{"id":9179,"date":"2013-09-23T14:05:01","date_gmt":"2013-09-23T18:05:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=9179"},"modified":"2016-01-12T11:53:06","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T16:53:06","slug":"calvin-coolidge-plymouth-cheese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/calvin-coolidge-plymouth-cheese\/","title":{"rendered":"Calvin Coolidge and Plymouth Cheese"},"content":{"rendered":"

There can\u2019t be many cheesemakers who rent their facilities from the state, whose works are housed on the grounds of a state historical site, and who re-create a recipe first prepared by the father of a US president. Jesse Werner, of Plymouth Artisan Cheese<\/a>, is willing to bet there\u2019s only one: him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s probably the most unique public-private arrangement that exists in the United States\u2014with respect to cheesemaking facilities,\u201d says Werner, who in 2009 assumed stewardship of the historic cheese factory.<\/p>\n

Thanks in part to Werner\u2019s vision and ingenuity, visitors to the President Calvin Coolidge State Historic Site today can experience a literal taste of history. The tiny, remote hamlet of Plymouth Notch, Vermont, has been preserved just as it was in 1923, when \u201cSilent Cal\u201d took the oath of office in the sitting room of the family homestead. The 30th president was born here and is buried here, and it\u2019s not hard for a visitor to imagine life as it unfolded here in the early 20th century. The community church, one-room schoolhouse, and general store all remain as they were, as if suspended in time.<\/p>\n

And just up the hill from the Coolidge homestead stands the cheese factory built by Calvin Coolidge\u2019s father, John Coolidge, in 1890. The cow\u2019s milk cheese Werner is making there today is based on John Coolidge\u2019s recipe and is virtually identical to the \u201cPlymouth Cheese\u201d of the late 19th century: a raw-milk cheese that somewhat resembles cheddar. In addition to the sharp, full- bodied Original Plymouth, Werner offers several variations, some flavored, some smoked, some aged.<\/p>\n

\"PlymouthCheese_Original_int\"<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n

John Coolidge, a dairy farmer, created Plymouth Cheese as a means of turning extra milk into a product with a longer shelf life. The cheese had a reputation that reached to Boston and beyond. But in 1934 a Depression-era milk shortage forced the factory to close.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to the 1960s and to a different John Coolidge, this one the president\u2019s son. Determined to put Plymouth Cheese back on the map, he updated the shuttered factory, and cheesemaking became once more part of the Coolidge Historic Site. In 1998, at age 92, John Coolidge sold the factory to the State of Vermont with the express stipulation that the facility would continue to be used for cheesemaking. \u201cHe never made any money [on the deal],\u201d said John Dumville, historic site operations chief at the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation. Thus, Vermont found itself in the unusual position of needing to find a cheesemaker willing to take on the job.<\/p>\n

In 2009, after a false start or two, the state went through a formal process of soliciting proposals for the cheesemaking business, and Werner\u2019s was chosen. It was risky for Werner, who graduated from Brandeis Uni- versity in 2002 with a degree in sociology and later earned an MBA in Europe and a certificate in cheesemaking from the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese.<\/p>\n

\u201cDealing with cheese, an aged product, is very tough,\u201d says Werner, 32. \u201cYou have to have enough cash flow until you can sell those cheeses a year down the road.\u201d The factory required new equipment and various other updates; the state made some improvements when it took over, but most of the expenses fell (and still fall) to Werner. \u201cWe pay for everything: utilities, gas, electric, phone. It\u2019s a private business, and we carry our own weight,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Not that he\u2019s complaining. Werner calls the arrangement a \u201cwin-win for history buffs and cheese connoisseurs.\u201d Visitors come for the history, but stay\u2014or return\u2014for the cheese.<\/p>\n

Unusual as it is, the cheese factory at the Coolidge homestead is more than just a curiosity. \u201cIt adds a special vibrancy to the site and makes the experience come alive for visitors,\u201d says Werner. \u201cNot only do you get to see history, you get to taste and touch and smell it. It\u2019s almost like the cheese is an historical exhibit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Images courtesy of Plymouth Artisan Cheese<\/a><\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nineteenth-century cheesemaking traditions thrive at the 30th president’s Vermont Homestead, the home of the historic Plymouth Cheese factory<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9178,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"wprm-recipe-roundup-name":"","wprm-recipe-roundup-description":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[589],"tags":[],"coauthors":[616],"class_list":["post-9179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cheese-talk"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nCalvin Coolidge and Plymouth Cheese - culture: the word on cheese<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nineteenth-century cheesemaking traditions thrive at the 30th president's Vermont Homestead, the home of the historic Plymouth Cheese factory\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, 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