Foodie Friday: The Wardroom – Breads and Cheeses
EASTON, Md. – Nothing makes life worth living quite like high quality cheese and fresh baked bread; at least, that’s according to Foodie Friday Host Hannah Cechini. The folks at The Wardroom in Easton really know what they’re doing when it comes to exactly that.
“Just good technique”
Bluepoint Hospitality’s Cheesemonger, Red Barnes, and Head Baker, Glenn May, are experts in their respective fields.
Barnes is responsible for bringing unique tastes, sure to delightfully challenge anyone’s pallet, regardless of if they’re a connoisseur or casual consumer; she says the main mission is a devotion to farmers, while producing minimal waste.
“At the Wardroom, the philosophy is world cheese, but also super American farmstead cheese,” said Barnes. “If somebody comes in and say ‘I want this’ then we source it for them, try to give people what they want.”
Meanwhile, May oversees and bakes the restaurant group’s bread each and every day. And, the loaves don’t last long past the morning hours, because of their popularity.
“It’s just good technique, good flour, and trying to work on our craft that we’ve been applying for the last eight years or so here,” said May.
With their talents combined, Barnes and May guided Hannah and Foodie Photog Mike through a journey of perfect pairings of beautiful bread, and world-class cheese.
Harbison, Austrian Rye
The tour begins with Harbison cows milk cheese from Jasper Hill in Vermont. The cheese is wrapped in spruce, explains Barnes. “It’s amazing, super ripe, lush, and it looks gorgeous on the tablescape,” she said.
Barnes adds a drop of fig aceto balsamic; the tang balances wonderfully with the rich, creamy cheese. “The texture of this cheese is so beautiful, too. It’s just so velvety and smooth. It reminds me of a really nice brie cheese, almost,” said Hannah.
May pairs the cheese with his take on an Austrian Rye, packed with delicious and nutritious, aromatic grains and seeds. “There’s some carrot, fennel, honey, lots of seeds, pumpkin seed oil,” said May.
Vully Rouge, Baguette
Next, Barnes picks out a Vully Rouge Swiss cows milk cheese from Fribourg, dispensing a small, but perfect amount of acacia honey from California.
The cheese is aged 100 days, and takes about three months to arrive in the mail at the Wardroom. However, May’s fresh-baked baguette is made right on premises, just like all of his other breads.
“You can’t go wrong with the classic French baguette,” said May. “In the bread world, we talk about crumb, and we talk about hydration. This is a high-hydration bread, and what you’re going to see is all those holes and bubbles there from the fermentation.”
Sofia Capriole, Signature Sourdough
Sofia Capriole goat cheese from Indiana is on deck. It’s paired with Piedmont truffle honey. “When [the cheese] arrives, it’s super, super fresh. It does get lusher. But, it has an amazing lemon curd quality,” said Barnes. “It’s real truffle in [the honey], which makes the world of difference.”
“We’re looking for a really nice color, a nice, firm sort of thud on the bottom,” said May. “In this is a mix of flour, we try to use the best flours that we can find; mostly organic… A lot of times when you see white flour, a lot of the bran and the endosperm have been sifted out. This is all in. All the nutrition, all the flavor, and all the aroma of that is still there.”
Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Buckwheat Sourdough
Another star cheese from Jasper Hill, is the Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.
“They coat it with lard, and then age it with cheesecloth. It’s always genius. I don’t know what went on with this last batch. It is beyond the beyond genius,” said Barnes. “It’s nutty, it’s perfect. You don’t need anything, except the bread.”
And that bread, would be May’s Buckwheat Sourdough. “Buckwheat is not actually a grain; it’s a grass seed. So, for those who want a lower percentage gluten bread, you’d go with buckwheat,” said May. “It’s our longest fermented bread. We ferment it for 72 hours… It’s very good, very fragrant. The buckwheat sort of gives it that tannish color.”
Mike’s Must-Try’s
Mike got to try a couple of cheeses on his own; first up was the Brillat-Savarin triple cream from Burgundy, paired with another piece of May’s fresh Baguette.
“It’s creamy, it’s smooth, and the crunch on that baguette is just so enjoyable. It has a crunch, but it has a good chew to it,” said Mike.
Also on Mike’s plate, was a Bucheron goat and cow cheese, delivered atop the Buckwheat Sourdough. “I love the layers of development in this cheese. The oils definitely live closer to the rind, and then you have a fluffier, softer cheese in the middle here,” Mike said.
The Wardroom
The Wardroom is located at 103 North Washington Street, Easton, Md. You can call them at 410-826-5489. If you go to check it out, tell the team that you saw them on Foodie Friday.
