Well, cheese fans, the year is off to a great start. A beloved French cheese—one of my favorites—has returned to the U.S. after a five-year absence. To be honest, I had given up hope of ever putting it on a cheese board again, but I hadn’t realized its very survival was in doubt. Now, thanks to some out-of-the-box thinking, this magnificent sheep cheese is on more secure footing and has a future.
Read moreCheesy Does It on New Year’s Eve
We’re having fondue on New Year’s Eve and—hooray!—someone else is making it. I’m interested to see what cheeses they use. A couple of years ago, I interviewed Joe Salonia, a past winner of FonDuel, a zany annual competition among cheese professionals. (Get tickets for the 2024 contest here.) Salonia shared his recipe and winning techniques, and I thought you might appreciate a refresher. Any year that ends with melted cheese is ending on a high note.
Read moreBreakout Stars of 2023
If only cheese were as easy to ship as books, I would order every cheese on this list. Having just polled some leading retailers about the cheeses that outperformed for them this year, I’m dying to try all these gems. At least I now have the start of a must-taste list for 2024, which is how I hope you will think of this collection of breakout stars.
Read moreTruffle Cheese is the Answer
The question at our house last week was how to revive our flagging interest in cauliflower. I’ve been gardening forever, but I still haven’t learned that when you plant a dozen cauliflower seedlings at once, they all mature at once. I wasn’t sure I could get another cauliflower risotto past my husband unless I changed it up. So I did. With a little digging online, I turned up a new method that produced the creamiest risotto I’ve ever made. The truffled pecorino I had in the fridge put it over the top. I knew I’d nailed it when my husband amped up his usual praise—from “this is good, hon” to “this is really good, hon.” I couldn’t agree more.
Read moreHomemade for the Holidays
At this time of year, everyone’s a cook. People who never bake are baking. We’re all on the hunt for festive recipes to make for parties or cart to potlucks. So I gathered a few of my own holiday favorites for your consideration. I make almost all of these dishes at some point between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. They are tried, retried and true. The best gougères. The best panforte (beautiful on a cheese board). The best pumpkin cheesecake. My opinion, of course, but I hope you’ll try some of these recipes and let me know what you think. All are party-ready and cheesy or intended to accompany cheese.
Read moreGreat Gifts for Cheese Fans
Cheese enthusiasts are so easy to buy for. We love boards and platters, cheese books, accouterments and, of course, great cheese itself, especially if it’s something under the radar. I’ve gathered a half-dozen recommendations in this post and hope they solve at least some of your holiday gift dilemmas. You might want to stock up on a few of these items for housegifts throughout the year. After all, what cheese lover would prefer a supermarket bouquet over one of these?
Read moreFarewell to Two Favorites
Indiana cheesemaker Matthew Brichford; UK’s Berkswell sheep cheese
It’s such a bummer when a great creamery shuts its doors, and this fall brought a double whammy. First, we lost a fine American cheesemaker to vascular disease in mid-September, and his family has decided not to soldier on. Now we learn that one of the most admired British cheesemakers—producer of a superb award-winning sheep cheese—is tossing in the towel. What makes this news even more troubling is that both cheesemakers were farmstead producers working with raw milk from grass-fed herds—a small niche that seems to grow smaller every year.
Read moreA Star is Born
If you are looking for an exceptional American cheese for your Thanksgiving festivities, or for a host gift, you won’t be disappointed by this beauty. It’s a recent release with a long origin story and absolutely worth the wait. A collaboration between the Maryland creamery that produced it and the New York affinage team that nurtured it from infancy to its prime, this aromatic goat cheese seduced me at the first sniff. I’m hoping that affinage—expert cheese aging—will become more of a thing in this country, as it is in Europe, and that success stories like this one will pave the way.
Read moreOops. Missed One!
Sometimes it seems like my brain is at capacity. If a new cheese name goes in, another one gets pushed out. In last week’s post about great French Basque cheeses, I inadvertently omitted the newcomer that got me thinking about Pyrenees cheese in the first place. Former cheesemonger Steve Jones alerted me to Tomme per Diou, and there aren’t many cheese people I trust more. I can’t wait to share this raw-milk wheel in my classes (which reminds me: the 2024 World Cheese Tour class schedule is online) and to see more retailers stocking it.
Read moreBasque-ing in Glory
If you were limited to eating cheese from only one region (perish the thought), where would you choose? I’m going with the Pyrenees, preferably the French side. The cheeses we get from the Basque Country and neighboring Béarn are so consistently appealing that I don’t even think I would feel that deprived. Two new imports from the region make the choice even easier.
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