SAY CHEESE! Hard work and happy cows add up to heavenly cheese at Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese Written by Bridget Williams Photography by Andrew Kung Where the beaten path becomes a breadcrumb trail is where you can fnd a slice of fromage heaven. Te story of Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese begins in the mid-1970s when Ken Mattingly, Sr. relocated his wife and seven children from Indianapolis to a 200-acre farm in Barren County, Kentucky to pursue his dream of becoming a dairy farmer. His son, Ken “Kenny”, Jr., who was 19 at the time of the move, followed in his father’s footsteps by rising early for grueling workdays beginning at 4am and not ending until long after the sun had set. Almost two decades later, a pair of seemingly unrelated developments converged to set in motion a series of events that undoubtedly saved the future of this family farm: milk prices dropped by nearly 40% and Kenny took a trip to Western Europe and observed how small family farms were fnding ways to add value to their existing products. The jump from dairy farmer to cheese monger wasn’t an overnight transition, rather a long-haul commitment to a labor of love that continues its evolution to this day. Te Mattingly’s acquired their frst cheese making equipment and a recipe for Gouda from a woman in Oldham County who was looking to get out of the business. Tey kept the equipment in storage for three years while they continued to educate themselves about the cheese making process.
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