Spring = fresh cheese. At least that’s the math at my house. Light, fluffy, spreadable cheese to drizzle with honey or top with chives. It’s what I want on a bagel instead of gummy, clingy cream cheese. It’s what I want on bruschetta topped with roasted asparagus. Now that spring is official, consider exploring some of the fresh cheese options where you shop. Spread the cheese on crostini, top with a drizzle of peppery olive oil and a sprinkle of dukkah—the perfect accompaniment for all the new rosés that are headed our way. Being in a spring frame of mind, I’ve gathered a half-dozen of my favorite schmear-worthy cheeses to inspire you.
Read moreRemembering Cindy Callahan, Sheep Cheese Pioneer
A registered nurse who became a tax lawyer and, in her fifties, a California cheesemaker and shepherd, Cindy Callahan died in early June after a brief illness. She was 88. Callahan was an American sheep cheese pioneer who, with her son, Liam, and his wife, Diana, built one of the most successful U.S. creameries devoted largely to sheep’s milk products. Bellwether Farms, in Sonoma County, is now the nation’s leading producer of sheep’s milk yogurt and an acclaimed producer of sheep cheese. In her multi-faceted career, “shepherd” was the job Callahan loved most. She didn’t exactly choose the role but life happens.
Read moreBoard Game
Butter boards had their 15 minutes. Now, meet the ricotta board—which, naturally, I vastly prefer. Channel your inner artist and make a masterpiece with whipped ricotta and the toppings you like. (I have some suggestions.) I love how creamy ricotta becomes in a food processor, making a luscious canvas for toasted pistachios, briny olives, tapenade, pesto, prosciutto or whatever strikes your fancy. Add little knives for spreading and bread or crackers to spread it on.
Read moreFresh Sheep Cheese is Rye Bread Ready
With May on the horizon, it’s prime time for fresh sheep cheese. The ewes are back on the job after some winter R&R and they are giving their all right now. To manage the surge of spring milk, a few creameries produce a soft, rindless, spreadable sheep cheese that I vastly prefer to fresh chèvre. This category hardly existed a decade ago. Now your favorite cheese counter should have (or can get) at least one of these lovelies. Slathered on whole-grain toast, stuffed in pasta, dolloped on pizza…what an endlessly useful cheese.
Read moreLove Mozzarella? Meet Crescenza
Nothing against mozzarella, but as we enter insalata caprese season, maybe you want to switch up your game. Crescenza—from Italy or the U.S.—is a worthy alternative with sliced summer tomatoes (coming soon!) or on a pizza. And it’s a much more compelling cheese on its own. Mozzarella is springy; Crescenza slumps on a plate and feels like custard on your tongue.
Read morePandemic’s Silver Lining
There aren’t many silver linings to this pandemic but here’s one: it spurred the development of a new fresh sheep cheese from Bellwether Farms. With restaurant sales of its aged cheeses plummeting—from 300 wheels a week to five—the California creamery ramped up its plan to launch a sheep’s milk version of fresh chèvre. Just a few days old when released, this dreamy toast-ready cheese is what pandemic-weary consumers want now, says Callahan. I’m loving it on crostini with carrots and dukkah.
Read moreTeleme in Trouble
Photo: Sara Remington
One of California’s iconic cheeses is in danger of extinction. Lights out. No more. Franklin’s Teleme has already been MIA since late last year, when Franklin Peluso reluctantly ceased making his supple cow’s milk classic, a former American Cheese Society Best of Show. The 74-year-old cheesemaker, whose grandfather devised the original recipe, has been trying to revive production ever since, with no luck.
Read moreBlue Plate Special
Some of the blue-ribbon winners from the recent American Cheese Society competition in Pittsburgh will never make it to your local cheese shop. They are small-production cheeses that hardly leave their region. On the bright side, many do travel. Why not treat yourself and guests to a blue-ribbon cheese board this week? Your area’s best cheese merchant will likely have at least three of the victors, possibly even those pictured above. Alas, to get the winning cheese I want most, I’ll have to go to Colorado.
Read moreThin is In
The last time I was in France, visiting Comté producers in the Jura Mountains, I thought I might find a beautiful old cheese plane in an antiques shop. But I didn’t know how to ask for a cheese plane in French, and my French host—a veteran of the cheese business—was no help. He had no clue what a cheese plane was.
Read moreAsparagus Hearts Cheese
Spring + asparagus = ricotta. That’s just the way my mind works. But then, ricotta is often the right answer at my house. I eat it plain, drizzled with honey, dolloped on pasta and baked into cheesecake. And this spring, I have a new way to use it, courtesy of Napa cooking teacher Julie Logue-Riordan. With thick asparagus, a sharp vegetable peeler and some top-notch ricotta, you can wow your Easter guests. And if you like the recipe (as much as I do, the dish could be your go-to salad as long as the asparagus season lasts.
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