Vermont Butter & Cheese sources

[vonwotan]

I would love to hear everyones thoughts on Vermont Butter & Chees Co.'s products and sources around downtown Boston.

[galleygirl]

To the OP, the downtown source with the most Vermont Butter and Cheese stuff on a regular basis is definitely the Charles Circle Whole Foods. They have the butter, and the goat cheeses (aged and fresh and crottin) and all the European dairy...Plus, if you get a case of something (just 6 pieces on a lot of it) at any WF, they give you 10% off now...

[vonwotan]

Thank you! That's great to know. I used to live on Beacon Hill so this was my local market. Knowing that they offer the case discount I will certainly go back to stock up!!

[BeverlyCY]

Just bought some from Shaw's in West Roxbury. $4.79 for 4 oz. Olive and Herb

[vonwotan]

Thanks all for the info. I have had no trouble finding the creme fraiche or the cheeses but it seems that the butter is available less often than the rest. Has that been your experience as well?

[Karl S]

Yes, because the way its wrapped it would not keep well in most supermarkets. Foil, foil, foil please.....

I am happy to get Kate's from Maine. At Market Basket, it's $3.69/pound.

[galleygirl]

Actually, the butter is wrapped in paper, but underneath it, it's in a plastic tube like salami or bologna, with crimps in the ends. Plus, it's marked out in half ounces on the plastic tube, just like regular butter...

[galleygirl]

Since Whole Foods carries it, you can always ask them to order it from another store; they'll get it for you...I think some Roche Bros. carry it, and of cours, the Concord Cheese Shop.

[pondrat]

Their Creamy Goat Cheese with Olives and Herbs is fantastic. I get it at Whole Foods and at Donnelans. Just wish they had larger containers as it goes very fast.. so you need to buy two for any average sized group.

[Gio]

I.m positive it's the VT B&C Chevre we buy at Trader Joe's here in Massachusetts. In fact the package is twice as much as we see in other markets at almost the same price. Quite a bargain. We love it and always have some in the fridge.

[Velda Mae]

Gio is right. VT Butter & Cheese Co.'s products are also available at Wilson Farms, Whole Foods and Russo's. I've never seen them at Formaggio. I've seen the Bijou crotin at Wilson Farms and the cheese shop in Concord.

[Karl S]

The creme fraiche is available in many ordinary supermarkets, too.

[itaunas]

Has anybody checked out the "Dairy Bar" at Kicka** Cupcakes? Probably priced the same as their cupcakes, which would make whole foods a bargain, but must say I am curious. Formaggio has a lot of local cheeses and presumably some of theirs, but haven't always seen the butter there. Russo's might also be another possibility and even Wilson farms, but I haven't been there in ages.

I do like the Vermont Butter & Cheese cultured butter, I think that is worth seeking out. And I have seen it whole foods. However, its still once and a while thing... I do ok with Cabot 83, regular, Dairygold... occasionally Brazilian butter and Kates which are are easy to find in the area. Marscapone and Creme Fraiche are also pretty easy to make at home -- theirs was good (I had it a fair bit from the cheese outlet in burlington), but didn't stand out based on what is available from Italian sources. And ditto the chevre which I think I tried in VT. Would love to try some of their other cheeses, though, and my experiences beyond the butter are getting long in the tooth at this point.

[galleygirl]

Mmmmm, but Vermont Butter and Cheese's Creme Fraiche is 42% butterfat....KInda tough to get that commercially....mmmm,butterfat....

[itaunas]

Totally agreed, although I thought one of the basket cheese makers was making a nice mascarpone (not calabro, maybe from NYC). You can buy 40% butterfat cream locally, not certain though if non-UHT is available in less than case sizes. After getting a lower-fat creme fraiche recipe down, it might be possible to try for 42% through a bit of slow evaporation. I think I OD'ed a bit on the VB&C stuff a while back in Burlington, so aside from the butter its out of my repertoire, that was mostly what I was saying in my confusing post. Also Paul Marks does carry the whole VBC line (some sizes and a couple of cheeses are special order), so if you can convince your favorite retail store they will sell a case, it is pretty easy for them to get anything. For the poster who said it went to fast, there are larger commercial sizes that they offer, but the jump is huge (eg 4-5lbs in the mascarpone and creme fraiche instead of respectively 16 and 8oz)

[Splendid Spatula]

Doesn't Whole Foods carry a range of their stuff? I think I used both mascarpone and creme fraiche this weekend!

[steinpilz]

Yup, I've seen their stuff at the River Street WF.