WASHINGTON – France may be renowned for its wine and cheeses, but at the White House’s state dinner Thursday, American fare was the guest of honor.
The dinner showcased American culinary achievements including wines from Napa Valley, California, 200 Maine lobsters and award-winning cheese from Oregon and Wisconsin, including world champion Rogue River Blue.
“We came up with a menu that would highlight and express the state of America at the moment,” said White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford. “We are featuring beautiful things from the land and the sea.”
The menu, organized over the course of six months by the First Lady, Comerford and White House Executive Pastry Chef Susie Morrison, included a course of three American artisanal cheeses.
Rogue River Blue cheese from Central Point, Oregon, was among the three cheeses selected, and the only one to win a world championship.
In 2019, Rogue River Blue became the first American-made cheese to win top prize at the Guild of Fine Food’s World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy, the marquee achievement of nearly 20 years in production.
“We really started gaining international attention in 2003 with the release of our Rogue River Blue cheese,” said Marguerite Merritt, cheese emissary at Rogue River Creamery. She’s unofficially known as the marketing manager for the nearly 90-year-old Oregon creamery.
Rogue River Blue won Best American Cheese and Best Blue Cheese awards at the 2003 World Cheese Awards, and is the recipient of 17 other national and international awards over the last two decades.
It remains the only American winner of the World Cheese Awards’ grand prize.
Comerford said the cheese was served with macerated grapes and grenadine walnuts, plus “honey from the White House, of course.”
The chef first learned about the cheese from the French.
“Actually, on my trip to France a couple years ago, my chef counterparts asked me, ‘Have you ever tried Rogue River? It’s the World Champion of Cheese.’ And I said I never did,” Comerford said.
The ultimate compliment: the French embassy in Washington recently bought three wheels of the cheese.
The cheese is wrapped in grape leaves that have been soaked in pear liqueur. The wheels then spend 9 to 11 months aging in caves. Ten thousand wheels of the cheese are released in the fall of each year, a small batch compared to the creamery’s other cheeses, Merritt said.
“Rogue River Blue is a seasonal released cheese that we only make in the fall months, when our dairy milk is at its best,” she said. “It’s only made with milk from our own certified organic dairy here in Southern Oregon.”
The wheels retail for $240 on the creamery’s website, and typically sell out by the new year.
About three miles east of the White House, Eastern Market’s Bowers Fancy Dairy Products sells Rogue River Blue for $76 per pound.
How the cheese got to the White House remains unclear.
Rogue Creamery confirmed that the cheese was not purchased directly from nor was it gifted by the creamery.
Eastern Market cheesemonger Mark Bedford also denied involvement. Arrowine & Cheese in Arlington, Virginia, told Capital News Service it only received a limited supply and was sold out before the state dinner.
The White House so far has not responded to an inquiry about its supplier for the cheese.
You must be logged in to post a comment.