What’s in Season: Melinda Mae cheese at Cherry Street Cheese & Provisions

Owner Johanna Bloom, her shop on Cherry Street in New Canaan, and the You Say Olé sandwich (with manchego, chorizo and, ginger-peach jam). Amy Sowder photos

By AMY SOWDER

One of the best things about milk is that it can become cheese. 

And we’re here for it.

Enter the Connecticut-crafted, bright, buttery Melinda Mae cheese, which defies ho-hum expectations in a similar vein as its namesake does in Shel Silverstein’s poem. In the 1974 poem from children’s book “Where the Sidewalk Ends,” a determined little girl accomplishes a seemingly impossible task by eating an entire whale. 

This also adorable-yet-impressive cheese feels like succulent silk on your tongue with a finish that whispers of button mushrooms.

“There’s a subtle hint of earthiness to it. It’s an interesting but really accessible soft cheese,” says Johanna Bloom, owner of Cherry Street Cheese & Provisions in the heart of New Canaan, Conn., which carries the Melinda Mae. “It’s got a high butterfat content, so it would go really well with a tart jam or fresh berries as they come into season. It’s got a nice brightness for spring.”

Ten minutes south of Scotts Corners, the Cherry Street Cheese counter is the place for turophiles to chat all things fromage with the cheesemongers who offer 70 to 90 cheeses from all over the world, plus Brooklyn-based Dellapietras dry-aged meat, organic olive oils, hand-sliced charcuterie, grilled sandwiches, gourmet crackers, artisan jams, bean-to-bar chocolates, dining decor and other accompaniments. Bloom took over the shop in 2023, not long after Plum Plums, as it was previously called, moved from Pound Ridge to New Canaan.

Bloom tries to source as many quality products from Connecticut and the Northeast as possible, like the Melinda Mae, made by Mystic Cheese Co., founded by Brian Civitello and Jason Sobocinski in 2013 in a purpose-built shipping container on a farm in Lebanon, Conn. Today, the company has grown into its state-of-the-art cheesemaking facility in Groton, Conn., 1 1/2 hours east of the Cherry Street Cheese shop.

The Melinda Mae — called “the dreamiest, creamiest cheese” by its makers — is an award-winning, American original, bloomy rind cheese sold nationwide for 14 years. Fans of literature and poetry, the Mystic Cheese founders like to choose cheese names related to both literature and tales of the sea, reflecting the connection to Mystic. 

It’s delicious sliced, spread or melted and comes aged 21 days from the milk of Ayrshire cows. Mystic Cheese makers source their milk exclusively from Connecticut farms that share their commitment to animal welfare and rigorous standards for milk production.

That commitment sits well with Bloom.

“We do tend to take in a lot of small-batch artisan producers,” Bloom says. “At the heart of it, what we are fundamentally about is cheese with a diversity of origins, types of milk and award winners.”

On May 22, the cheese shop is hosting an American Cheese Tasting event, in celebration of  American Cheese Month, which highlights the growing number of quality artisanal cheeses crafted within the borders of the United States. 

“A lot of what we see in domestic cheeses is fashioned after old-world European cheeses,” Bloom says. While there’s no way around finding inspiration abroad, Mystic Cheese likes to create innovative American cheeses, exclusive to their company. The cheese is sold in Connecticut farmers markets, as well as cheese shops across the country, coast to coast.

At Cherry Street, the Melinda Mae is cut to order, and customers get to taste it before they buy. The cheese is wrapped in a cheese paper made specifically for maintaining the cheese’s proper humidity so it stays fresh. 

For a soft cheese like the Melinda Mae, a cheese knife with holes along the blade is best because it offers less surface to stick to. A rounded-edge cheese spreader is helpful also. This gastronomic gal is versatile in its pairing abilities.

“With buttery cheese, anything with a little acidity or tartness goes really well,” Bloom says. “The Melinda Mae with a glass of rosé would be lovely. I’d sit by the pool and eat that.”

Cherry Street Cheese & Provisions is located at 149 Cherry St., New Canaan, Conn. For more information, visit cherrystreetcheese.com.