Putnam Market becomes the big cheese in Saratoga Springs

SARATOGA SPRINGS At Putnam Market, cheese is revered in fact, it even has its own climate-controlled room.

The gourmet market on Broadway recently completed construction of a special cheese room, a glass-enclosed tasting space designed to maintain an optimal temperature and humidity for the stores wide variety of cheese.

The key thing for me is that it was designed for our customers, said Cathy Hamilton, co-owner of the store.

The display of cheese wheels and slices behind thermal-glass walls looks almost like an exhibition, but Hamilton welcomes shoppers through the glass door to interact with the merchandise.

Its not a cheese museum. Its a cheese-tasting space, she said, cutting a thin slice of Parrano a Gouda with a mild Parmesan-like flavor for sampling.

With a temperature between 50 and 55 degrees, the cheese room might be the coolest spot in the Spa City.

It opened just in time for summer. You can come in here and stand in a refrigerated room and actually taste stuff, Hamilton said.

Experienced staff members brave the chill to provide customers with samples of choices like Brie de Meaux sometimes call the king of cheeses or Manchego a firm cheese with a buttery texture made from sheeps milk.

From Midnight Moon to PsycheDILLic, the inventory is meant to be enticing.

Its a process for people. They can actually get involved, and the staff makes it more enjoyable, Hamilton said.

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Putnam Market becomes the big cheese in Saratoga Springs