customers. We use a non-gmo rennet and non-gmo cultures. We use all natural ingredients, fresh from our farms to your tables with no shortcuts! I look forward to meeting with those at the show interested in stopping by our booth, 274, to sample product and pick up material. For more information, reach out to Patricia Lund by calling toll free at 1-866-289-4628, faxing 608-734-3810, emailing mtsterlinglund@yahoo.com and visiting www.buymtsterlinggoatcheese.com. made with goat's rennet and placed in baskets to age, creating the shape of the basket weave on the outer rind. Aged for 9-12 months, creating a sharp-spicy, aromatic cheese! This cheese is primarily for grating on pastas, grilled vegetables and soups. Every ounce of this cheese packs a wallop of flavor. Cacicavallo Ragusano is a raw, cow's milk cheese often called "King of the Sicilian Cheese" by many Italian cheese experts. Some call it Sicily's version of Provolone. This cheese is artisanally produced using whole milk exclusively from the Modicana breed of cows. The first thing that strikes you is the sheer size of the cheese, and its rectangular shape, which also gives the cheese its Sicilian nickname "Scaluni" (translated into "step"). It has a golden yellow straw color and an herbaceous, piquant, intense flavor with a wonderful natural aroma. It is great as a cooking ingredient and excellent when served with Nero d'Avola wine. Besides these long standing favorites, Musco proudly offers unique cheeses from Southern Italy such as Moliterno with truffles and Tuma Persa, also known as The Lost Cheese, which is a rare cheese made by only one producer. Musco has also begun importing many cheeses from the Northern Italian Region of Val Taleggio in Lombardy, Italy from the producer Casarrigoni. These include Roccolo, Roccolo Di Vino, Roccolo Balsamico, Rosso Imperiale and Blu di Capra. Musco continues to import unique and quality cheeses and has proven itself as a leader in the specialty cheese business since 1926. interest in eco- and historical tourism. With that in mind, brothers Jack and Bill Powell decided to name their new retail business Bertie County Peanuts. The plan was that as the business grew and expanded it would provide a direct economic impact to the county, and that eventually Bertie County Peanuts and Bertie County would be introduced to folks throughout the country. Due to the outstanding quality of the award-winning Bertie County Peanuts product line, that plan has come to fruition. Over the past 20 years, fans of Bertie County Peanuts have made crosscountry treks just to visit the home store in Bertie County and to enjoy the southern hospitality of the folks throughout the area. With products named after places in the county like Batchelor Bay Seasoned Peanuts, Weeping Mary's Ghost Pepper Peanuts, and Red Hot Hexlena Peanuts, it is no wonder that people want to visit. Today the Bertie County Peanuts gourmet peanut line is found in specialty food stores, restaurants, hotel gift shops, and travel destinations across the United States. and organic food (59 percent) according to a recent Bon Appetit survey. Overall retail sales of comfort foods have been rising since 2008 and show no signs of slowing as consumers have rediscovered cooking more at home and look to find indulgence in products that are known and less complicated. The Passage to Europe Simmer Sauce recipes start with the very best stocks and are blended with simple quality ingredients for perfect everyday meals. lution that satisfies the needs of the time-starved consumer. Each sauce is added to meat, seafood or vegetables and simmered for 15 to 20 minutes. Passage Foods also produces Passage to India, Passage to Mexico, Passage to Thailand, Passage to China and Passage to Morocco cooking sauces. Passage Foods USA is an affiliate of Flavour Makers Pty. Ltd., the second largest seasoning manufacturer in Australia. About Passage Foods USA All Passage Foods cooking sauces are part of a simple, timesaving, three-step meal so- For more information, visit booth 3140 at the Summer Fancy Food Show or go online to www.muscofood.com More information regarding Bertie County Peanuts may be found on its website, www.pnuts.net, or by contacting the company toll-free at 800-457-0005. The physical and mailing address is 217 US Hwy 13 North in Windsor, North Carolina 27983. Bertie County Peanuts will be at booth 5036 at the 2013 Summer Fancy Food Show. For additional product and consumer market information, call 800-860-1045 or visit Passage Foods online at www.passagefoods.com and visit booth booth 4128 at the Summer Fancy Food Show.