Featured Cheese Makers : Eichten's Hidden Acres
Here’s some info you might offer fellow neighbors in the so called “cheese state”; Officially Eichten’s is the first recorded farmstead cheese in the US. In 1976, the Eichten family farm in Center City, MN began making a true Dutch Gouda after milk prices took a dramatic drop. The difficult transition from dairy farming to a farm-based cheese-making operation required many new skills to be learned. The farm showed virtually no profit for many years and of the 5 farms involved in the University of Minnesota’s pilot program promoting and assisting in the transition to cheese making, only Eichten’s Farm survived. Mary Eichten attributes their success to having 10 children to help as well as self described “German stubbornness”.
To truly capture the spirit involved in the ground breaking history of Eichten’s cheese making requires the realization that when they first developed their Dutch Gouda and explained to people what they were doing, further explanation was almost always required. Nobody even knew what gouda was. But with their 10 child marketing team, sometimes carrying cheese around in their pockets, word spread and eventually it was suggested that they should sell their cheese at the farmer’s market.
In 1977, Mary Eichten was already working on seasoning their cheese, adding herbs and spices, which in many cases again were the first of their kind. It is interesting to hear Eichten’s explain how so many of the flavored cheeses that you can find now were fashioned after their original recipes. What’s more difficult to fathom is a time when tomato basil was a new flavor or that there was even an original to be copied. But Mary was devoted to her recipes. Her daughter Eileen explained how Mary spent 3 years developing the recipe to their famous, and only true US made Tilsit, and at one point shut the door behind her after giving instruction that she was NOT to be interrupted for any reason.
The American Cheese Society, founded in 1983, had their first competition in 1985 with 30 cheese makers entering 89 total cheeses in 7 categories. Eichten’s cheeses were awarded many Blue Ribbons as well as Top Honors. Eichten’s didn’t make it to the ACS conference in Chicago in 2009 where 1,149 cheeses were entered from 181 producers.
Given Eichten’s rich history, the bottom line has always been a quality product and a process intact to continue to do so. All of Eichten’s cheese is made on their farm from fresh cow's milk with no coloring, artificial flavors or preservatives (their milk contains no growth hormones.) The milk goes directly from the dairy farm to the vat at the farm. The milk is then pasteurized and sent directly to a small open vat. All work is done by hand in small batches to insure quality and consistency; from the mixing of the spices used in their herb and spiced cheeses to the stirring of the curds and whey. The excess whey is used in feeding their buffalo, returning it to the land.
Most recently, Eichten’s has taken on another new venture with the production of a line of goat’s milk gouda. The goat’s milk comes from a cooperative farm near Bemidji, and as with their cow’s milk cheese, it is very clean and uses no colors, additives, or preservatives. These new goudas are aged for 2 months to bring out the best tasting qualities of the goat’s milk. Eichten’s currently makes the 10 lb goat goudas in plain, herb, and tomato basil flavors. Try them all!