America wouldn’t have a dairy industry without immigrants. Italians, Dutch, Germans, French, Mexicans, Swiss…they came here with their recipes and expertise, started dairy farms and made the cheeses they knew. Next week, one of these immigrant families—cheesemakers for five generations—is calling it quits, and I’m not the only one grieving.
Read moreNew Year, New Artisan Cheese
Getting the year off to a promising start, this new cheese makes me hopeful that America’s small dairy farms can find a way forward. We are losing these enterprises at an alarming rate—down 95 percent since the 1970s. Is that trend line irreversible, or are there viable models for young people who want to milk cows and make cheese?
Read moreCottage Cheese is Having a Moment
Because my mom was on a diet her entire life, I grew up with cottage cheese. I didn’t dislike it, but I definitely associated it with deprivation. That was then. Today, cottage cheese is a TikTok phenom, with hundreds of millions of views and counting.
Read moreCheese Straws Go Greek
What will you be nibbling with your New Year’s bubbly? I’ve got a stash of these flaky cheese straws just waiting for a cork to pop. Aglaia Kremezi, the Greek food writer who inspired them, says they’ll last a week, but nothing beats warm from the oven.
Read moreThe Cheeses You Loved
By now the critics have spoken. We know the year’s best movies, books, albums and restaurants. But who will speak for the cheese? I shared my own favorite tastes from the past 12 months in last week’s post. This week, some of the nation’s top mongers weigh in. These front-line folks are going to tell us what their customers flipped over. I also asked them what cheeses in their shop deserve more love than they got. Sometimes even a fabulous cheese fails to find an audience.
Read moreThe Year’s Epic Cheeses
I try a lot of new cheeses over the course of a year, and it’s not hard to identify the standouts. They’re the ones I can’t wait to serve to guests in my home and introduce to guests in my classes. I want these cheeses to still be here next year, and the year after, and the year after that. All ten of these lovelies were new to me (but not necessarily new) and help convince me that we live in a Golden Age.
Read moreBrie Dresses Up
Love them, or love them not so much, truffled cheeses occupy more space than ever at the cheese counter. Obviously they are popular, or creameries wouldn’t make them. From truffled goat cheese to truffled Gouda, there are fungi-scented renditions of virtually every cheese style. Fresh truffles blossom in butter and cream, so it makes sense that the most successful truffled cheeses—in my view—are buttery, creamy types. The luscious new arrival pictured above makes my case. If you’re seeking some bling for a holiday cheese board, look no further than this bloomy beauty.
Read moreWill Tariffs Hurt Cheese?
If the new administration makes good on its tariff threats, there could be pain at the cheese counter. Importers will pay the duties, but they’ll likely try to recoup the expense. They may ask European cheesemakers for price breaks, or pass some of the cost to distributors, who then raise prices to retailers. Ideally, everyone along the supply chain absorbs some of the blow. “To be blunt, when stuff like this happens, you learn pretty fast who believes in partnership and who wants to pass it on to the consumer,” says Adam Moskowitz of Larkin, an important importer of specialty cheese.
Read moreAnother Year, Another Day-After-Thanksgiving Soup
The minute the guests are gone and the Thanksgiving dishes are done, my husband starts making another mess. We can’t go to bed until Doug’s turkey stock is on the stove. It bubbles, just barely, all night and is liquid gold by morning, intense and aromatic. You need great stock for Day-After-Thanksgiving Soup…
Read moreMake it a Cheesy Thanksgiving
From the Planet Cheese archives, these six recipes may inspire you to bring something new to the Thanksgiving table. At least that’s my hope. Most are portable, in case you’re a guest. For pre-dinner nibbling, set out a creamy goat cheese dip imbued with fried shallots—an elevated take on the sour-cream classic—or smoky pimento cheese, an unusual recipe from the baker who makes the Obamas’ Thanksgiving pies. For traditionalists, I’ve got the recipe for Zingerman’s famous pimento cheese, courtesy of the beloved Ann Arbor shop.
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