Vendor Highlight: Lakin’s Gorges Cheese
Lakin’s Gorges Cheese: Where Passion and Delicious Cheese Intersect
By Jan Heimlich
The path that led Allison Lakin to become a world-renowned cheesemaker is so full of radical, surprising turns, she felt the need to include on her company’s website a listing she calls the “Not-for-the-faint-of-heart Eight Easy Steps to Get from Working at Maritime Museums to Becoming a Master Cheesemaker.”
It’s a fascinating journey that includes graduating cum laude in anthropology from Cornell University (Gorges in the company name pays homage to the magnificent gorges that surround the campus), eating local fare throughout a four-month, cross-country road trip, and working at the Mystic Seaport Museum in Mystic, Connecticut. But the last step (number 8) seems to bring it all together: “Take a leap of faith in self and the universe.”
It’s a philosophy that might explain how she has become one of the most successful cheesemakers in Maine, producing aged and fresh cheese made from farmstead milk that comes from her own herd of cows. Accolades Allison’s cheeses have received began early on in her cheesemaking career. Her ricotta won 3rd place in the American Cheese Society competition and her semi-hard cheeses placed 15th and 32nd in the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association's World Championship Cheese Contest.
After Allison founded the Lakin’s Gorges Cheese in 2011 in Waldoboro, Downeast Magazine named her “Editor’s Choice for Best Cheesemaker.” Yankee Magazine named her Rockweed cheese “One of the 10 Best Foods in New England,” and that same cheese won “Best in Class” in the World Championship Cheese Contest.
Today, Lakin’s Gorges Cheese sells a variety of soft-ripened cheeses, hard cheeses, a Cascadilla Bleu, a gift box with cheese, honey, and crackers, and “the cheesemaker’s choice,” a sampling of Allison’s hand-picked selections that promise to “arrive at their peak of ripeness.” Lakin’s recipe page explains how to prepare such mouthwatering dishes as spinach pancakes, coddled eggs, and Prix de Diane custard tart.
Lakin’s Gorges Cheeses are sold at the Good Tern Co-op, as well as in restaurants and shops throughout New England, including Rockland’s Primo and Wiscasset’s Maine Tasting Center, a nonprofit that connects the public to small Maine food producers through storytelling, education, and hands-on experiences.
Learn more about Lakin’s Gorges Cheese by visiting their website, and following them on Facebook and Instagram.