Every summer I lead a cheese tasting for the Society of Medical Friends of Wine, a group of Bay Area physicians with a shared interest in fine wine. We have never had a problem filling the seats until this year, when one of the doctors—a Swiss native—suggested a Swiss theme for the tasting. He got no resistance from me: I loved the idea. Some of the most impressive cheeses I’ve had in the last few years have been new arrivals from Switzerland.
Read moreCheesemongers Talk Value
Watching prices for some cheeses top $40 a pound is making me anxious and cranky. I still buy them because it’s my business to taste them, but I worry that many people are being priced out of the experience of great cheese. Of course, a lot of people are priced out of luxury restaurants, too, but it just seems that fine cheese, such a fundamental foodstuff, should not be reserved for the one percent.
Read moreTriple Play
Introduced in March of this year, Tomales Farmstead’s Teleeka is already outselling the four other cheeses made by this California creamery. I’m not surprised. Inspired by La Tur, the wildly popular bloomy-rind cheese from Northern Italy, Teleeka has a luscious factor that’s hard to resist.
Read moreNot a Fairy Tale
The roster of new American creameries willing to work with raw milk and tolerate the heightened scrutiny of the FDA is not long. The search results get even shorter if you add “certified organic milk” to the criteria. Washington State’s six-year-old Cascadia Creamery has chosen this challenging path, and its aged cow’s-milk wheel, Sleeping Beauty, is certifiably delightful.
Read moreYet Another Feta to Love
How can Greece have an economic crisis given all the Greek feta that I buy? I’m never without some in my fridge, but my usage spikes at this time of year, when the deluge of tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants and peppers makes feta a must-have. At $11 or $12 a pound, it’s the best value at the cheese counter.
Read moreInner-City Cheese
As if Portland weren’t already a hipster haven, the city upped its cool quotient with the opening of Ancient Heritage Dairy early this year. The petite urban creamery—a transplant from central Oregon—now creates its cheeses in a light-filled corner building in southeast Portland, in an area with so many food-focused entrepreneurs that it’s dubbed the Artisan Corridor. Big plate-glass windows invite pedestrians to pause and watch as milk is transformed into curd, and they can purchase the results at a retail counter next door.
Read moreWisconsin Newbie Worth the Splurge
In my dreams, the U.S. will someday produce aged sheep’s milk cheeses that rival the finest from Europe—the Basque cheeses from the Pyrenees; the pecorinos from Tuscany, Sicily and Sardinia; the Manchego, Roncal and Zamorano from Spain. We are getting close on quality, but I’m not sure we’ll ever compete on price. Europe’s cheesemakers typically have lower land and labor costs and fewer costly regulations. In some cases, they benefit from government-funded marketing support and operate at a volume that makes for efficiencies.
Read moreGroovy Goat Cheese Takes Blue Ribbon
At this time of year, I’m happy to eat Greek salad every day. I’m not tired of those garden tomatoes and cucumbers yet. But last week I shook things up a bit, replacing the feta with PsycheDillic, the little dill-scented goat cheese that just took a blue ribbon at the American Cheese Society competition.
Read moreFarmed and Dangerous?
There's a collegial, celebratory, almost giddy spirit at the annual American Cheese Society conference. No wonder many regulars refer to the gathering as "cheese camp." But the mood was noticeably more subdued at this summer’s summit in Providence, courtesy of the FDA.
Read moreRosy Future for this Blue
Celtic Blue Reserve, a blue cheese from Ontario, took Best of Show at last week's American Cheese Society competition in Providence. Topping 1,779 entries, the cow's-milk wheel gave Canada its first win in the contest's 30-year history. Margaret Peters Morris, whose Glengarry Fine Cheese company produced the roughly six-pound wheel, is a respected consultant who has mentored many U.S. cheese makers.
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