[Pre-order] Aged Cheese - HAKUSEN Mountain Ground Double Cream

 HAKUSEN 
Mountain Ground Double Cream

- Aged fresh cheese made by Iwate prefecture farmhouse's miracle milk -

“It’s often a month waiting period, even in Japan!”

*As each cheese is made by hand, there’s only limited amount being sold per month

Won multiple awards:
Grand Prix in the <Sweets and New Experiences Category>  of the Japan Treasure Iwate Competition 2019
Japan's Treasures JAPAN Competition 2019 <Strongest Materials Category> Second Prize

Hakusen is a cheese made from milk that has been produced with so much effort that the story of the ranch for 24 years becomes a movie.

It is made from mountain dairy milk and fresh cream.
This is a fresh natural cheese made by experimenting to find the right amount of moisture and the right amount of salt. 
The double use of milk and fresh cream makes it richer!
With time, the cheese matures, even more, becoming thicker, softer, and more aromatic. Unlike mold cheese, this cheese has no peculiarity and is easy to eat.
It is delicious on its own but is also recommended to be served with jam, dried fruits, or cured ham.

Aged and thickened, Hakusen is a perfect match for sour hard bread. It also goes well with wine.

Tanoyama Yamachi Rakunou Milk

-From pasture land, where cows and people work together to create-

(Video retrieved from https://www.ecshop.undiscovered.jp/hakusen)

Where is it grown??

They put fences around steeply sloped mountain areas that cannot be used as arable land, release dairy cows, and cut open the land. They transplanted Japanese knotweed and let the cows eat the wild grasses that grew on the land, creating a pastoral mountain pasture through the joint efforts of cows and humans.

No chemical fertilizer, no pesticides, and no grain feed, this dairy farm makes the most of the herbivorous nature of dairy cows. No cost is involved in raising the cows. Soon after the end of World War II, Dr. Kyoji Naohara, a psychosocial ecologist, advocated the practice of mountain dairy farming in Tanohata Village, Kitasanriku.



Kimio Yoshizuka, the founder of the company, came to this area in the spring of 1974 while studying at Tokyo University of Agriculture, following his senior who had already started mountain dairy farming in Tanohata Village. He cleared the mountain and planted Japanese knotweed. He scattered shells given to him by fishermen along the coast. Today, more than 50 kinds of wild grasses grow wild in the pastureland, and dairy cows eat them.

However, this mountain dairy farming has not been smooth sailing. It has overcome many hardships over the years to become what it is today. A turning point came when a local TV station took up Yoshizuka's mountain dairy farming. People in the prefecture and all over the country began to ask for milk from healthy mountain dairy cows.

While walking down the steep slope, the dairy cows eat an abundance of seasonal wild grasses. They also eat bitter herbs that are used as medicinal herbs. They know it is good for their bodies. The cows ate leaping salted wakame seaweed that was shared with them by fishermen. It is a good source of salt and minerals. The water they drink is spring water from the farm.

"There is nothing here that is not natural."

The raw milk from dairy cows is truly grass-fed. However, because they do not force the cows to milk more, but let nature take its course, the amount of milk produced is one-third that of a typical dairy. When Mr. Yoshizuka goes to deliver the milk, he hears, "It tastes like spring now" or "It tastes like autumn". Because they eat a lot of wild plants in season, the taste changes slightly. This farm is now inherited by his eldest son, Kotaro. His fourth son, Yuji, is in charge of making butter and cheese, which he produces at Milk Port NAO, a workshop built on the farm. He learned how to make cheese in Hokkaido. He is the only one who makes everything.

Cheese and butter are both made from grass-fed raw milk, and the taste changes with the seasons, which is fascinating.

A Grand Prix won by two generations of father and son

They want people to know the appeal of mountain dairy farming through "Hakusen". With this in mind, he and his father, who started a mountain dairy farm in Iwate, went to the Japan's Treasure Grand Prix in Iwate.

(Image retrieved from https://www.ecshop.undiscovered.jp/hakusen)

The double use of milk and fresh cream makes it richer, and after a month, it matures further to become thicker and softer, with a stronger aroma. On the other hand, it is easy to eat because it is not peculiar. He spoke passionately about his particularity.

The judges, who hail from Europe, the home of cheese, praised it highly, saying, "It has a very natural taste of milk. The judges also gave high marks to the carefully selected salt, saying that it can be used in a variety of ways.

As a result, it won the Grand Prix in its category at the Iwate Competition and was awarded the Runner-up Grand Prix in the Strongest Ingredient Category at the Japan Competition 2019. It was also selected to participate in the world competition in Singapore.

Tips to enjoy HAKUSEN with the best condition

Point 1
Store it refrigerated below 10℃.

Point 2
Keep it placed about 30 mins at room temperature just before eating. It will enhance "umami" of HAKUSEN.

Point 3
Do not place strong-smelling food (like garlic) & fermented food (like Korean pickles) near HAKUSEN 

Point 4
Wrap the cut edge of HAKUSEN with paper wrapping the cheese or plastic wrap.
By doing that, you will be able to enjoy a change of taste after HAKUSEN is arrived keeping deliciousness. Aroma of cheese will be stronger as well. 

Notes from the farmer: 
* Black mold, blue mold or red mold may be appeared depending on state of preservation even though it's before the best consumed date. You can still enjoy eating once you remove the mold part. 
* Please note: the longer HAKUSEN is exposed to the air or placed at room temperature, the more likely it deteriorates.