On my short list of favorite cheese names, I would surely include Ewe Calf to be Kidding (a three-milk blue cheese from Hook’s in Wisconsin); Triple Play Extra Innings (another ménage à trois from Hooks, with extended aging); Bleu 1924 (a good back story); Moser Screamer (because it’s worth shouting about); and Mary dans les Étoiles (a loving tribute to a departed colleague). Wordplay aside, they’re all superb cheeses. So is the wedge pictured above, which I might have purchased for its name alone, but a sample in the shop sealed the deal.
Read moreBetter Than Ever
I recently led a small cheese and wine tasting for the winners of a charity auction lot. The cheeses were donated by the makers and maybe not what I would have chosen—they weren’t fancy-schmancy—but free is a nice price. So I wasn’t expecting any “wow” moments from this cheese plate but…wow.
Read moreA Cheese Debut and a Retirement
It’s still summer and I’ve just seen my first holiday decorations. I guess people are anxious to make up for all the gatherings that didn’t happen last year. If you’re already thinking about autumn cheese boards and how to entertain holiday guests, serve this rising star and prove you’re an early adopter. A little bit stinky (but not too much) and extra buttery, this California newcomer makes a tasty segue to autumn.
Read moreTrio of Lovelies
For all those who say they don’t like goat cheese, here are three to change their mind. I would bet on it. How can you not love these beauties? I get why people dislike those chalky, overly tart fresh chèvres that smell like a goat barn. I don’t like them either. But goat cheese can be silky, sweet, nutty and mellow, with an aroma like pale caramel. These three gems (one is mixed milk) are absolutely worth the hunt—each an original creation made by a single producer.
Read moreSlumping Beauty
New York’s Meadowood Farms specializes in sheep’s-milk cheese, which means the creamery is idle for several months each year. Sheep don’t produce milk year-round in any case, and Meadowood’s practice is to milk them only when they’re on pasture. In Cazenovia, just east of the Finger Lakes, that’s a lot of down time.
Read moreA Century in the Making
I’m always intrigued to learn how a cheese goes from idea to reality. This luscious newbie from West Marin can trace its roots back more than a century, to the day when 17-year-old Fredilino Lafranchi left his home in the Swiss canton of Ticino to try his luck in the U.S. He had $35 in his pocket
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