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Janet Fletcher

180 Stonecrest Dr
Napa, CA, 94558
(707) 265-0404
{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

{ Janet Fletcher / Food Writer }

Janet Fletcher

  • Home
  • About
    • About Janet
    • Media
    • Client List
    • Contact
  • Planet Cheese
    • Planet Cheese Blog
    • Planet Cheese Signup
    • Cheese Library
  • Store
    • All Items
    • World Cheese Tour
    • Books
  • Classes
    • World Cheese Tour Classes
    • Other Classes & Events
    • Custom Class/Event Request
    • Cheese O'Clock Video Archive
  • Recipes
    • Spring
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Gouda Enough for You?

October 1, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

Hootenanny from Goat Rodeo (left) and cumin-scented Dutch Leyden

I’ve often told others that the best way to find a good cheese is to ask the people behind the counter what they’re loving. The good mongers are sampling all day long and they know what’s in great shape. So when a local cheese merchant all but grabbed my arm recently to steer me to a new arrival she loved, how could I leave without some? And I’m in perfect agreement. This aged American Gouda is a sure-fire pleaser and a no-brainer for autumn cheese plates with apples and pears. For a slam-dunk pairing, open a malty Oktoberfest brew.

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Tags Gouda, aged Gouda, Goat Rodeo Dairy, Goat Rodeo Hootenanny, Oktoberfest beer, Octoberfest, Rispens, Brabander, L’Amuse Gouda, Beemster, Marieke Gouda, Sneek Gouda, Point Reyes Farmstead Gouda, Jake’s Gouda, Oakdale Gouda
19 Comments

One Thousand Days to Greatness

February 20, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

By a wide margin, guests in a recent class of mine voted the cheese pictured above as their favorite. It bested a luscious goat cheese from one of Italy’s acclaimed affineurs, a tasty farmhouse Cheddar from the UK, the pimiento-dusted Alisios from Spain and several others. Wow—such an impressive showing for a largely self-taught cheesemaker from rural Iowa.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Gouda, Iowa cheese, Frisian Farms
8 Comments

Dutch Sheep Cheese for Gouda Fans

April 25, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

You don’t see sheep cheese from the Netherlands every day, so I leaped on this one as soon I learned of it. The Dutch make mountains of cow’s milk cheese—about 2 billion pounds a year—but not much else. Goat cheese amounts to less than three percent of the country’s production and sheep cheese is barely a blip. But maybe that’s changing. Ewephoria, a sheep Gouda crafted for the American market about 20 years ago, found an instant fan club (not surprising—it’s like cheese candy), and this newcomer deserves a warm welcome, too. Made with organic milk and matured for six to eight months in the Treur Kaas cellar, this Gouda-like beauty—christened Beppie—is as creamy as a caramel.

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In Milk: Sheep, From: Ireland Tags sheep cheese, Dutch cheese, Gouda, sheep Gouda, cheese from Holland, Treur Kaas, Ewephoria
Comment

Color Theory

November 1, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com

thought I knew why producers added color to cheese, giving some Goudas and Cheddars the hue of a Garnet yam. But I recently read more about the origins of this peculiar practice, and now I’m a little less sure of my facts. What’s certain is that Mimolette (above) without its screaming orange interior would be just another aged cheese and not the head turner it is. Wisconsin Cheddar without its trademark orange tint would look just like Vermont Cheddar. But if you’ve ever wondered what inspired cheesemakers to manipulate their products’ natural color, and why the tradition persists, here are some more or less believable stories.

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Tags : Mimolette, annatto, Wisconsin Cheddar, Gouda, Vermont Cheddar, Chris Roelli, Roelli cheese, Red Rock cheese, cheese color
31 Comments

Next-Gen Gouda

March 8, 2022 janet@janetfletcher.com
Sheep mild Gouda

A Dutch gentleman in the cheese business once told me that the reason his country’s cheesemakers put so many different spices in Gouda—cumin, caraway, fenugreek, mustard seed—was because the Dutch eat Gouda every day. You have to change it up or lunch gets boring. Goat Gouda, which didn’t gain traction in the Netherlands until the 1980s, provides some variety in the modern Dutch diet. But sheep Gouda? “I am aware of no exported cheeses from the Netherlands made of sheep’s milk, nor, to my knowledge, is there any dairying of sheep there at all,” wrote Steve Jenkins in his authoritative Cheese Primer twenty-five years ago. Time to strike that, Steve. A new Dutch sheep Gouda has landed and it’s on the march.

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In Milk: Sheep, From: Holland Tags Gouda, sheep Gouda, sheep cheese, sheep’s milk cheese, Betty Koster, Dutch cheese, Friesland, the Netherlands, Rispens
6 Comments

How Old is Too Old?

October 19, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com
Gouda at different ages

When does quality peak in a cheese destined for long aging? I’ve had 10-year-old Cheddar (awesome), 4-year-old Parmigiano Reggiano (underwhelming) and a cheese that spent 7 years in a can. (More on that soon.) More recently, I had the opportunity to taste Gouda at four different ages, an enlightening example of what can happen to this iconic Dutch cheese over time. Online merchant igourmet is now carrying these extra-aged wheels so you can duplicate my tasting at home. I’ve served the four cheeses, side by side, to several people now and have been surprised by the reactions, including my own.

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In From: Holland, Milk: Cow Tags Gouda, aged Gouda, Dutch cheese, Artikaas, aging cheese
18 Comments

As Gouda as It Gets

July 20, 2021 janet@janetfletcher.com

If you’re a Gouda fan, add this crystalline beauty to your must-try list. Produced by an Amish couple in upstate New York with the milk from their 200-acre farm, it has everything I want in aged Gouda: a seductive toffee and pineapple aroma, a creamy interior dotted with crunchy bits and a deep, salted-caramel flavor. Some Goudas are so cloying that one bite is enough, but this cheese I couldn’t stop nibbling.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags Gouda, aged Gouda, New York cheese, Amish cheese, Amish dairy farm, farmstead cheese
15 Comments

Best Buys at the Cheese Counter

May 14, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 154 cheese bargains 1.jpg

My recent class on “Best Buys at the Cheese Counter” reminded me—and my students—that a superb dinner-party cheese platter doesn’t have to set you back more than the lamb chops. You can spend $35 to $40 a pound on cheese today, or you can spend half that if you know where the values are. I assembled the seven selections for this class without shopping at a big-box store or chain. I was a little surprised by the class favorite but almost all the cheeses got some votes.

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Tags Ferme de la Tremblaye, Brie, Brie Fermier, goat cheese, Vella Mezzo Secco, Vella Cheese, California cheese, French cheese, Spanish cheese, Gouda, Dutch cheese, blue cheese, Fourme d’Ambert, Stompetoren, Cabot Creamery, Vermotn Cheddar, Cabra al Gofio, Los Cameros
-2 Comments

Love Those Crunchy Bits

November 27, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 107 _DSC6938.jpg

Antwerp wasn’t on my bucket list until I tasted this gorgeous Belgian Gouda. Now I must go. The cheese is made at a creamery about an hour away, then sent to Antwerp for aging. The family that matures the Gouda (and many other fine European cheeses) also runs a cheese shop in Antwerp that some say is the best in Europe. The shop stocks hundreds of cheeses and supplies Belgium’s finest restaurants. The famous De Koninck brewery is practically next door and provides the cheese-aging space. Field trip, anyone?

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In From: Belgium, Milk: Cow Tags Gouda, Belgian cheese, Antwerp, De Koninck, cheese and beer, beer and cheese, Marcel Van Tricht
12 Comments

Better Than Candy

October 23, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 14 _DSC6243.jpg

Halloween is pretty quiet at my house. We have almost no kids in our neighborhood. Still, I fill a bowl with candy and wait for the doorbell to ring. This year, I plan to settle in for the evening with my favorite candy—a well-aged, crystalline, caramelly Gouda—and a Rogue Dead Guy Ale. The creepy label will get me in the mood for whatever little ghouls do come to the door.

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In From: Holland, Milk: Cow Tags Rogue Ales, Rogue Dead Guy, Gouda, Dutch cheese, North Holland, Stompetoren, Beemster, Reypenaer, L’Amuse
17 Comments
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Welcome to my world: a fragrant, fascinating universe devoted to great cheese. In this and future Planet Cheese posts, you’ll find profiles of the world’s best cheeses plus insights into everything cheese: shops, recipes, interviews, pairing discoveries, classes, videos, travel. If you haven’t already done so, sign up here - it’s complimentary - and join me in learning something new about cheese every week.


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     Photographs: Douglas Fletcher, Ed Anderson, Megan Clouse, Faith Echtermeyer, Eva Kolenko,
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