I’m not typically a big fan of cooking with fine cheese, but Reading begs to be melted. Made by Vermont’s Spring Brook Farm, this handsome wheel is modeled on Raclette, the alpine cheese so delicious that it has a dish named after it.
Read moreBetting on Alpha
If you’re a guest on Thanksgiving and haven’t yet settled on a gift for your host, put cheese on your short list. An American Cheddar might be the obvious choice, but I’m going to nominate Alpha Tolman, an aged Vermont cheese that any host should be happy to get. It has several features that fit the occasion: an approachable flavor that even children will like; durability (for those all-weekend houseguests); and a nutty character that will enhance the turkey sandwiches.
Read moreLittle Seductress →
One of the trends I’ve spotted in American cheeses recently is the growing use of beer to wash cheeses. You have probably tasted Epoisses, the Burgundian cheese brushed with marc de Bourgogne (grape-pomace brandy), and Spain’s Murcia al Vino (also marketed as Drunken Goat), which is steeped in red wine. Oregon’s Rogue River Blue ages in grape leaves soaked in pear brandy. And then there’s the irresistible Tome d’Aquitaine (aka Clisson), a French beauty bathed twice: first with Muscadet, then with Sauternes.
Read moreHungarian Rhapsody →
My husband, Doug, the crazed baker, assigned himself a new challenge this summer: Danish rye bread. His model was the fabulous house-made loaf at Tørst, the hip beer bar in Brooklyn. It’s a dense, dark, moist brick studded with flax and sunflower seeds, and it’s meant to be sliced thin, toasted and topped with butter and radishes or smoked fish.
Read moreMade in Marin →
A few years ago, I went to visit a friend with terminal cancer. Ira knew his prognosis, but he was in good spirits that day and eager to tell me about his new doctor, a thoracic surgeon who owned a goat farm in West Marin and wanted to make cheese. Alas, the doctor could not do much for Ira, but I remembered his name and eventually began hearing about his cheese.
Read moreSleeper Cheese →
A friend in the wine business asked me a cheese question recently that stumped me. “What is the one thing that all the great cheesemakers have in common?” he wanted to know.
Read moreWe Have a Winner →
Vermont’s Tarentaise Reserve took top honors at the American Cheese Society’s annual competition last week, surpassing 1,684 other cheeses to earn the prestigious “Best of Show.” I served as a judge and concur that this awesome two-year-old wheel deserved the recognition. It was my first choice. (Judges taste blind, but the distinctive concave rim of this 20-pound wheel gives it away.) Honestly, though, I tasted at least a half-dozen other cheeses that I would have been happy to see at the top. That’s a testament to the growing prowess of America’s cheesemakers.
Read moreUps and Downs with Feta →
The same purchase provided the high and low moments on Planet Cheese last week. The high was finding Vermont Creamery goat feta at Oxbow Cheese Merchant in Napa, my neighborhood shop. Vermont Creamery makes some of my favorite bloomy-rinded goat cheeses (Bijou and Bonne Bouche among others), and a sublime cultured butter as well. But I didn’t know the creamery made feta.
Read moreKatie’s Creation →
She's not yet 30, but Katie Hedrich is already a rock star in the American artisan cheese world. The daughter of Wisconsin dairy-goat farmers, Hedrich made headlines at the age of 25 when her aged goat cheese, Evalon, scored 99 points out of 100 to become the 2011 U.S. Championship Cheese. The win propelled the Hedrich family to build its own creamery—the winning cheese was produced in borrowed space—and take a deep dive into cheese.
Read moreFlory’s Story →
With raw milk from their 30 Jersey cows, the Flory family of Jamesport, Missouri, is making one of the country’s finest Cheddars. I first tasted Flory’s Truckle at the American Cheese Society conference last year, and finally a few of these handsome wheels have arrived on the West Coast.
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