Lost Peacock Creamery
Lost Peacock Creamery is a Grade A goat dairy in Olympia, Washington. We specialize in fresh and aged goat cheese. Also, goat yoga! At Lost Peacock Creamery, the goats have wings, the pigs have polka dots, and the trees hug us back. Everyone has a place at our table. And no, we don’t milk the peacocks.
| Practicing What They Preach
Lost Peacock Creamery is a sustainable, farmstead creamery who makes phenomenal goat cheese, but they do much more than that. Here’s what Lost Peacock has to say about their operation:
“We are committed to creating an environment that sustains us without sacrificing the land. We are a certified Animal Welfare Approved farm. In Europe the term ‘High Farming’ is used to reference the perfect balance between plants and animals. Animals enrich the soil, the soil produces plants, the plants feed the animals. As lofty as it may sound, we aspire to succeed at ‘High Farming’ and, in turn, nourish the people.
Our farm has made the conscious decision to raise animals with respect and dignity. We believe by giving animals a free and protected environment they will grow happy and healthy, without the constant bevy of antibiotics, hormones and fillers, factory farms are forced to use. We also believe when animals are raised in fresh air and sunshine (or in our case, rainshine) their milk, meat and eggs are healthier for us.”
Photo by Lost Peacock Creamery.
| Plain, and Ready for Action
Lost Peacock Creamery produces high quality, clean, approachable goat cheese that appeases even the most cantankerous of palates. Featured here is their wildly popular and versatile Whipped Chevre. This velveteen cheese is a blank slate in that it can be made into any kind of bite you would like. In this instance, it has been made into dessert, but its possible pairing combinations are never-ending
Photo from Rachael Lucas.
| They Do it All
Lost Peacock Creamery is a farmstead operation, which entails everything, from working the land and animal husbandry to cheesemaking and affinage (cheese aging)–it is all done on the farm premises. It takes a ton of work to maintain and manage a farm, let alone sprinkling in a creamery to boot! The Tullers do it with class, sass, and style.
Here you see Rachael helping a girl out with a complicated birth. They share their whole farmstead process and then some on social media, and they also have a brilliant docuseries on YouTube called “Chasing Meadows.” Give them a follow, if you haven’t already.
Photo by Lost Peacock Creamery.
| Lots of Moving Parts
Lost Peacock Creamery has many moving parts, including humanely raising pigs and goats (among other quadrupeds and feathered creatures), cheesemaking, affinage, all that running a business entails, and so on. They are also a family farm, which means they work together to get the job done every day.
Photo by Lost Peacock Creamery.
| Uncommon Cheese
Halloumi is a peculiar cheese that originated in Cyprus. It is traditionally made from a mix of sheep and goat’s milk (sometimes a little cow’s milk). It is by no means insipid, but Halloumi serves more as a textural component than a big, fat flavor blast. It is semi-soft, salty, and has an epic melting property.
In cheese, there is a direct correlation between acidity levels and meltability. Halloumi is on one end of the spectrum in which it stays intact when you heat it. You can put it on your grill, and it’s not going to condense into burnt goo.
It is extremely versatile in its cooking options. You can cook it like you would tofu or fish and make it the protein in your meal. Fry it, sear it, toss it in the oven! Pair it with sweet, savory, spicy, (and then some) fare. Friends, this is a fun cheese to include in your organoleptic experiments.
In Washington we are fortunate to have Lost Peacock Creamery’s Halloumi, which is made with 100% goat’s milk. It is much more flavorful and fresh than the industrial, imported stuff. If you’re interested in playing around with some yummy, hand-made, local Halloumi, when it is in season during the summer and early fall, then you can find Lost Peacock’s sales locations on their website.
Photo by Rachael Lucas.
| Diversity Comes with Age
Lost Peacock Creamery is a relatively young operation, and thus far we have been getting fresher, younger, albeit scrumptious goat cheeses, like chèvre, halloumi, and feta. Nowadays, however, they have some aged cheeses in the works. They currently have a goat gouda and a cow/goat mixed-milk St. Paulin-style undergoing affinage that we’re all chomping at the bit to try. We love it when our favorite creameries exemplify growth by expanding their cheese repertoire.
Photo from Lost Peacock Creamery.
| Exciting Chevre
Lost Peacock Creamery makes a Thai Garlic Chévre that is to die for! It is everything you want in an allium-forward cheese. It is undeniably savory and mouth-filling, with a spicy punch. This chévre is the best thing to happen to an everything bagel since cream cheese (many argue that it’s better than cream cheese!).
In the photo you see Rachael modeling her Thai Garlic Chévre in a case at Beecher’s in the airport. This means you can take a link on your next excursion!
Photo from Lost Peacock Creamery.
| New Take on an Old Staple
There are many health benefits to being a goat cheese devourer. Goat’s milk tends to be easier to digest than other milk-types, in large part because the fat globules are smaller, and the fatty acid chains are shorter. Furthermore, goat’s milk protein structure differs from that of cow’s milk, which is thought to be a reason allergic reactions occur less frequently when ingesting goat cheese. And there are many other benefits to consuming goat’s milk cheese, like getting a good dose of selenium, niacin, and potassium.
The thing is, many people think that chèvre is the only type of goat cheese. Part of this problem is that there is an abundance of fresh chévre, while the selection of aged goat’s cheese is wanting. In Washington, we are grateful to our local cheesemakers who provide an option for harder caprine goodness. This allows for more cooking and pairing opportunities for the bovine averted.
AsiaGoat is a Lost Peacock Creamery cheese that is unbeknownst to most of us. Here is what they have to say about this new kid on the block (see what we did there?).
“A hard goat cheese made with raw milk for everyone. Natural rind finish, aged in a cave for 3 months. Good for slicing, grating, and will melt, but maintains it’s shape. This cheese is a little sweet with the perfect amount of nuttiness. Sure to delight taste buds of all ages.”
We certainly cannot wait to make AsiaGoat a new Crisper drawer staple!
Photo from Lost Peacock Creamery.