March winds and April showers bring May... goat cheeses?

The rains have dried out (crossing my fingers here) and May is fully in bloom. In the same way I associate winter with Langres and Vacherin Mont d'Or, I associate spring with goat cheese, especially from the Loire Valley.

news flash! Cheese event tomorrow, Thurs. Jan. 26 at the Cheese Board, Berkeley!

Sorry for the late notice, cheese fans of Berkeley. If you're free Thursday night, I suggest heading over to the Cheese Board for the CheesebAR (I don't get the weird capitalization,either. Or am I just missing something obvious?)

This is a fun opportunity to taste the featured cheeses. I can vouch for the The Bleu de Basque, Chatelain,and Roncal.

But the best part is sitting in the median on Shattuck Ave, blatantly ignoring the signs warning you of a stiff fine if you get caught. To my knowledge, no one has.*

Anne

*This web site disavows any responsibility and makes no representations on the legality or enforcement of such actions.

The Cheese Board's email:
Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year's to all, wishing everyone a prosperous and fulfilling 2006! The CheesebAR is making another appearance this coming Thursday, January 26th from 7:30-9:00 PM, this time we will be holding the event at our Pizzaria location at 1512 Shattuck Avenue. Bring friends and family and help us celebrate the New Year with a little cheese and wine!

New Year's Delight Cheese Selections:
Ewephoria(Sheep) Netherlands
Bleu de Basque (Sheep, Raw Milk) Pyrenees, France
Bethmale (Goat, Raw Mlik) Bethmale, France
Chatelain (Cow) Nomandie, France
Roncal (Sheep, Raw Milk) Pyrenees, France

New Year's Delight Featured Wines:
A. Scherer, Gewurztraminer 2003
Domain des Aubuisieres, Curve de Silex Vouvay 2004
Kurt Angerer, "kies" Gruner Veltuner 2004

We hope to see everyone this coming Thursday, January 26th (730-9 PM) @ the CheesebAR 1512 Shattuck Avenue.
Please come join us and...eat cheese...drink wine...enjoy music!

This Burrata is made in Dallas? Get a rope!

I have only the grainiest of cell phone pictures to prove it, but an outfit in Dallas, Texas is making what it claims is Burrata cheese. Burrata is a recently-popular type of mozzarella with a very creamy center. Anne wrote an article on it a while back for No Reservations magazine, but the mag and its website have gone offline.

Burrata has a very short shelf life, so people are happy to find domestic producers like Gioia Cheese in El Monte, California.

Anne spotted this Dallas variant at Central Market in Houston. Central Market is basically what you get when you turn a Costco-sized warehouse into essentially a Whole Foods and take the price and attitude down a notch, but they're only in Texas at the moment. Anyway she spotted a Buratta, which looks basically like this:

Innocent enough, and at a measly $12 we probably should have bought some and seen how it tasted. But we were scared by an entirely different list of ingredients on the back. You can barely tell because my picture is too blurry, but the second listed ingredient is Marscapone cheese. Anne's theory is that the company is merely injecting Marscapone into some plain Mozz and calling it Burrata.

Here's a shot where you can tell the full name of the producer, Mozzarella Cheese Company, which does indeed appear to be a reasonably reputable firm:

Restaurant-made cheese

The Cheese Diaries' own Anne Pinckard writes in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about a restaurant chef who makes his own cheese, including chevre, blue, brie, feta and "drunken" cheeses. Chef Nicci Tripp of Theo's Restaurant in Soquel is the only chef in he Santa Cruz area who makes his own cheese, and believes he may be the only one in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.

Tripp is traditional and precise when making cheese, and Anne does a good job explaining the process for those of us who are not experts. But at the same time he seems to have a willingness to experiment that marks him as quintessentially Santa Cruz. It is hard for me to imagine a four-star San Francisco chef making more than half a dozen cheeses in his own restaurant, or inebriating his cheese with hard cider.

"We're constantly trying new things to find out what we like and don't like," Tripp said.

I wonder how many other restaurant chefs out there are doing this.

Yay Anne!

Read the whole story

C'est Bob!

Greetings from Paris!

After arriving at my host's flat in the Marais (4th arrondissement), and settling in, the first establishment I stepped into into was of course, a cheese shop.

Before I knew it, I had a petite Epoisses wrapped up and ready to go, language barrier notwithstanding.

Most food purveryors really try to display their foods as attractively as possible in their storefront windows. Some even have them out in the open on the street.

Right now, I'm going to pick up a pain au chocolate and some coffee before going grocery shopping. Au revoir!

Cheese Shop Blogs

Everyone is blogging...we're blogging, that big corporate behemouth down the street is blogging, and, of course, our favorite cheese shops are blogging. Some are updated more than others. Here are a few links to blogs run by cheesemongers:

Artisanal Cheese

Murray's Cheese

Formaggio Kitchen

Fairway's Steve Jenkins

Thanks Elijah for the scoop on Fairway.

Got more links? Send them to me and I'll post them here.

Je vais à Paris!

In less than one month, I will board a plane at SFO and arrive 15 hours later in CDG. Paris, here I come! My coworkers (and even my husband) seem to think I will spend most of my waking hours at the Place Vendôme or the Galeries Lafayette, contributing to Bernard Arnault's empire. They are wrong, I say! Besides the museums, it's Marie-Anne Cantin, Alléosse, Pierre Hermé and Poilane - the fromageries and bakeries that I'm looking forward to. Okay, that and maybe Colette.

In the meantime, I will attempt to brush up on my rudimentery French, figure out places I will visit and where to eat, and finally, study the customs loopholes. Any suggestions will be welcomed.

So how exactly do you lose 2,000 pounds of cheddar?

A Canadian cheesemaker dropped the cheese into a fjord in a ripening experiment. And then, well, some $50,000 later, they still couldn't find it. Hmmmm....

From the Globe and Mail: Sunken Cheddar Defeats Divers by Ingrid Peritz.

CheeseBar at the Cheeseboard, Sept. 2005

My friend James and I dropped in on the Cheese Board's second-ever CheeseBar event, an irregularly scheduled cheese and wine gathering that feels more like a little party than a bar. It is sort of a Berkeley hippie's version of the Flash Mob -- the Cheese Board collective sends an email message out to its mailing list a few days in advance, and sometimes posts a notice in the store. Then they stay open after hours and offer flights of wines and tastings of cheeses. By the end the staff is a little tipsy and giddy, and the patrons are practicing civil disobedience by wining and dining out on the street median.

In other words, it's great fun, both because of the amateur feel and in spite of it. James had never been before, but I was at the first CheeseBar with Anne and Connie. There was more seating this time, both indoors, where seats had been added near the scone baskets, and outside, where two long tables replaced some of the individual cafe tabletops. It was also darker -- the prior cheesebar was this past June or thereabouts, so the sun was still out.

We ordered the full five-cheese sampler to share. I added a glass of pinot noir rose, James had three wine tastes (the rose, a Sangiovese and Pinot Grigio). Of course, being two strapping lads in our latetwentiesearlythirties, and both finished with a hard day's work writing newspaper articles (cough), we had to add half a pizza from Cheese Board Pizza one door down the block.

The standout revelation for me was the Fleur Verte, a very nimble and fluffy goat's milk cheese covered with fresh herbs. In the accompanying photo it is the white cheese closest to the fork. There's a larger picture (not mine) here. It was just very light and pleasant, went very well with the fruit, and broke my preconception that goat cheese can't be very subtle.

I wish the Cheese Board would put together some written information about wine-cheese pairings for these events. I had no idea that the Fleur Verte goes well with rose and at least one type of Pinot Grigio (the distinctive variety from Alsace -- I do not recall if this is what was on hand). Boucheron, meanwhile, apparently goes quite well with deep rich tannic reds like the Chateau Mourges du Gres (Nimes, France) Galets Rouge 2003 I tried in the wake of the fruity rose.

On the other hand, maybe I needed to just slow down and try the various wines with the various cheeses. The cheesebar is, after all, a superb environment for such experimentation. With a friend, you can enjoy a flight of three wines and plenty nibbles of five different cheeses for $13, with accordian music thrown in for free (note to self: next time, find the accordinaist's tip jar).

Of course, it can be a bit rattling to search for seating while carrying three glasses of wine and a cheese plate, all the while navigating a busy store, sidewalk and even two lanes of auto traffic! We lucked out and found a table next to the pizza collective. But last time, seating was totally full and we risked all sorts of citations by sitting on the median (no no) and drinking our wine (no no).

Quick notes on the other cheeses:

Pont L'Eveque - (Cow) Nomandie, France - I found this much like a Camembert, and nice and gloopy because the Cheese Board knows how to store its cheese. Apparently is the fourth most popular cheese in France. Steven Jenkins seems to agree, writing, "Pont-l'Eveque has the texture and all the nuances of Camembert but with a much more pronounced beefiness of flavor and an intensity of level somewhere between Camembert and Livarot.

Tomme du Levezou - (Sheep, Raw Milk) Levezou, France - This one is the hard traingular wedge in the picture. Reminds me of an aged Comte or an Ossau Iraty, which it resembles. (More)

Bleu d'Auvergne - (Cow, Raw Milk) Auvergne, France - A salty and assertive bleu. No particularly complex (and pasteurized to boot), but very nice to nibble with the deep reds.

I have to say, the cheesebar things are fun and memorable. Where else can you sit between mellowed Marxists and slumming students, sipping wine and tasting cheese on the sidewalk, listening to the accordian play, and watching the bartenders giggle? In France, actually. Probably. But if you have to work the next day, or your friends don't want to spends hundreds of dollars just to come taste cheese with you, get yourself on the collective's emai list, comrade.

Wine and Cheese Bar event in Berkeley, California, Sept 29

The Cheese Board Collective here in Berkeley is having their second Wine and Cheese Bar on Thursday September 29 between 7 pm and 9 pm.

Here's the text from the email:

Hello Everyone,
The CheesebAR is back! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our first event in August, it was great to see such a warm response. We will be offering an enchanting selection of French cheeses along with an even more alluring selection of wine. Accompanying us for the night will also be Odile Levault, French chanteuse-accordionist and head mistress of the Parisian music band the Baguette Quartette. Our menu offering is posted on our website at www.cheeseboardcollective.com under CheeseBar.

We hope to see everyone this coming Thursday, Sept. 29th (7-9 PM) @ the CheesebAR.
Proceeds from wine sales will be donated to Katrina Hurricane Relief Efforts, so please come join us and...eat cheese...drink wine...enjoy music!

Wine Selection:
Individually [$2.50], Sample of 3 [$7.00], Glass [5.00]

Sweet Offering:
Candied Almond Vanilla Fig Tart

Connie, Ryan and I attended the event in August. We got our little bits of cheese, baguette, and olives. Seating was limited, as always, so we headed out to sit on the street divider, blithely ignoring the signs saying such an action was illegal. It's a true Berkeley experience.

At any rate, those of you who are local, I strongly suggest you attend this. I do confess, however, the cheese was not quite enough to make a meal, so we headed down to Popeye's later. Ahem.

Queso de La Serena

After ditching swim practice this evening, I stopped by Farmstead to browse its case. Lately, Jeff has become a dealer of sorts to my husband, whose current obsession is Belgian/Trappist ales. (Side note: The New York Times featured Belgian Trappist style ales. Six authentic Trappist ales are produced in the world. Five are imported to the U.S., and Farmstead carries four) While lamenting the loss of the many raw milk cheeses at domestic cheese counters, I pondered falling back on an old standby - Humboldt Fog. Jeff quickly pointed out the Queso de la Serena, which was marked as his "favorite" cheese. How could I resist?

The Philadelphia Inquirer Covers PA Cheese

Today's food section in the Philly Inquirer has a great article about our favorite fermented foodstuff. For the Love of Cheese focuses on 32-year old Trent Hendricks and his wife Rachael, who created Cabriejo, an aged goat cheese that has taken honors at the ACS and at the US Cheese Championship. Hendricks produces and sells over 30 different cheeses, from goat to cow, as well as beef and raw milk. Hendricks sells directly to the public from his farm on Saturdays only. Impressively, he has a tunnel under the farmhouse where he ages the cheese. Check out the pictures - it looks like an incredible place. To order it directly (you will have to pick it up yourself), you can go to their website. A few online retailers offer one or two of their products, too.

Free registration required for the article.

Where does the Cheese Stand Alone?

Chicago, that's where. I was visiting an old friend in Chicago, which I had been told was a bit of a cheese wasteland, and was pleasantly surprised by The Cheese Stands Alone, a small independent shop devoted exclusively to cheese. There are no takeaway sandwiches, bottles of wine, baskets of produce, or knick-knacks to distract from the aging dairy perfection under glass. There are two cases, one filled with American farmhouse and artisan cheeses, and another, significantly larger case stacked with all the European must-haves, plus a few rare treats. The American cheeses are heavily weighed toward the Midwest, including a curious Emmental made in Indiana by a former Wisconsin cheesemaker, and when available, Pleasant Ridge Reserve. Old standbys like Red Hawk and Humboldt Fog round out the selection. The owners, Matt and Sarah Parker, know the tastes of their customers, who mainly live within walking distance of their store just outside of Lincoln Square on Chicago's northwest side. Everything is reasonable, and there is very little priced over $25.00/lb.

The Parkers have put a great deal of care into their two-year old shop. The walls are painted shocking orange, which provides a great color contrast to the mostly wheat-colored cheeses. They carry everything necessary to create a perfect cheese plate: jams, spreads, pates, prosciutto, bread, olives, crackers, etc. My friend and I stopped there before a picnic and were able to put together a great spread.

Next time you visit Chicago be sure to stop in: The Cheese Stands Alone, 4547 N. Western Ave 773-293-3870. Call for hours.

Morbier and the office desk picnic

I work in the Embarcadero Center in San Francisco, and today I made my way down to the Ferry Building to supply yet another impromptu picnic at my desk. I came back with two cave-aged French cheeses bought at Cowgirl Creamery, Comte and Morbier.

(Morbier)

Anne and I many months ago attended a $50/person cheese class put on by the Cowgirls. Helping lead the tasting was French affineur Jean d'Alos, "affineur" meaning, in French, "one who ages cheese in caves, and yes we have a word just for that, clumsy American pigdog." Our love for Comte, in particular well-aged Comte, was the legacy of that tasting, as well as a respect for d'Alos. The two cheeses I picked up today are both selections from d'Alos' caves (which means he aged them, not that he made them).

The Morbier is one slap in the face of a cheese, pungent to the point of nearly tasting ammoniated. Even the salesgirl at Cowgirl told me she wrinkles her nose at this cheese because she can't stand it because its so overpowering. For some reason I don't find it nearly so offensive.

Scotland's Strathdon Blue -- Available in the US!

The cheese is made by Highland Fine Cheese Co. Ltd/Strathdon Blue The cheesemaker is Rory Stone, son of Susannah Stone, a descendent of The MacDonald, Lord of the Isles. Highland Fine Cheese is based in Tain in the Highlands of Scotland. It makes a range of cheeses (many to ancient receipes such as Caboc which is said to be made from a receipe used in the Sixteenth Century by a family ancestor Mariota de Ile, daughter of The MacDonald, Lord of the Isles). However, the only cheese you are likely to see in the USA is Strathdon Blue. Rory sources raw cows milk from local farmers (around 70% Friesian and 30% Ayrshire milk) to make Strathdon Blue. Strathdon Blue is made from pasteurised cows milk using animal rennet, although a vegetable rennet version is also available. It is aged for 8-12 weeks and stays in excellent condition for many weeks under correct refrigeration with no discernable loss of flavour. In 2002, the British Cheese Awards recognised Strathdon Blue by making it joint winner of the Best Blue category (with Blue Swaledale). Strathdon Blue is made by Highland Fine Cheeses at Blarliath Farm, Tain, Easter Ross, IV19 1EB. Tel: 01862 892034

Maffe, Village du Fromage

The one thing that may keep me from becoming an artisan farmer is how darn early they all wake up. Thankfully, everyone driving a car at 6 a.m. is going into Brussels, not leaving it. And once out of Brussels...everyone disappears.

Seattle Cheese Festival.

Let me just say, if you are in Seattle, you are so lucky. DeLaurenti of Seattle is putting together a cheese festival on May 14-15. Attendees will have the opportunity to attend several cheese seminars, including "The Art in Artisanal Cheese Making", "Raw milk vs. pasteurized milk: taste the difference", and a couple of cheese/ wine pairing classes.

This is a must-see event! Being a good 800 miles away, I don't think I will be able to make it. But check in with Oregon based Tami Parr of the Pacific Northwest Cheese Project.

Thanks to reader Connie Bennet for the tip!

Comments are back!

Comments are back up! I missed hearing from you, readers, but it was necessary to temporarily disable comments because of the nasty spam that was being posted here. Now I've finally upgraded to the new MT platform.

For now, comments will require my approval before they are posted. I've somehow disactivated the registration form which will allow you to register as a commenter, and post without my having to approve every single comment. Draconian, I know, but I can't think of a better way. The spam was just disabling.

Patting one's self on the back...

There's an absolutely fabulous article in this Wednesday's New York Times about cheese fans such as us. Perhaps I'm biased, but I would've like to see more West Coast shout-outs. After all, the domestic artisanal cheese movement started here (at least according to the latest Saveur). I can't really fault the author, though, for sticking to her base, and she offers some fascinating accounts of cheesemongers and cheese fans alike. Cypress Grove's Humboldt Fog did merit a mention, as did a certain website. (ahem!) So I suppose that will do for now.

The Great Extinction

France, it would seem, is facing a crisis of sorts. Slowly, the art of making cheese is dissapearing, according to various reports, including the Yahoo article French mobilize to save cheeses under threat of extinction.

Many cheeses have already fallen victim, quoting Veronique Richez-Lerouge, president of the Journee Nationale du Formage,:

"The Mont-d'Or galette, which had been produced for some 400 years, disappeared this summer following the death of the last producer who knew the secret of how to make it..."

The reasons are complicated, but she goes on to blame the same kinds of food safety issues that severely restrict the kind of cheese we get in the USA:

"Tastes are becoming more uniform, European standards are more and more draconian, more than half of the cheeses which receive a quality rating are made from pasteurised milk, large stores no longer have cheese-cutting counters, and outbreaks of listeria have been blamed on unpasteurised milk, even though all products such as pasteurised milk, fish and meat are affected by bacteria."

This extinction we are faced with is the loss of our cultural indentity and diversity. There is the sense of a fallen giant when a great cheese, that carries with it a piece of history through its making and its particular bacterial content, is lost. We are increasingly going towards sameness, as formulaic chain stores and mass-produced goods infiltrate.

On the other hand, what's happening now can be seen as a loss, but also as a change. An extinction is typically followed by a punctuated speciation event, that is, that a great diversification of the surviving species occurs in response to the new selection factors, to fill the vacated niches. If we see milk pasteurization as yet another selection factor, then it, too is overcomable.

I gain hope when I think about the US artisan cheese movement. We are restricted by a great deal of things, a nation intent on chain-store developments and fearful of food safety. And yet, a remarkable thing has happened. In about three decades, we've seen an incredible upspring of new cheeses. We've created these cheeses from scratch, essentially, gathering knowledge from France, but also through the hard work, ingenuity, and experimentation of dedicated cheese makers. Their efforts have been recognized as some of the best cheeses throughout the world.

I'm not saying I'm happy with the loss of the art of cheese in France. Nor am I happy with the milk pasteurization requirements. We've got a long way to go in preserving cultural history, and changing the infrastructure and attitude of our food production. But it is possible to adapt to change, and come out the stronger for it.

Thanks to reader Amy for the tip!

Saveur does Artisan Cheese

April's issue of Saveur magazine is a tribute to artisan cheese in the United States. It is well worth checking out. It's got gorgeous pictures, as well as some excellent articles.

In particular, there is an in depth article on Laura Chenel, who, in addition to being one of the first and best cheese makers in the U.S., is a personal heroine of mine. The article conveys the dignity and grace of her presence quite effectively. There is an equally elegant article on Soyoung Scanlan, a former musician who has now spends her time in solitude, fine-tuning her cheeses. What is it about the cheese industry that attracts such unique individuals?

Maybe the glossy pictures have got to me, but it's not the first time that I've considered a career in cheese making. It seems like such a wonderful way to combine creativity, animal husbandry, and buidling a deep and intimate connection to your food. All of which I have been interested in.

At any rate, get the magazine. It's got a bunch of delicious looking recipes too, as always. I've got to try that mac and cheese!

Berkshire Blue Recall

The Boston Globe reported that 13 wheels of Michael Miller's Berkshire Blue Cheese, a creamy, luscious blue that has long been the favorite of many a New Englander, has been recalled due to listeria contamination. Go here for the article.

changes are coming...

Dear Readers,

These last few months have been rather slow here, and the site has been flooded with nastly comment spam to the point that I have been overwhelmed. It's been rough for me, too, on a personal level, and I'm only just starting to get things back together again.

So, it's time to take action. I've temporarily disabled the comment function. I hope to install the new version of Movable Type which will help with that, and still allow people with legitimate comments to post.

I'm looking for new writers, too! So if you want to join, or if you would like to submit one post, please email me at anne@cheesediaries.com

Anne

First Annual Independent Food Award

My award goes out to....The tastiest cheese with the hippest logo: Lamb Chopper, from Cypress Hill Chevre.
It's the only cheese that dares sport the motto: "Born to be mild".

Here is a cheese that dares to be different. Not only is it one of the best darn gouda style cheeses you will find, but it sports a unique, boldy different logo. The eye-catching graphic is of a lamb with sun glasses cruising along on a Harley. In that respect, it is a truly original cheese. As ar as I know, it's the only cheese that has a logo!

But don't simply stop and admire the logo- dig in! Lamb Chopper is another delicious product of the same people that brought us our beloved Humboldt Fog. Made from 100% sheep milk, Lamb Chopper won the recipeint of the Best Product of Aisle at its debut in the 2004 Winter Fancy Food Show. Its quality is exactly on par with what you would expect from artisan cheesemaker Mary Keehn. The flesh is a gorgeous egg-yolk yellow. The interior is a flavorful gouda-style, rich, creamy, but with just the amount of acidity to bite you back. I've been nibbling away at the section that I got. It's delicious with dark, strong wines (I tried it with an Argentinian Malbec, which may not have been ideal). I think it would be an excellent beer cheese, and SF Chronicle's Janet Fletcher (see my post from yesterday) suggests pairing it with a Sierra Nevada Stout.

Ironically, though the logo conjures an image from the heart of modern Americana, this cheese is one of two made by Cypress Grove that are not made locally. Lamb Chopper is made in Holland, to Keehn's precise specifications. The other cheese is Midnight Moon, which also sports a unique logo. It is only in Holland that she has found the abundance of consistently high quality sheep milk that she requires. It ages quietly in the caves of Holland, where it can age properly, before it is shipped to California for the finishing touches.

I think its exciting that cheesemakers are distinguishing themselves through their label, not afraid of having a little fun with their cheese. So many cheeses look the same to me, with their gentle pastoral scenes depicting a cow, goat, or sheep on some idyllic farm. I associate these images with European cheese, which in large part the artisan cheese movement in California has mirrored. But Lamb Chopper is something different. Like the cheese, the label is not afraid to make a statement, though some may find that statement too quaint or ridiculous, and not suitable for a cheese of that caliber. It's time we had fun with our cheese- it's not all culture and seriousness, but fun and deliciousness.

Beer drinkers rejoice! You _can_ enjoy beer and cheese.

The pairing of beer and cheese is something I've always suspected would be good, though I never officially tried it myself. I'm not a big beer aficionado (aficionada?), but it seems to me that the variety in beer, from the clean crisp Hefeweizens to the dark, rich and creamy Guinesses would be a great accompanyment to cheese.

Sure enough, I encountered an article in the San Francisco Chronicle that explores beer and cheese pairing: "BEER & CHEESE
Forget wine and cheese parties -- the true soul mate for fromage isn't made from grape juice".

Well, Janet Fletcher, I don't think I'd go that far. To me, wine will always be the better mate. But the concept of beer and cheese is intriguing, and opens up a whole new venue of enjoying cheese.

The article encourages pairing beer in harmony to cheese, rather as a contrast, as in the case with wine. For instance, they suggest that a rich porter's carmel and coffeeness enhance and echo an aged gruyere. Or try a bitter India Pale Ale with a high-acid ceddar. They list a number of other suggestions as well, put together by several local beer experts.

I suppose this shouldn't really come as any great surprise. After all, back in the day when people would drink ale like water, they were probably eating cheese, too. And any beverage that has good, full flavor will do well to accompany cheese. Beer, however, does not carry the same dryness as wine, which I enjoy with cheese.

But next time you bust out with the beers for your superbowl party, consider arranging a nice cheese plate to accompany it!

Gorgonzola

Hmmm... a delightful gorgonzola gnocchi recipe to try! Brought to us by a reader and fellow blogger:

"http://lapsushumanus.blogspot.com/2004/12/ode-to-gorgonzola.html.

Cheese manager needed on Upper East Side!

Cheese experts in New York might find this of interest.

A "well established Upper East Side gourmet market seeks an experience well knowledgeable [sic] individual to oversee all aspects of our extensive Cheese Department."

Posted on Craigslist. You can read the full add here:

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/ret/49417325.html

Good luck to those of you who might apply.

Thanks to Elijah Kaufman for the tip.

British Cheese! Juliet Harbutt!

Autumn has brought yet another delicious round of the UK's famed cheese festivals, including the British Cheese Awards and the Great British Cheese Festival. This year's crowd pleasing Supreme Champion at the BCA was my all-time favorite cheddar -- JL Montgomery's Extra Mature. Thanks to our friends at Neal's Yard, we have ample availability in the US. A quickie perusal of the winner's list reveals numerous cheeses available here in the US. This link will take you to all cheese events of note in the UK and New Zealand, as well as to Juliet Harbutt's personal web page.

Mad About Murray's

So chef, just because you decided to set up shop in rural Michigan doesn't mean you should be deprived the pleasures of fine cheese. Sysco, the leading US broadline foodservice distributor (with USD $27.5B in sales in 2003 and over 420,000 accounts nationwide), has partnered with Murray's Cheese in dear ole Manhattan to offer some of the -ah- less delicate cheeses to the chef who may not know his Romano from his Roomano.

Through Sysco's Chef Ex program, chefs can order from a narrow, but geographically diverse, set of cheeses. From Pierre Robert to Parmigiano-Reggiano, Manchego to Mozzarella, the list reads like a 'best hits' of the currently-available-in-the-US international cheeseworld. The domestic side of the equation is covered by a small range of high-production artisan and "farmhouse" cheesemakers -- Great Hill, Bingham Hill, Vermont Butter and Cheese, etc. I guess the average Chef Ex shopper is looking for the lower-priced war horses rather than the jewels of the cheeseworld that may not be so readily available. Menus can be so confining!

Sysco takes each order and sends it to the production facility at Murray's (or to any of the other companies who are partnering with Sysco), who in turn packages the cheeses (in fairly high minimum quantities) and ships them off to the customer via Fed Ex Standard Overnight.

Come on, chefs -- if you really want to blow away your customers with your excellent taste and cheese knowledge, bring in something truly original -- get on the American Cheese Society website and order yourself some cheeses from the list of previous award winners. For about the same price you will have some truly staggering cheese, not just cheese with the Murray's -- and Sysco -- seal of approval. Plus you will be giving 100% of what you pay to the cheesemaker (oh yeah, and to Fed Ex), not siphoning off a chunk to a huge foodservice company that doesn't need your money quite as badly as the small producers do. Doesn't that make you feel good?

Count on Sysco to mainstream cheese in foodservice. A tip of the old hat for getting into the cheese game. People who know Sysco know that they don't jump into a business unless they can win. And no doubt the margins look good. Real good.

Murray's

Here on the west coast, the New Yorker tends to arrive a little late. So it is only today that I can tell you about Cynthia Zarin's article on Murray's Cheese Shop. It's not online: go buy it before Monday if you're interested. Here's an excerpt:

One answer that the store favors when asked why some cheese are so expensive is that they really don't cost that much. A good leg of lamb can run to sixty dollars; if you serve three cheeses afterward, an ounce of each to six people -- even very expensive cheeses -- it might cost twenty dollars. Liz Thorpe [the wholesale manager] says, "Last summer, I visited a woman high up in the Spanish Pyrenees. She has fifty goats. it's a solo operation. When her cheese gets here, it costs twenty-one dollars a pound. That's shockingly reasonable to me, when I know what goes into it...."

Plus, scurrilous gossip: Owner Rob Kaufelt says: "Mateo Kehler's not the best cheesemaker in America. He's just the best-looking." [He is not impugning the Kehlers' abilities, just making fun of his female employees.]

Rest in peace, Julia Child

Julia Child passed away last night. At 91 years of age, She died in her sleep at her home, NPR news radio reports.

I don't really know what to say, except that it saddens me incredibly. I wanted to yell out to let the whole world know what had happened, so we could all join in mourning for our dear, old friend.

But all I could do was cry as they replayed an old clip from one of her cooking shows. She was an endearing lady, in all her quirky splendor, and though we loved to make fun of her, there was a beautiful grace to her intrepid pragmatism. She is an icon for many of us, for she is the one who has inspired us to explore the culinary world. And though she was a t.v. world away, she was so real and genuine in her passion for food, and intimate in her approach. I'm left with the feeling that I've known her, all these years, that she's been with me in my kitchen all along, laughing in her funny way, chatting about cooking tips, commiserating in the dismay of recipes gone awry, but most of all, sharing our love for cooking.

Farewell, dear lady. We shall miss you.

Epoisses: the Buck Stops Here

After months of speculation, research, and cajoling, I finally managed to procure a proper raw-milk epoisses. As soon as Bill returned to the office from his Parisian vacation, he handed me a shrink-wrapped package of my requested cheeses: Langres, Muenster, Camembert de Normandie, and most treasured of all, a raw-milk Epoisses. Yes, I squealed with joy. Yes, I jumped up and down and did a little dance. Yes, my co-workers think I'm insane. And apparently, if you inform a cheesemonger in Paris that you will be transporting your little bundles of dairy heaven to the States he (or she) will vacuum pack it in a hermitically sealed pouch, theoretically in order to foil customs. In reality, there is no real need for such subterfuge. However, you may want to do so anyways, in order to avoid arousing the ire of your fellow passengers.

ACS Milwaukee: Festival of Cheese

This year's Festival of Cheese, which marked the culmination of the American Cheese Society's annual conference, was perhaps the biggest one yet. Two sizeable ballrooms at the Milwaukee Hilton featured US cheeses of all types. Four huge tables groaned under the weight of an unusually large field of flavored cheddars (artichoke lemon anyone?), creamy cheese spreads, unremarkable goudas, and flabby washed rind cheeses. As in years past, fresh goat cheeses dominated the goat category (I guess no one really took Jenkins seriously back in '99 when he practically begged cheesemakers to stop with the fresh chevre already at the conference in Vermont) and aged goats were almost non-existent.

Stephen Jenkins, Maitre Fromager

Somehow, I didn't notice until today that Stephen Jenkins, author of the Cheese Primer (the Cheese Diaries' bible) is conducting a Q&A on egulllet this week. Check it out.

Competition for Neal's Yard in the US?

At the most recent Fancy Food Show in New York, The Fine Cheese Company of Bath, England, made an impressive debut. With a presence at two booths (the La Ferme/Somerdale Booth and the Cheeseworks booth), and an intriguing selection of cheeses (including Royal Oak, aka Devon Oke, Cornish Yarg, and Sharpham Rustic), The Fine Cheese Co may be poised to take some of the business formerly owned by the deservedly dominant Neal's Yard Dairy. If you can't find the cheeses in a store near you in the coming months, a small selection will be available through the always pricey Christmas Williams-Sonoma Catalog.

Vermont Shepherd's Recall Completed

From their Press Release. Tomorrow's New York Times will feature an article on New England Cheesemakers. The recall will be a part of the article.

-Announcement of Completed Recall-

Putney Tomme and Timson, produced by West River Creamery of Londonderry, VT and marketed by Vermont Shepherd, LLC of Putney, VT were recalled on April 26, 2004. Types of cheese recalled were cow’s milk cheeses labeled Putney Tomme and Timson. The recall does not affect any of the sheep’s milk cheeses produced solely by Vermont Shepherd, LLC. All inventory of Putney Tomme and Timson has been destroyed and production of Putney Tomme and Timson has ceased. Putney Tomme and Timson cheeses were recalled due to a potential link to food borne illnesses. All lab results on Putney Tomme and Timson have come back pathogen free. Total volume of the recall was under 3000 pounds.

jasper hill

The latest Art of Eating takes note of a relatively new Vermont dairy, Jasper Hill Farm, which makes raw milk cheeses from its own herd of 27 Ayrshires. The cheesemaker, Mateo Kehler, spent five years studying cheese in Europe, working at Neal's Yard, among other things. According to Behr they are making 2 cheeses: a big blue called Bayley Hazen, and the small surface-ripened, Constant Bliss, aged for 60 days, which may be unique in this country. They use an interesting combination of commercial and wild molds.

They are listed at the following sites, which I link here because they are all useful:
Slow Food's American Raw Milk Farmstead Cheese Consortium, Vermont Dairy Promotion Council's cheesemakers page, New England Dairy Promotion Board's cheese site. If anyone sees these on the West Coast, let us know.

Vermont's Artisan Cheese Initiative

The University of Vermont does it again!

(paraphrasing their brochure)

The Northeast Center for Food Entrepreneurship at the University of Vermont has created the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese (VIAC) to support Vermont's cheesemakers. Initiatives include educating cheesemakers and creating a certificate program for cheesemaking, educating the public, and providing a resource for all of the state's cheesemakers.

Vermont has the largest number of cheesemakers per capita and 'leads the nation with... both traditional cheeses and genuine new products.'

Of interest to all US cheese fans, the institute is sponsoring some significant research:

"A research team led by Catherine Donnelly in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences is inquiring into the natural barriers to pathogen development that occur in the production of raw milk cheese. The results will help inform the national debate over aged cheeses made from unpasteurized milk, like cheddar, swiss, gruyere, and camembert. Proponents of raw milk cheeses cite their superior taste, health benefits, and long track record of safety. Opponents are led by the Food and Drug Administration, which is considering banning them, an action that would affect both domestic and foreign cheese makers and significantly impact global trade. The research effort will be an integral part of the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, a newly launched initiative that will provide education, training, and outreach for Vermont’s artisan cheesemakers. The institute is also being supported by a grant from the Merck Fund. "

For more information, contact the institute at (802) 656-8300

Reblochon Crisis in the US?

For the last two months my consolidator (the person in Rungis, France who gathers my cheese from different producers around that country for my delivery) has not been sending me my Reblochon. I figured it was one of those "production problems" so frequently bandied as an excuse for missed shipments.

One of our interns popped his head into my office three weeks ago and said, "Hey, did you hear? There's something wrong with Reblochon! A friend of mine at a cheese shop told me."

Horrified that it had taken me so long to even question Reblochon's absence, I called my consolidator. "What's the story?" I asked.

Turns out nothing is wrong with the cheese. Reblochon is as wonderful as ever. But the French State Veterinary Services have recently refused to approve Reblochon exports to the US. Seems that raw milk Reblochon (it must be, as defined by the AOC), when it arrives at Rungis to be consolidated, isn't actually 60 days old. The Authority, possibly under pressure from the government, is no longer allowing these sub-60 day products to be exported.

There are some importers who still are able to get Reblochon. That's who I am buying my cheese from right now.

One of the largest cooperatives is considering a pasteurized product to get around this quasi-ban. Pasteurized Reblochon? I rue the day.

Microdairies: Mecox Bay Dairy

Once upon a time there were microbreweries. And then there were microwineries, little postage stamp-sized patches of land producing a barrel or two of wine a year. And now? Microdairies. Don't know what to do with Bessie's milk? Make cheese!

I took a short trip to the tony Hamptons this weekend. I knew that the less fashionable North Fork had become a mecca for viticulture and that a cheesemaker or two had set up shop there. I had no idea that the South Fork, home to self-conscious actors, musicians, and socialites (think Seinfeld, Billy Joel, Lizzy Grubman), was also a viticulture region and a budding cheese lover's paradise.

Mecox Bay Dairy, located in Bridgehampton, NY, is the home to six cows; of those 6, four are currently milked. Arthur and Stacy Ludlow have been making raw milk cheese for about a year and a half, and the production is still rather spotty. A cheesemonger I met at a newly opened cheese shop in Sag Harbor told me that on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, he sold over 40 pieces of Mecox Bay's Atlantic Mist, a soft ripened cheese that resembles a stocky coulommiers in appearance, and an overripe brie in texture and flavor.

I admire cheesemakers who seek to preserve traditional cheesemaking methods in their production. But let's face it -- soft ripened cheeses made from raw cow's milk for the most part should be eaten under 60 days. The rind was mottled with black molds (not a good sign) and the flavor was acidic and burning -- the ammonia was taking over. I wanted to taste grass, herbs -- I willed myself to taste grass, herbs -- but all I tasted was the burn.

Two other cheeses were more successful. Shawondasee, a 'mold ripened cheese' resembles a tomme de savoie in flavor and has a pleasant finish. Mecox Sunrise, a washed-rind cheese aged up to 4 months, is less successful. It is bitter with an unpleasant finish. Cato Corner's Hooligan is a far more tasty, and interesting, washed rind cheese.

For a near-complete listing of New York State cheesemakers (and microdairies) check this out.

Kraft cheese: The horror?

The Wall Street Journal had a good front-page article Friday on how big food companies like Kraft, Unlilever, Campbell Soup and others are losing sales as customers turn away from processed foods. Here's a free link, which should be good for a week.

Of interest here is the lengthy discussion of Kraft's cheese business. Did you know they patented processed cheese in 1916? That they have a whole category known as "aerosol cheese?" That they grew for almost a decade simply on the strength of their idea to pre-shred cheese?

I have excerpted a section from the article here. However, I must warn you that:

The material you are about to read is graphic in nature and not intended for consumption by minors. If you have a heart condition, upset stomach or are eating lunch, you should stop reading right now. Use of the word a "cheese" in the preceding introduction is not legally binding but rather serves as journalistic shorthand for a variety of generally orange product types including but not limited to "Cheez" and "Kraft Deluxe processed slices." Reader discretion is advised.

Vermont Shepherd's difficult road -- The story of a voluntary recall

Things have been very quiet at Vermont Shepherd in Westminster, Vermont. Margie, who handles the books, is around only 5 hours a week. Cindy and David Major, who own Vermont Shepherd, haven’t had to spend too much time in the office. The phone just isn’t ringing. There are four wheels of Vermont Shepherd left. The rest sold out in late March. The improvised farm stand at the end of the driveway has deterred visitors from venturing nearer the farm, but in just a few weeks there won’t be enough cheese available to stock the stand.

In recent years this has not been the case during May. Sales are usually brisk and Cindy and Margie spend a lot of time answering calls and filling orders while the cheesemaking team makes next fall’s Vermont Shepherd cheese. But the two cheeses that have allowed Vermont Shepherd to make and sell cheese year round have been voluntarily pulled from the market, and may never be made again.

What kind of cheese are you?

On a lighter note, here's one of those quizzes...

Apparently, I am a chevre.

You are a cheese of different shapes, sizes, and textures. You are dependable, generous, and modest. You want to please everyone, but sometimes you have trouble remembering yourself.

These cheeses are made from goat's milk. They come in many sizes and shapes, such as round patties, log-shapes, drum-shapes, pyramids, round loaves, long loaves etc.; their textures vary from soft, but firm like cream cheese to extremely hard. Chevres are excellent dessert cheeses, often served as snacks or before dinner drinks. Goat cheese is often served as an ingredient in many fine dishes. [ Country: France || Milk: goat milk || Texture: semi-hard ]

Uh, do I smell goaty?

Mystery Cheese

When visiting the Cheese Board last week, I saw, featured on the white board, a French cheese I had never heard of before: Petit Fuxéen. It bore that alluring green dot (meaning raw milk) but it was otherwise unlabeled. The cheese mongers were unable to tell me what region it came from, or its affinage. I googled it, and looked it up in my various cheese books, and came up with jack shit. But I can tell you this: it tasted pretty good.

The Return of the Vassal

I really have to apologize for the title of this article, but with the release of the final chapter of Peter Jackson's glorious trilogy on DVD in two weeks, I simply couldn't resist. (Try coming up with catchy titles for some of these articles. It's tougher than you think.) When it comes to cheese, I am no queen, much less a king, (Rocquefort, on the other hand, is the king of cheeses) so I believe that calling myself "vassal" is apt. Speaking of nobility in the world of cheese, I must applaud our newest writer, Wade. In less than a month, he has given us quite a few excellent and informative articles on cheese. Hopefully, his work will drive the more lazy writers (I'm referring to myself, specifically) to contribute more to this wonderful site. Anyways, I return from a bit of a hiatus to bring good news: Steingarten was right.

As for Homeland Security: My understanding of the FDA's new rules, which went into effect on December 12, is that foreign companies importing food into the US must now appoint a responsible agent within the US and must inform the FDA (through any of several methods, including the Internet) of the shipment at least four days before the shipment is set to arrive. There's nothing I can find in the new regulations regarding individuals' bringing in food. Remember, carrying in raw milk cheeses aged fewer than 60 days is still not allowable under the law and never has been--at least for the past 52 years. As I explained in the "Cheese Crise" chapter of "It Must've Been Something I Ate," the reason you can carry in illegal cheese with impunity is that the FDA has no inspectors at the airport, and the customs people who check your baggage couldn't care less about the FDA's war against real cheese. Everybody I spoke with denied there was a policy of benign, very benign, neglect. On many occasions I have followed the policy of "declare everything." I am always very explicit in what I declare; I write on the back of the form "raw milk cheeses aged for fewer than 60 days" and sometimes add, "in contravention of FDA regulations and statutes." The inspector reads it and waves me through. If the FDA were thoroughly concerned with homeland security, they would reassign everybody there who has been working against real cheese.

Like drinking and driving....

Grappa and fresh goat cheese just don't mix!

I was dining at new hotspot during a visit to New York (its close enough to my homebase for a quick weekend junket) and saw, with horror, that the only cheese offered on the menu was a fresh chevre...paired with grappa. It wasn't merely a menu suggestion, it was a dessert item.

Let's break it down:

1) Fresh goat cheese is acidic, floral and herbaceous at best, creamy but not fatty.
2) Grappa is a clear spirit made from grape pumace (skin and seeds) extremely high in alcohol (80-90%), floral at best, a 'clean' finish, and for the uninitiated, rather harsh. It is acidic.

Fresh goat cheese naturally partners with Sauvignon Blanc, which is more fruity than floral, dry but not harsh, and slightly oh so slightly sweet. It would provide a counterpoint to the fresh cheese.

Grappa does not.

Grappa needs a cheese that will tame it. Grappa needs something fatty, mouth coating, mushroomy.

The Italians have the right idea with Bross. This is no cheese for the faint-of-heart -- precisely the kind of match you would expect for grappa.

So skip the grappa and the goat cheese. If there isn't anything else on the menu, take yourself down to the nearest shop, buy yourself the stinkiest and most pungent washed rind cheese you can find, uncork the grappa, and enjoy it at home. Unless you feel like making Bross.

Pardon me, are those your feet I smell?

We had a quick meeting today at work to talk about one of the most important issues our company is facing, one that may determine our future:

Odor eradication.

Seems that our next door neighbor has been overcome by the fumes from our ventilation system...some of their employees have gone home sick. They believe it is because of the noxious odors given off by our washed rind cave (ammonia is one of the by-products of the affinage, or aging process). Fanciful. Very fanciful. I'd love to use that as an excuse for a sick day!

We think they are just crying wolf and that the people who went home watched Todd Haynes' Safe too many times. We think they just don't like the toe jam stink. None of us here has ever been overcome by our arguably smelly work environment. No one at my previous workplace did either. But complaints are complaints, and we have to comply or our landlord could evict us.

So we will install another OZONATOR (leaves an incredibly strange feeling in your mouth, and produces a smell more fetid than any cheese, but I guess that's the smell of dead bacteria. Ugh!) and put our cheese boxes in sealed garbage bags. We will use air fresheners and fine perfume. And you know what will happen? For one month they will be happy. And then summer will be