Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Eating at the source. . . . . . .Part I


We are somewhat fussy about what we eat when traveling, 
just as we are at home. 
We rarely eat fast food at anytime, but sometimes, when 
hunger strikes, on the road the options for a quick meal 
require searching for an exit with yellow arches. There 
I can at least get a fish sandwich being a non-meat eater.
On this road trip through New England we were able to 
find not only some great restaurants for dinner, such 
as the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT., 
Cotton in Manchester, NH, and our favorite Maine 
waterside restaurant, Barnacle Billy's in Ogunquit, but 
also fabulous factories where we could get samples 
of quality foods.

So, while 'food trucks' may be the latest rage, I'm all for
stopping at the source, the factory, be it for ice cream, 
cheese, or fantastic bread.
  

Ben & Jerry's - most people who love ice cream are familiar 
with this brand - and now that it's owned by huge Unilever 
it's available across much of the planet.
But, believe me, it really is still made in Waterbury, Vermont 
in Ben and Jerry's original small factory - we visited and took 
the tour. . . and of course had ice cream for lunch that day!


We also visited the tiny town of Cabot in Vermont, 
population 233, to visit the Cabot Creamery where 
cheddar cheese is made by 109 of those townspeople! 
Here I was all these years sticking up for the town of 
Cheddar in Somerset, England, not far from my home, where 
cheddar cheese originated.
Meanwhile Vermonters have been making great cheddar cheese 
for over 95 years when there were more cows than people in 
the state. 94 independent farm families joined together to 
create the Cabot Farmers Creamery Cooperative, not 
just to do business, but to preserve the highest standards 
of dairy quality that are the hallmark of the 
Green Mountain State. 


Today, Cabot Creamery is owned cooperatively by 
farm families throughout the Northeast, and produces 
quality dairy products, including the 'World's Best 
Cheddar' - the cheese that has apparently 
won international awards beating out England's cheddar! 

The movie, the tour of the creamery in action, the tasting 
room where there were so many versions of wonderful cheddar 
to nibble, and the shop where purchasing several 
different cheddars, not available in my local grocery, 
to bring home, was a great stop on the road.

Next time. . . . get the butter ready, we'll be spreading
some of the best breads ever!

4 comments:

  1. How fun that you got to go to both of those places. I love cheddar! I love almost any cheese, lol.

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  2. Hey, that's a tasty post! interesting to hear about the cheddar; as an Englishman, I feel I should confess to liking Canadian cheddar best of all - strong and nutty (rather like myself, really). But I think the US is a little ahead of the UK when it comes to decent roadside eating-type-stopping-places. Ever tried a 'Little Chef'? - don't.

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  3. Ok, now I am hungry for ice cream and love Ben & Jerry's.
    Haven't heard of the cheese factory, but it sounds similar
    to the Tillamook Cheese factory here in Oregon. So glad
    you were able to find some good food.

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  4. We adore factory tours as well, and we made sure we visited these two food manufacturers the last time we ventured up to New England (2006). We try to buy Cabot Cheese on a regular basis. And you are right that they have a LOT more flavors available up there to sample!

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