I haven’t been in a pub in 18 months and am getting cranky about it. I want to sit at a counter and have someone serve me a beer. Maybe after my booster shot. In the meantime, I brought the pub to me. I had a nice wedge of Keen’s Cheddar (found it at Whole Foods) in the fridge and a fresh loaf of pain au levain. A neighbor had dropped off some heirloom eggs from her “girls.” And my husband’s latest batch of red onion pickles had cured the requisite week. I have no recollection of ever having had a ploughman’s lunch in a pub, but all the fixings were right in front of me.
Read moreYou Don’t Have to Choose
I’ve long thought of Grana Padano as the thrifty person’s grating cheese, lacking the stature or complexity of Parmigiano Reggiano. Then a cheese colleague told me he thought Grana Padano deserves more love than it gets. “I use it in any situation where most people would use Parmigiano Reggiano,” said Brian Keyser, owner of Casellula Cheese & Wine Café in New York City. “It’s great with just about any crisp, dry white wine.”
Read moreBiergarten at Home
f you’re surprised that a university press has published a book on beer cheese, you’re probably not from Kentucky. The Bluegrass State takes beer cheese seriously. I didn’t even know what this popular pub snack was until I interviewed the book’s author, Garin Pirnia. Pirnia isn’t from Kentucky either, but she embraced the spicy spread soon after moving there. “Whereas pimento cheese screams ‘the South,’ beer cheese symbolizes Kentucky,” wrote Pirnia in The Beer Cheese Book (University of Kentucky Press).
Read moreA Cheese Debut and a Retirement
It’s still summer and I’ve just seen my first holiday decorations. I guess people are anxious to make up for all the gatherings that didn’t happen last year. If you’re already thinking about autumn cheese boards and how to entertain holiday guests, serve this rising star and prove you’re an early adopter. A little bit stinky (but not too much) and extra buttery, this California newcomer makes a tasty segue to autumn.
Read moreRescued by Ice Cream
Add this ice cream to the short list of good things to emerge from this unrelenting pandemic. When truckloads of crème fraîche started returning to Vermont Creamery in March 2020 because supermarket warehouses were closed, creamery leadership got creative. “We had two weeks to move it or lose it,” recalls Adeline Druart, the company’s president. So they moved it. Joining forces with a nearby company that operated an ice-cream truck, they debuted Maple Crème Fraîche Ice Cream, sending all proceeds to the Vermont Foodbank. Dumping the crème fraîche would have been easier, but that’s not how they roll in Vermont.
Read moreParm Arm
Cheesemongers call it “Parm arm,” the itchy rash they sometimes get from breaking down a whole wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano. I’ve never had that experience, but Parmigiano Reggiano and some other aged cheeses can make my tongue burn. Ouch. It’s really unpleasant. And I’m not alone in this reaction. My husband never feels the burn, but others do, and last week I learned more about what causes it.
Read moreAs Gouda as It Gets
If you’re a Gouda fan, add this crystalline beauty to your must-try list. Produced by an Amish couple in upstate New York with the milk from their 200-acre farm, it has everything I want in aged Gouda: a seductive toffee and pineapple aroma, a creamy interior dotted with crunchy bits and a deep, salted-caramel flavor. Some Goudas are so cloying that one bite is enough, but this cheese I couldn’t stop nibbling.
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 moreHello Gorgeous!
Could cheese get any prettier? This new beauty from Jasper Hill Farm gets top marks for appearance (from me, at least) and extra credit for being made with raw milk. Plus, it’s a mixed-milk blue—half cow, half goat—a rare taste experience. Jasper Hill has already proven its blue expertise with the exquisite Bayley Hazen. Has this Vermont creamery nailed yet another one?
Read moreTop Cheese Merchant Looks Ahead
Anne Saxelby/Photo: Christine Han
She’s a superstar of American cheese, sourcing the best from around the country for her acclaimed Manhattan shop and wholesale business. Pre-pandemic, Anne Saxelby supplied cheese to almost every New York City restaurant that cared about serving the best. But what a year. “Our two biggest revenue streams just disappeared overnight,” says Saxelby, the founder of Saxelby Cheesemongers. Given that May is American Cheese Month, I wanted to hear her views on how the pandemic has changed the cheese landscape. And, of course, I asked her to curate a cheese board featuring three American cheeses she’s loving right now.
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