Who better to ask about the year’s best cheeses than the country’s top mongers? I eat a lot of cheese, but they eat more. They’re the gatekeepers. They select the best—or what they believe they can sell—from their suppliers, and they delight in introducing customers to the next life-changing wedge. So let’s hear from a few of these expert palates on the cheeses that rocked their world this year.
Read moreAll Aboard for Cheeselandia
If you want a break from current events, imagine a peaceful nation whose citizens just want to get along, make friends and eat cheese. Such a place exists, if you can believe it, and it’s called Cheeselandia. I just learned about it and I have a passport already. If you like Wisconsin cheese, or at least want to know more about it, the border patrol will let you in.
Read moreThree-Part Harmony
Mixing cow, goat and sheep milk is an age-old practice in farmstead cheesemaking. Resourceful rural people always use what they have. That mindset has led to some enduring creations, like the mixed-milk robiolas of northern Italy. But today, cheesemakers are more likely to blend milks out of creative impulse, or to set a new product apart. Five years ago, Hook’s Cheese Company launched Ewe Calf to be Kidding, a three-milk recipe, to acclaim. Now Tony and Julie Hook are at it again.
Read more