I was shopping for cheeses recently for a sparkling wine tasting and hoping to find a few selections my guests wouldn’t know. This bloomy-rind beauty caught my eye because even I didn’t know it. A gentle probe of the exterior told me it was ripe. But was it tasty?
Read moreCanadian Cheddar Welcome Here
If you want to show Canada some love right now, seek out this award-winning Canadian Cheddar. I was surprised to find it at a local shop recently; we get so few cheeses of any type from our northern neighbor.
Read moreSo Long to Another American Cheese
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 moreNew Blue for the Holidaze
A debut from Jasper Hill Farm is always newsworthy on Planet Cheese, but this recently launched blue could be a supernova. The Whole Foods monger who alerted me to it called it “lovely to say the least” and cradled the package in her arms like a baby. Even my husband enjoyed it, which, when it comes to blue cheese, is not a bet I ever make. It’s fruity, winey and moist, with an offbeat shape and novel packaging. Everything about this Vermont newcomer screams “holiday cheese boards.”
Read moreSwiss With a Twist
I don’t quite get it, but not everyone loves the same cheeses I do. Those beefy, concentrated alpine cheeses I adore can strike some folks as over the top. “Too much flavor” is one critique I’ve heard but could never imagine saying myself. If you tend to like cheeses that show a bit more restraint, this Swiss beauty may be for you. It’s a little younger than many comparable mountain cheeses, and while I don’t find it remotely lacking in aroma or flavor, it’s not as in-your-face as some.
Read moreConfessions of a Bargain Hunter
My husband and I spend way too much money trying to find inexpensive wines we like. Sometimes, after three $15 disappointments, I’ll think, “We could have bought a $45 wine.” Rummaging around for a bargain is often a false economy, and a recent endeavor with Cheddar reinforced this. My objective was to identify a few Cheddars that over-deliver for the price
Read moreHauntingly Good
When I lose cheeses in the back of my fridge, they rarely emerge the better for it. Once or twice, I’ve unintentionally improved an uncut wheel by forgetting I had it, but I generally prefer to leave the aging to the experts. Even they can be surprised by what happens. The Swiss cheese pictured above was a happy accident. Wheels misplaced in the creamery’s cellar and discovered months later had evolved in spectacular fashion. The cheese didn’t get dryer, as one would have expected. It got creamier.
Read morePlaying Favorites
Recently I did a presentation on West Coast cheeses for a group of visiting chefs from Asia. After a guided tasting of the dozen cheeses I had selected, they had questions. The only one that stumped me was, “What’s your favorite West Coast creamery?” I didn’t have a ready answer but, in thinking about it afterward, one producer did keep coming to mind for its back story, its values and the consistent high quality of its cheeses. I could never name the favorite among the many worthy creameries on the Left Coast, but Cascadia Creamery is definitely on the short list.
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