American Cheese Month is just around the corner. What better time to show our nation’s cheesemakers some love? Over four Thursdays in May, I’ll be partnering with cheese expert Laura Werlin and top California wineries to bring you the best in American artisan cheese and wine and to support our cheesemakers in these challenging times.
Read moreSix to Try Now
Cheesemakers across the nation want to get their cheeses to you. Many are making it easier with discounts and deals—even waiving shipping fees in some cases. I’ve heard from some readers who saw my list [link here] and were moved to order, and I’ve heard from others who saw the list and couldn’t decide what to order. The cheeses most in need of a home are the fresh and lightly aged ones (think Camembert) that aren’t built to last. While you’re housebound, why not make your happy hours extra joyous with these six lovelies?
Read moreTrouble in Paradise
Sarah Marcus photo (right): Christine Hyatt
How quickly cheesemakers’ livelihoods can crater, especially when they make mostly perishable cheeses or care for animals that have to be milked twice a day. What are you supposed to do with that milk when nobody’s buying your cheese? I checked in with two West Coast cheesemakers I greatly admire to see how they’re faring in this crisis and how they plan to climb out of the pit. Because they will.
Read moreYour Cheese Dreams Come True
California fresh: Nicasio Valley Cheese Foggy Morning
Can I brag on my state? California is about to host its 14th annual Artisan Cheese Festival, a three-day event that just keeps getting better. (I have perfect attendance.) Cheese fans: Your dreams can come true here. Want to step inside the aging cellars of an artisan Cheddar producer? Or visit three super-hip craft distillers? (There will be cheese. And a driver.) Want to meet the latest rock-star cheesemaker? (Hint: She’s not old enough to vote.)
Read moreCheese by the Numbers
The numbers are in and they’re not pretty. Wisconsin lost a record number of dairy farms last year. More than 800 farms folded. More than 2,700 have called it quits in the past five years.
How does this happen when artisan cheese consumption is booming? And what does it mean for all those amazing Wisconsin cheeses we love? For insights, I turned to a couple of Wisconsin’s most respected cheesemakers: Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese Company, a farmstead producer of Pleasant Ridge Reserve and Rush Creek Reserve; and Bob Wills of Cedar Grove Cheese, who buys milk from more than 30 Wisconsin farms. This post is longer than usual, but these gentlemen had a lot to say and we need to hear it.
Read moreRight Place, Right Time
If a truffled triple-cream cheese sounds like the right thing for Valentine’s Day, keep reading. I’m going to help you make one. Whether you use fresh black truffle (best) or truffle paste (second best), the result will make you a hero. The cheese pictured here was an impromptu gift from Ken Frank, chef-owner of La Toque in Napa—talk about being in the right place at the right time—and later the chef shared a video of how he made it.
Read moreAdieu to a Bread Diva
Cheese without bread? Mon dieu. I still remember when I forgot to bring the baguettes to a cheese tasting and got reprimanded by an irritated Frenchman. I’ll never do that again. Sturdy, chewy bread is maybe the only thing I love as much as cheese (well, wine is up there), and Della Fattoria loaves are a gold standard for me. Last week, we lost Della Fattoria founder Kathleen Weber—too quickly, too soon.
Read moreBlack Magic
I was hanging out in the Cakebread Cellars kitchen in Napa Valley not long ago, watching chef Tom Sixsmith assemble cheese plates for visitors. What caught my eye was the accompaniment he was putting on each plate, slices of a dried fruit and pistachio paste that looked delicious. And it was. I hadn’t seen the paste in stores because Tom makes it himself. He calls it dried fruit “salami,” for obvious reasons, and it takes all of five minutes to make. It’s a good keeper, so you can make a lot and use it to dress up your cheese boards all winter long.
Read moreNew Look for Baked Goat Cheese
Forty years ago next spring, Chez Panisse Café opened in Berkeley and introduced Americans to the baked goat cheese salad. The café’s menu changes daily, but that dish is still on it, a testament to its enduring popularity. As a cook there in the early days, I made a few million of those salads. I still love the combination of quivery cheese and crunchy breadcrumbs.
Read moreEver So Grateful
As we head into the holiday season, I want to express my gratitude for my readers, my students, my cheese community and all those who make, sell and appreciate great cheese. Despite threats from regulation and industrialization, I think we cheese lovers live in a Golden Age. We have so many choices—a burgeoning American cheese scene and a bonanza of imports—but we have to choose quality or traditional methods won’t survive. Tomorrow, before my guests and I sit down to the turkey, I’ll offer thanks for my family, my friends, my health. But just between us, here are a few other things I’m grateful for:
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