Cheese of the Week: Heluva Good Cheese Factory

No cheese this week.  Well, actually, I tried a lot of cheeses this week, but I didn't want to focus on any one cheese.  Since I live in Central New York now, there are several cheese factories all within an hour drive.  So, for the next few weeks, I will be talking about what this region has to offer besides some of the best cheddar in the world.

This week, I visited the Heluva Good Cheese Store in Sodus, NY.  The store and factory are of NYS RT 104, in between Oswego and Rochester.  The company was founded in the basement of Perry Messigner, a hobbyist making curd for the locals.  The legend goes that in 1925, a traveling salesman sampled a wedge of Messigner's cheese and proclaimed "That's a hell of a good cheese."  And thus the brand was born.

Today, Heluva Good is part of Hood and make a variety of excellent colby, jack, cheddar and swiss cheeses.  These cheeses are made with a high standard of quality and can be found all across the Northern US.  However, if you come to the store, there are a few specialty cheeses that might delight and intrigue the fromagophile.  While the Special Reserve Cheddar sold in the store is aged for at least 15 months, the store has special longer aged cheddars that are "heluva good."  Tours are not standard, since the plant is a packaging plant, but the store does have a full selection of Heluva Good products; as well as other regional treats to tempt passing travelers.

So, if you're traveling to Oswego for Harborfest, or visiting the Finger Lakes, this would make an excellent pit stop off Route 104.