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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
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Does U.S. Bufala Cheese Have a Future?

February 27, 2024 janet@janetfletcher.com

I hope I live long enough to see American-made water buffalo cheese at every cheese counter, but it’s not looking good. One step forward, two steps back. Someone starts a water buffalo dairy, another fails. I dream of homegrown mozzarella di bufala, of course. But Italian cheesemakers do so much more with this super-rich milk. The gorgeous, slumpy cheese pictured above demonstrates what water buffalo milk can do in skilled hands. Will we ever get there?

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In From: U.S., Milk: Water Buffalo Tags water buffalo cheese, mozzarella di bufala, Bergamino di bufala, latte di bufala, Oro Bianco, Double 8 Dairy, Ramini mozzarella
19 Comments

Superstar New Cheeses from Europe

May 23, 2023 janet@janetfletcher.com

“How many cheeses do you have to eat to become a cheese expert?” someone asked me recently. As if there’s a checklist. I’m not counting, but I did add several remarkable new cheeses to my life list last week. I led a tasting of “New Arrivals from Europe,” including the beauty pictured above, and I was blown away by these newcomers.

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In From: France, From: Germany, From: Spain Tags Robiola, water buffalo cheese, Robiola Cavina, Nieve de Cabra, Red Casanova, Agour, Basque cheese, Ossau-Iraty, Opari, new cheeses
Comment

Small but Mighty

August 20, 2019 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 21 _DSC9369.jpg

Italian tradition. Canadian milk. American persistence. Calabro Cheese’s ricotta di bufala required input from three countries and a decade of effort before the Connecticut company had a viable product. The cheese now has earned multiple ribbons from the American Cheese Society and is poised for takeoff. Like other water-buffalo cheeses, Calabro ricotta di bufala is not inexpensive (I paid $3.49 for a four-ounce basket), but if successful, it may persuade others to ponder the potential for water buffalo in the U.S. We can hope.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Water Buffalo Tags ricotta, ricotta cheese, Calabro Cheese, water buffalo cheese, ricotta di bufala, American Cheese Society, water buffalo milk, bufala
2 Comments

Buffalo Stampede

June 5, 2018 janet@janetfletcher.com
Planet Cheese 43 _DSC4727.jpg

You’re not imagining it. Buffalo are roaming all over American cheese counters these days. Buffalo ricotta, mozzarella, Camembert, blue. I haven’t spotted a buffalo Cheddar yet, but surely any day now. From a curiosity to (almost) mainstream in a decade, cheese made with rich water-buffalo milk is having its moment. Many are good; a few are great. 

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In From: Italy, From: U.S. Tags water buffalo, water buffalo cheese, bufala, mozzarella di bufala, ricotta, Quattro Portoni, Casa Madaio
2 Comments

Top of the Mountain

August 2, 2016 janet@janetfletcher.com
Cheese champ: Chris Roelli

Cheese champ: Chris Roelli

For cheesemaker Chris Roelli, last week’s American Cheese Society “Best of Show” ribbon must feel like sweet vindication. Roelli spent years trying to persuade his father to get back in the business after the elder Roelli shuttered his Wisconsin cheese plant in 1991. The family had struggled to make a living producing commodity Cheddar and other low-priced cheese—the type that ends up shredded on a fast-food taco. “When we closed the doors, we were making literally a penny a pound,” Chris told me.

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In From: U.S., Milk: Cow Tags American Cheese Society, Roelli Cheese Haus, Little Mountain, Bleating Heart Cheese, Buff Blue, water buffalo cheese, Wisconsin cheese, Dunbarton Blue
6 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,
Victoria Pearson, Sara Remington and Meg Smith
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