Formaggio Kitchen Food Community programs

So excited when both of these confirmations landed in my inbox

Greater Boston area fans of cheese, charcuterie, and delicious prepared foods are surely no strangers to Formaggio Kitchen. For 30 years Formaggio's flagship Cambridge location (and more recently their South End and New York City branches) have sold an impressive array of cheese, meats, prepared foods, and gourmet goods to a dedicated food appreciating customer-base.

A few weeks ago I saw that Formaggio had started the Formaggio Food Community program, dubbed at the time the Local Cheese and In-House Charcuterie CSAs. Formaggio prides itself on working with and supporting farms and cheese makers who uphold traditional production methods and put real food first. In this vein they have started the Formaggio Food Community program which has both Local Cheese and In-House Charcuterie options.

After reading the Food Community page and seeing what each option entailed I was sold!! After talking it over with Gail we decided to sign up for 6 month small shares of both the Local Cheese and In-House Charcuterie options. Gail and I both love cheese and think this is a great way to support New England cheese producers as well as expand our knowledge of some of the great cheese's this area has to offer. As for the In-House Charcuterie option- this one is pretty much all me as Gail is only starting to eat meat and I don't expect her to be on board with all the salty, smoked, and preserved stuff! Fine by me, Charcuterie is one of my favorite food items - so much so that if a restaurant has a charcuterie board on their menu there is a 90% chance I will order it.

We signed up for a small share of each as the Formaggio site said it would be appropriate for 1-2 people. 

For the Local Cheese program with each monthly pickup we can expect four varieties of cheese (1/4 to 1/3 pound of each) from different New England producers. Each month the pickup will have one example of the following: Strong cheese, soft cheese, and firm cheese.

For the In-House Charcuterie share it will be more of a surprise as the site only provided an example of what we can expect, but reading the example had me drooling:

You'll find four examples of Julie's handiwork in each installment. The list below is an example of what you'll receive. The contents may vary slightly depending on the offerings of our network of local farms, as well as Julie's creativity and inspiration.

Small Share: 2 fresh sausage links (lamb, pork, or chicken), 1/4 pound of pâté or rillettes, 1/4 pound of cured meat (bacon, pancetta, guanciale, etc.), 1/4 - 1/3 pound of a seasonally appropriate "surprise"

I'm extremely excited to see and taste all the delicious cheeses and charcuterie Gail and I have coming to us between June and November and cannot wait to share all of our goodies! Pickups will be the first weekend of each month. I will try and post a recap with pictures of each pickup, so stay tuned!