One of the biggest hits in my World Cheese Tour class last week was Deer Creek’s Imperial Buck, a four-year-old bandaged Cheddar from Wisconsin. It was so creamy, so mellow, so well balanced between savory and sweet. My experience with traditional bandaged Cheddars is that they rarely improve after 18 to 24 months. They start to dry out and lose their allure. How did this cheese manage to stay so moist and inviting for so long?
Read moreTop Cheesemaker Hits Pause
I hate bearing bad news, but Central Coast Creamery has ceased production. This acclaimed California enterprise, launched in 2007, pulled the plug late last year, selling its creamery and everything in it to a paneer manufacturer. If you loved Central Coast cheeses as much as I did, this development is beyond discouraging. So long to Dream Weaver, Holey Cow, Faultline, Seascape, Ewereka and Ewenique, not to mention the award-winning aged sheep cheeses from its sister brand, Shooting Star Creamery.
Read moreWhat's Next for Goat Cheese?
L to r: Erika McKenzie-Chapter of Pennyroyal Farm (CA); Goat Rodeo Farm & Dairy (PA); Tamara Hicks of Tomales Farmstead Creamery (CA)
oats are having a moment—especially baby goats, the newest TikTok celebs. One TikTok account, @goatdaddys, has more than four million followers for its videos of kids (the goat kind) doing the goofy things that they do. But it hasn’t always been thus. In the 19th century, goats in America were despised and deplored. They roamed San Francisco and New York City eating people’s hedges and outraging the gentry.
Read moreExtreme Yum
A super-smelly Camembert (in a lidded box, no less) is the alpha male of my fridge right now. I close the door quickly but there’s no containing that scent. It’s for an upcoming tasting, where it will be divisive. The quieter little guy pictured above is better behaved but, if you ask me, just as enticing, with extra credit for being perfectly ripe. Just look at that texture. The aroma is impeccable, too—a subtle fragrance hinting at butter-cooked mushrooms and yeast. If you want a Camembert that comes out swinging, buy the other one. If you appreciate a more mannerly cheese that plays nice with wine, this one’s for you.
Read moreHappy Ending
With several independent cheese shops closing and with tariffs wreaking havoc, the cheese world hasn’t been a font of feel-good stories lately. But here’s one: Grafton Village Cheese, a 130-year-old Vermont producer in financial meltdown, has found a buyer. David is saving Goliath in this case…
Read moreBack from the Brink
Even well-known cheeses with long histories can vanish if people stop making them. Traditional Wensleydale has been on the brink more than once. But now this centuries-old British cheese is experiencing a mini-revival, with a handful of artisan producers hoping to save it from a purely industrial fate. I had never heard of Yoredale Wensleydale (pictured above) until I started hunting for some interesting selections for a recent class.
Read moreCheesy Pop Quiz
It felt like a pop quiz that I should ace. “What’s the difference between cottage cheese and ricotta?” a reader asked recently. Anyone can tell them apart in a tasting (right?), but what makes them different is harder to say. The method for cottage cheese is largely, but not entirely, standardized; big producers often take shortcuts. Creameries make ricotta in multiple ways, too. Let’s take a deeper dive into these two fresh cheeses so you know whether they’re interchangeable in recipes and what you can expect when you open that tub.
Read moreNext-Level Chopped Salad
I did not know that chopped salad had a celebrity pedigree, but AI just informed me. I went searching for some history on the dish, which I associate with red-sauce restaurants, and learned that it likely originated in Beverly Hills in the 1950s. Chopped salads with chickpeas, salame and mozzarella were a favorite with tony Angelenos, fancied by starlets like Natalie Wood and ladies-who-lunch like Nancy Reagan. Seven decades later, they’re still popular. They’re colorful, crunchy and amenable to improv. Include what you like; omit what you don’t.
Read moreNext-Level Chopped Salad
I did not know that chopped salad had a celebrity pedigree, but AI just informed me. I went searching for some history on the dish, which I associate with red-sauce restaurants, and learned that it likely originated in Beverly Hills in the 1950s. Chopped salads with chickpeas, salame and mozzarella were a favorite with tony Angelenos, fancied by starlets like Natalie Wood and ladies-who-lunch like Nancy Reagan. Seven decades later, they’re still popular. They’re colorful, crunchy and amenable to improv. Include what you like; omit what you don’t.
Read moreAmerica’s Newest Cheese Gems
(l to r) Withersbrook Blue; Jake and Sylvia Stoltzfus of Jake’s Gouda; Shabby Shoe
American Cheese Month is a time for celebration and optimism. So here’s my toast to several new (or newish) domestic cheeses that make me especially proud of our artisan producers and hopeful for their future. In alpha order:
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