Welcome back to sunrise.
It is a Friday morning,
probably our favorite morning of the
week here in the Sunrise show because
we're looking ahead to the weekend and
this is one of the great events that's
happening this weekend around town.
This is known as the wedge.
The wedge is a celebration of Oregon cheeses.
But yes, you can see there's some wine,
there's some chocolates.
There are some nuts as well at this event,
really a great foodie event here in Portland,
and it's back this year after
a 2 year pandemic hiatus.
So I bring in Katie Bray into the mix.
Katie is the longtime executive
director of the Oregon.
These Guild.
We just saw that video a moment ago.
We can show some more video.
This video I believe is from your 2018
event because we had no event in 2020,
no event in 2021.
People may need to be brought
back up to speed on what exactly
this event is all about.
I'll let you explain.
So the wedge is a celebration of cheese
and everything that goes with it.
So we have a lot of Oregon cheese
makers as well as cheese makers from
out of state who come into town and
then all the things that go with it.
So jams, jellies, honey, chocolate sauces.
Charcuterie, you name it,
as well as beverages to wash it down,
I'm going to bring Brenda Braxton
back into the mix here in a moment
for a little blind taste test.
So hopefully she's listening to
this next part of the segment.
You have 3 cheeses you thought
you could highlight for us
right here and right now.
Tell me what they are and kind
of what makes them unique.
OK, so I brought a rogue
creameries Oregon blue.
That's right here in the middle.
Are all three on this plate I'm holding?
Nope. OK, blue is right there
in the in the blue dish.
The Blues and the blue.
So in 2019, Rogue Creamery,
for the first time ever,
an American cheese maker,
won the World Cheese Championships.
This is not that cheese.
It was their Rogue River blue.
About to taste the best.
It's amazing.
Something less than the best.
It's incredible.
But it's not the world champion.
Where is the best?
I couldn't even get it for today.
But you can get it if you
come to the wedge on Saturday.
They just released it,
so they released it with the fall equinox.
OK, real quickly. Brenda, come on
into the mix. Can you tell me about
tasting my cheese? That's my job. Because
I want to do. I'm sorry.
I just got a little hungry there
for a minute. Can you tell me
what the other two cheeses are?
And then I'm gonna test Brenda's
taste buds real quickly.
Katie, the other two cheese?
You bet. So I have a vintage.
Better from Tillamook. OK. There.
That's part of their makers reserve line.
Which is their premium line.
Yes, as well as a Willamette Valley
cheese company, French Prairie,
which is a breeze style.
OK. Brenda Braxton,
do you trust me? Of course.
Really? Would you close your
eyes with me and your presence?
I'm going to put one of
these cheeses on a fork. OK.
I'm going to feed you that cheese.
You're going to tell me,
based on what you just heard,
which cheese is going in?
Did you take a peek?
I hope not. No, I do.
OK. OK. Here.
We doesn't trust who?
Brenda Braxton, open up,
please. She's got a piece
of cheese in her mouth.
She's savoring, said cheese.
And right now she's gonna
tell us which one that is.
Umm, I think she's got it.
What was the last one you said? Is that
the breed? Ask her. What one?
The first one. Three.
Ask her what? The first one. The
blue. It's the Bree.
No, it's the what?
It's the one you're wearing.
The blue. It's the blue.
Right from the beginning.
Wasn't the blue just better?
It's so creamy.
It's really like that gooey.
Just yummy. Bree,
look, Nina is in the background
shaking her head right now.
That's not the way I had a plan.
But I guess that speaks to just how
delicious and creamy that blue is.
Yeah, it is.
That's what it is, my friends. Alright,
so let's get the details on the screen.
One more time, it is the wedge.
It is happening tomorrow and
tomorrow only, Katie said.
Please, drew,
emphasize the fact that it's a
21 and over only event this year
and it's happening right where
they had the Portland night Market
event down there in Inner SE.
Welcome back to the Sunrise
show on this Friday morning.
We'll rear looking ahead to the
weekend and we're looking forward
to the return of this event.
So this is a look back at
an event known as the Wedge.
The last time we saw the wedge
here in Portland was 2019.
A lot has happened since then by the way,
if you.
Weren't paying attention to the news,
but after two years off,
the celebration of Oregon cheeses
is back and we get ready this
morning in our KGW Sunrise studio
with the CEO of Portland Creamery.
Emily,
we've got a terrific display
here of not only cheeses,
but also accompaniments.
But before we dive into the eating
and drinking portion of this segment,
I know this is an event
that you've been to before.
This is a celebration of Oregon cheese is
something near and dear to your heart.
How important is it to have this
event back for Oregon cheese makers?
It's extremely important.
It has been three years since we've had
this event and a lot has happened and
this is a fantastic event to lead us
into the fall and into the holidays.
A lot of people get to showcase
new products, new flavors,
new cheeses that they work very hard on.
We're really happy to be back
a lot to talk about when
it comes to this event.
One thing we want to point out it is
for those 21 and over only this year.
So perhaps you bring a designated
driver with you to the wedge and
perhaps we have a designated.
Later in the studio.
Nina, that's your cue.
Designated Eater Nina
Melhoff entering stage left.
We're gonna pair up a couple of your
cheeses with a couple of things here.
Wine and syrup.
So start with whichever cheese you choose.
So Portland
Creamery. We make fresh goat
cheese on our farm in Molalla,
so we have our original Oregon Chev.
One of my favorites.
Are you pairing the Oregon Chev with.
We're going to have this with
the anonymity, Mueller Terrigal.
Are you going to spoonfeed, Nita?
You're gonna. Feeding herself
you have crackers?
We have crackers for that.
So people wander around they can
taste and talk to all of the makers.
It's a market style event.
So everything that is for sale will
be also for taste and purchase.
Hmm. Why that cheese with that wine?
This is a lovely breakfast wine.
It has a little bit of a sweeter note to
me. You're not just saying that because
it is 618 in the morning, right?
That's the best breakfast wine.
I've never heard of that.
And Nina will drink, just so you know,
she will drink at dinner
wine at this hour as well.
So, you know, feel free to.
Go over all all over the spectrum.
I think the sweet white wine
plays well with the delicious,
bright kind of lemony goodness
of the goat cheese here.
Nina, keep eating.
If you if you will. OK.
Meanwhile, Portland Creamery not
just making cheeses these days,
also making a lineup of syrups.
That's right. So I put the I don't
even know what this cheese is,
but I spread it on my cracker.
What is this? For starters,
this is our. Hot Mama sweet this hot
Mama smoked coffee chili oil. So. Whoa,
that is a lot in the name.
Say that again. Slowly fall. Yeah.
Fine. Hot Mama smoked coffee, chili oil.
We take a local producer.
Hot Mama, they're smoked coffee.
Chili oil. We add in honey and
mix it throughout in our chef.
So you get this wonderful kind
of back body, unconscious,
spicy, sweet and smoky,
roasty flavors to it.
And if you could pick out just one syrup to
go best with this cheese on this cracker.
So 80% of what comes out of milk is way.
So instead of considering way a byproduct,
we're considering it kind of
the product of our Creamery,
and we will cook this down
with sugar for about 6 hours.
Add in some simple flavor,
so this one is made with cinnamon and
vanilla and it's dripping off of you,
but it has this lovely syrupy
amber consistency and it plays
so well with different cheeses.
I want to eat, of course.
But also at the wrap up the segment,
we're gonna try to talk with food near Molly.
Ohh, thank you Nina. Eating.
I'll just tell you real quickly,
the wedge is happening
tomorrow and tomorrow only.
It's happening in inner SE in
the same space where they have
Portland night market.
So if you know that space,
you know where the wedge is there you
see the information on the screen.