SmartCompany Holiday Gift Guide 2024: Tegan Jones recommends a 4kg wheel from Bruny Island Cheese

For me, the holiday season is all about food. So for that reason, I’m recommending a 4kg Bruny Island Cheese wheel for this year’s holiday gift guide.

Let’s back this up a bit. I’m not suggesting that you purchase that amount of cheese for just one person. Though I will happily accept if you’re sending it my way.

As a home cook, fermenter and pickler, I’m a firm believer in the power of food to bring people together.

My happiest memories are around a table with loved ones. From crowded in a tiny kitchen enjoying home-cooked meals, out at a favourite restaurant or cooking over a tiny camp stove in the middle of the wilderness.

This year I’m hosting a summer solstice party for friends as well as having my parents over on Christmas day — the first time I’ve been left in charge of Christmas lunch. And I’m ecstatic for both.

But personally, I feel like both occasions would be elevated with a massive wheel of award-winning Tasmanian cheese.

Bruny Island ‘Adopt A Cheese’ program

A few weeks ago Bruny Island Cheese announced its ‘Adopt A Cheese’ program. While the company has done this before, it’s the first time it has company has done it for entire wheels of its Raw Tom at this size.

This cheese is made with unpasteurised cow’s milk in the tradition of the Tomme cheeses made in the French Savoie region. It also won the Super Gold Medal and the Trophy for Best Australian Cheese at the 2024 World Cheese Awards.

The idea is you pay a $250 deposit to secure your wheel of Raw Tom. The cheese is then made in January and matured until around May 2025.

It will then be weighed before you’re sent the final price, which Bruny Island Cheese says is between $450 and $550. According to the company, the cheese loses about 15% of its body weight during maturation, which is why there is a final weighing – so you actually pay for what you get!

For $450-$550, this is admittedly quite a bougie investment. But it’s also 3.5-4kg of locally made, award-winning cheese that supports Aussie businesses and farmers.

I would also argue that this is a great group present to go in on with some friends. Gather yourself a decent-sized group of cheese lovers and split it. By the time May rolls around it will be great weather for a cheese and wine (or non-alcoholic drink of choice) night.

The memory-creation potential is vast. And imagine the fancy toasties you could make with the leftovers?

If this is too much cheese for you, I’m not angry just disappointed. The good news is that Bruny Island Cheese also has Christmas hampers, a cheese club, and other less-hefty options that are all available online.

Find out more about Bruny Island Cheese here.

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