Indiana Grown: Tulip Tree Creamery celebrates the season of fresh cheeses INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Each and every Saturday, WISH-TV highlights a local company together with our partners at Indiana Grown. This week, Patty Kule savage with Tulip Tree Creamery in Indianapolis joined News 8 at Daybreak. An artisanal cheese and butter maker, the creamery says they make all of their products by hand using fresh milk from small farms right here in Indiana – specifically farms that don’t use hormones or antibiotics in their milking herd. Tulip Tree operates out of a warehouse storefront on the northwest side of Indianapolis near Pike High School, between 71st and 62nd streets off Corporate Drive. That’s where the magic happens. Kulesavage demonstrated some of this cheesy sorcery on Daybreak, describing and showing the skill and care that goes into hand-stretching fresh mozzarella She says this is a weekly tradition that helps prepare cheese for their weekly farmers market visits. “All cheese starts in curd form,” Kulesavage explained as she worked the mozzarella curd, originally grainy and crumbly in appearance. “And then we added some salt and some boiling hot water, and that helps change the texture to the silky, flaky, and delicious mozzarella.” The stretching process takes just a minute or two, folding and flaking layers until the cheese reaches its signature shiny, soft finish. Fresh mozzarella’s popularity peaks in summer, Kulesavage says, when it pairs perfectly with ripe tomatoes at family gatherings and Father’s Day celebrations. The creamery typically offers cheese-making classes, though Kulesavage says they are currently on pause so they can focus on their farmers market visits. Those classes will pick back up in September. Though fresh mozzarella and cheese curds are seasonal highlights, Kulesavage says they offer 15 varieties of cheese year-round. This Saturday, they are bringing their fresh selections to four local farmers markets: Broad Ripple, Carmel, Garfield Field Park, and Zionsville. Most markets run from 8 a.m. to noon, though some close at 12:30 p.m. During the week, the creamery also visits several other markets, including the Lebanon Farmers Market on Tuesdays once a month and Irvington’s Sunday market. Tulip Tree’s doors are open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. Visitors can find locally made cheeses and also get a glimpse of the cheese-making process in action. For more information, visit Tulip Tree’s website, and watch the interview above! (Provided Photos/Tulip Tree Creamery) ...read more read less