Given the eye-popping prices at the cheese counter these days, the bargains stand out even more. Some (not all) of the selections selling for $35 to $40 a pound are fabulous, but none of them is better than the beauty pictured above. I paid $19.99 a pound for this charmer, a raw-milk wheel made in Switzerland by a single family with milk from their neighbors. I’ve admired this cheese for a long time, but these days I’m blown away by the astonishing quality for the price.
Read moreWhat’s Ahead for Cheese Counters
The Cheese Board, Berkeley
Have you noticed changes at your favorite cheese counters? I have. So many cheeses are now pre-sliced and vacuum-sealed—cheeses that merchants used to cut to order, so you could have just the amount you wanted. The selection has narrowed. There are gaps on the shelves. All these changes are pandemic related, but how long will they last? Will cheese counters eventually be as robust as they used to be and cheese shopping as interactive as before?
Read moreThe Magic Touch of Hervé Mons
After years of disappointing encounters, I stopped buying Camembert and Tomme de Savoie. The French Camembert sold in the U.S. always tasted lifeless to me. The Tomme was often stale or cardboardy. My wonderful taste memories from France did not jibe with the sorry specimens I was finding at American cheese counters. But then came Mons. Thanks to French affineur Hervé Mons and his team, we’re getting superb versions of these two classic cheeses, and others as well. In anticipation of Bastille Day, I assembled an all-Mons cheese board. So much deliciousness on one tray! Then I reached out to Fromagerie Mons to see if they could explain his magic touch.
Read moreDo Good, Buy Cheese
Don’t you love it when you can do good by buying something you were going to buy anyway? Until the end of the year, the Whole Planet Foundation is donating a portion of its sales of Good Culture cottage cheese to fund microloans to entrepreneurs in impoverished communities around the globe. I had already fallen for this creamy cultured cottage cheese, but now I love it more.
Read moreWhy the Big Smile? →
If your cheesemonger has a little broader smile these days, it could be because he or she has just passed the CCP exam. Like a bar exam for the cheese industry, the CCP (Certified Cheese Professional) quiz is a rigorous test of knowledge. Modeled loosely on programs like Master of Wine and Master Sommelier, the three-year-old credential encourages professionalism among the people who market and sell specialty cheese.
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