News From The Cheese Caves

Stumbling into a Perfect Pairing

Long before legend attributed Marie Harel for its creation, Camembert was already being molded in Normandy, where apples are the dominant fruit of the region. In fact, in 1708, 35 years before Marie’s birth, Thomas Corneille, in his Dictionnaire Universel Géographique and Historique, wrote that excellent cheeses such as Camembert and Livarot were sold in the Vimoutiers Monday market. Later, in 1741 Monsieur de Lamartiniere confirms this information in his Dictionnaire.

In those times, however, the rind on the Camembert retained a blue coat given by the spores of the indigenous mold present in Normandy caves. It was also delivered to Paris in packs of six by diligent horses; which did not offer gentle transport for the delicate cheese. Thus, this posed a difficult situation to the dairies looking to profit from the demand of their cheeses from afar.

However, two important progressions occurred around this time:
- In 1863 Napoleon III opened the Paris-Granville railway.
- In 1880 Monsieur Auguste Lepetit invented a wood box to carry and comfortably pack her Majesty Camembert.

Hence: Packaging + Fast Transport = Success; the cheese began arriving in Paris in much better condition.

Because of these advancements, the texture became softer and the Penicillium coat was able to transform into an immaculate white coat, allowing the cheese to become what it is today.

Pairing Camembert de Normandie is a nightmare!

Let me introduce you to the difficult world of pairing her Majesty Camembert de Normandie (AOP).

Celebrated chef Alain Sanderens, formally of the 3-Michelin star Lucas Carton, and dedicated chef for “La revue des vins de France”, (a monthly French wine magazine) said: “For more than 30 years I tried to pair Camembert with Red, Rosé or White wine without success.” I totally agree, because the best pairing Camembert exists within the fruits of his country: CIDER! In fact, sparkling cider brut or demi-sec is a great companion (you can also choose from a variety of alcoholic ciders).

If you have a sweet taste, you can contrast Camembert’s saltiness by an Ice Cider like Neige* from Québec. My absolute favorite would be with Du Minot Crémant de Glace** elaborated by oenologist Robert Demoy. This light sparkling Crémant, with fine bubbles and subtle aromas will cut the mellow sweetness of Ice Wine and salutes the rich creamy paste of a Normandy cow’s milk.

At this point, her Majesty Camembert will bless your palate sumptuously!

* Neige by La face Cachée de la Pomme, Hemmingford, Québec is available in liquor stores in USA.
** Robert Demoy, oenologist graduated of Bordeaux University. Cidrerie Du Minot, Hemmingford, Québec

The more I visit wine retailers, the more I have difficulty finding an exciting wine.

Did we know how to have fun anymore?

Fruity and white wine are basic companions of cheese. Sweet and semi-sweet wine such as Roquefort – Sauterne, Stilton – Porto, Muscat – Bleu des Causses, Proseco – Gorgonzola …all these pairing are based on the subtle opposition of salty and sweet.

High score Californian reds are not easy to match. As Hugh Johnson (the greatest English wine critic) describes, the high score system will never deserve good wine but instead encourage over extraction, usage of artificial yeast, over woody, over concentrate Cabernet or Pinot which never will have any “resemblance” to the native Burgundy Pinot Noir, that are light and subtle.

Never try to pair those over-extracted wines described as “Full Body” with strong tannin with cheese. Those tannins are never a good companion for cheeses.

I recently tried Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from New Zealand which was much lighter, much fruitier than those offered in local production. I enjoy their pairing with Rocky Sage goat cheese or Artisanal aged cheddar and – and, as a reward – I paid only a fraction of the price asked for local production.

Denis Cottin
Fromager, Affineur

One of our customers is the award-winning luxury cruise line Radisson/Seven Seas. Among their more popular cruises are the “Spotlight on Food and Wine” packages. With superior quality food and beverage on their ships, the company has been rated at the top in the industry. So, of course, to find the best cheese they come to Artisanal.

The passengers on these cruises are drawn to them in large part because they are truly interested in fine food and wine and want to learn more about the wonderful world of gastronomy. The acclaimed cooking school Cordon Bleu has a big presence on this line in the Signatures restaurants and in classes for the passengers. Guest chefs, wine makers, and other experts present lectures, tastings, and cooking demos during the cruises.

Again this year, I had the recent pleasure of presenting a couple of seminars on the Mariner. For the first session, a Cheese and Wine 101 class, we prepared plates of six cheeses to be paired with a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir from Hawley wines in Sonoma. Expecting a good turnout for the class of around 80 passengers the service crew set out 100 plates of cheeses just to make sure. Many of the passengers arrived early for the seminar but at the appointed hour the guests just kept on coming! Orders went back to the galley requesting more cheese! Orders went also to the desktop publisher on board to quickly print more tasting sheets. The sommeliers uncorked more bottles of wine. I began the discussion of the basic principles of pairing cheeses with wines and gave short descriptions of each of the cheeses we would be sampling. John Hawley, the proprietor and wine maker of Hawley wines introduced his wines and we then began the actual tasting.

Nearly 150 people, almost one fourth of the passengers on board, sat down to the Cheese and Wine seminar in the main dining room — The Compass Rose! Other programs competing for guests attention at the same time included a lecture on gemstones and one on bridge, a fitness class on tightening and toning the lower body, shuffleboard or golf chipping on deck 12, checkers on the garden promenade on deck 6, the Carita Spa on 7, and the swimming pool on deck 11!

The cheeses we tasted, chosen to illustrate the synergies between cheeses and two different wine types, were: Garrotxa: goat’s milk from Spain, Amarelo da Beira Baixa — sheep and goat’s milk from Portugal, Mahón — cow’s milk from Menorca, Vacherin Fribourgeois — cow’s milk from Switzerland, Gouda (4 y.o.) — cow’s milk from Holland, and Crater Lake Blue — cow’s milk from Rogue River Creamery in Oregon. Each participant was given a score sheet to assess the relationship each cheese had with each wine.

Afterwards, with other programs starting around the ship and the dining room crew anxious to reset the room for lunch service, several of the guests came up with more specific questions about cheese and about cheese and wine pairing. From that point on the remainder of my time on board the Mariner seemed to be an endless flow of cheese talk. We had hoped to have a little extra cheese for the cheese boards in the dining rooms that evening, but it was pretty much all gone.

Two days later, the second seminar on cheese focused on cheese making methods, the history of cheese, and the nutritional values of cheese, and coincidentally, on the relationship of 6 different cheeses to 2 different wines — a Sauvignon Blanc from Napa and a Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles, California. The cheeses were: Majorero — goat’s milk from the Canaries (I thought a maritime cheese would work well on board the Mariner sailing in the Pacific), Beyos — cow’s milk from Spain, Cheshire — cow’s milk from England (with a marine tang), Serena — sheep milk from western Spain, Appenzeller — cow’s milk from eastern Switzerland, and Harbourne Blue — goat’s milk from England.

This seminar was scheduled for later in the day when the weather was more likely to draw passengers to the pool. And coinciding with cheese time we had a Blackjack tournament in the casino, the Incredibles on the big screen, bridge, shuffleboard, crafts, needlepoint, a harp seminar, tea time with a view, and Pilates. So naturally, a thinner attendance was predicted, but again, to our surprise, we had nearly 140 people!

The Executive Chef, Quinn McMahon, asked if I would do a little Cheese 101 seminar for the Food and Beverage crew late that night after most of the passengers had retired. Tired as they had to have been, we again enjoyed a huge turnout of some particularly curious Chefs, Sommeliers, and other dining room staff!

It was amazing to see the response that the cheese seminars had. I thought to myself upon debarkation “next time we’ll need more cheese!”

Food and Wine Magazine ran an article on one of those Spotlight cruises on the same Mariner ship in the July issue last year entitled “Boat Camp”. Written by Abe Opincar and enhanced by the photography of Lucy Schaeffer, “Boat Camp” is available in our site’s In the News section.

Max McCalman

Dean of Curriculum and Maître Fromager

I just took a stroll through the cheese caves and beheld some beautiful mold growing on the rinds of some happy cheeses. To think that so many people fear the mold that can develop on the surface of cheese, and worse, that they may suspect that the cheeses have turned bad and have then thrown them out, not even offering them to their dog, much less enjoying the elevated cheese that lies beneath. It is certainly understandable that people may be turned off by the presence of mold growing on or inside of a cheese; it’s the way we were brought up.

It’s even true within the cheese industry itself, we’ve noted. I recall hearing one retailer proudly exclaiming that he sends out the “mold police” each morning to make sure that none of that abhorrent scary stuff is present on any of the cheeses in their display. Oh well, what you can say? We’re inclined to have them send us the mold so that we can add it to our collection. Like sending us flowers.

Not that those molds are necessarily tasty themselves, but what they contribute to a “living” cheese should not be discounted. Sadly, many cheese producers and distributors have decided that it’s not a battle worth fighting – allowing good mold to inhabit their cheeses – and have opted to essentially sterilize their cheeses.

By the way, the moldy old Bijou I tasted yesterday was just lovely, perfectly ripened, a little chalky-textured, creamy flavored with a mild lactic finish. Even the mold itself was pretty tasty.

Max McCalman
Dean of Curriculum

It was during the “Meet the Cheese Authors 2008″ while working as a server that I was first approached to join the company.

Being the Events Coordinator was the furthest thing from my mind. I interned as a server for the cheese and wine classes in the spring of 2008 in exchange for paying the attendance fee. Since I worked at the Bistro and at Picholine, the internship offered a complement to my education and introduced me to the world of wine and cheesemakers. It was a refreshing diversion from manning two front desks.

Today, besides spearheading the classes, I order wines, cheese, waiters, linens, etc. There is constant communication with instructors and co-sponsors. With the downturn and the long haul of summer, I’ve learned to keep an ever increasing eye on enrollments. The role is teaching me basic marketing skills such as reaching out to work with co-sponsors, creating gift certificates, advertisements, contests and trades. Every class has a different demographic and keeping in front of that demographic is key. I keep an eye on beer, spirit and wine happenings around town to consider possible cross promotions. The role takes networking, imagination and social finesse. One day, I’m pitching to tour groups and leasing agents, another day I’m pitching to suppliers of hams and cured meats. Presently, I’m designing questionnaires to test the cheese knowledge of our attendees and to give them incentives to come back. It delighted me to know that someone knew all the answers to my quiz “Are You an Artisanal Regular? It was, after all, in the classes that I first became passionate about cheese and I’m reminded of how I got here in the first place.

-Verna Valencia
Events Coordinator

Are you in the organic camp or genetically modified? It seems simple to say, of course, I am in the Organic camp.

Are you sure? Do you know where your Atlantic salmon comes from? At the price they sell it in most restaurants it certainly cannot be from the wild. Most salmon come from “farming” with a little genetic modification to help them to gain weight.

Our tomatoes are square in order to keep longer and transport easily. The price has never been so low and the taste too! Our beef is able to gain 30% of their weight in the last 30 days of their life. Did you know this is possible?

The dairy industry is no different.
The average “California farm” has 600 cows in production. Can we call this a farm with such industrial production numbers?

(more…)

Here we are in the dog days of summer, just on the cusp of the “great cheese harvest” that begins in September and extends through to the end of the year. We call it that because it is a time of year (the Fall) when more cheese types are available in good form than in any other part of the year. Yet there are plenty of great cheeses around right now that are “screamin’ to be eaten.” Now is also a time when our appetites may not be so hearty, when we would prefer to stick with a little fresh fruit and little else, certainly not any cheese. Alors!

We’ve noticed this phenomenon year in, year out: cheese appetites tend to fall in the summer. Perhaps some people are thinking that they should cut back on cheese if they want to look good in their swimsuits.

What a shame! Too few have discovered that the cheese diet will actually help them to lose weight (if they care to) or to gain lean body mass (if they’re the body-building types that are hoping to impress in other ways).

Practically all of the goat cheeses are lovely right now, the sheep of all kinds are spectacular, and the cows, well, they’re always around. Speaking of which, I’ll even have some fondue or a raclette type like the fabulous Val Bagner. I may have different wine preferences now from those I have in February, and I will drink more water; I’ll have different fruits available, but I certainly won’t cut back on my cheese. What a depressing thought.

And on that note: lest we forget; cheese does make us happy. No, really!

Max McCalman
-Dean of Curriculum and Maître Fromager

One of the questions people ask me the most is, “do you prefer to pair cheeses with a wine from the same place?”

I would say NO. The pastoral idea that wine and cheese from the same location always match perfectly with one another is…a pastoral idea.

What I usually say to people is only to look for the flavor profile of each product and try to match them or to clash them. Look for harmony, in an another word.

At Artisanal I am proud to say we’ve found an easy way to pair wines with cheeses. The Cheeseclock takes the guess work out and puts back the fun in putting a party together. And because it’s so versatile, you can start with either a preferred cheese or wine, and go from there.

Our color-coded clock is easy to use, and informative enough you can make your own decision. So come on our site, explore our cheeses and put out the wine you always wanted to drink.
Enjoy Your Summer!

Toni Amira
Director of Sales

I recently came across an article in Gourmet Magazine about one of Artisanal’s favorite Affineur known as the Cheese Pope, Rolf Beeler, Maitre Fromage. Because of his exceptional skills that he has been perfecting for more than 30 years, Rolf Beeler has revolutionized the way cheesemakers think and practice the art of Affinage. Affinage, a word that is derived from the Latin finus, meaning “end” or ultimate point,” is the process of the curing or ripening process to “finish” a particular cheese. This is arguably the most crucial step in cheese making and is what we focus on at Artisanal.

What makes Rolf Beelers cheeses so special is besides advising the cheesemaker on the length of time to age their cheese, how often to rotate or wash it, and suggestion of different bacteria to flavor them, he will go as far as to modify the animals diet. He may also steer them to a different field where they may encounter foods that are more beneficial to produce a specific milk flavor profile which he believes is critical to begin the cheese making process.

His end product is one that all affineurs strive to produce, a unique flavor, texture and long finish. His cheeses explode with flavor the second you taste them and always seem to please everyone’s palate.

Rolf Beeler’s Gruyere, for example is aged for at least 18 months and produces a unique taste, one you can tell is full flavored with a granular texture that speaks to you instantly, similar to an experience you wold have with a high quality Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Beeler never mixes milk from different dairies or uses milk that has to travel because, “when milk is shipped from hundreds of miles away, it loses its, how you say…terroir. I like the farmer to know the name of each cow.”

Here are some great Rolf Beeler cheeses to try right now:

• Gruyere
• Hoch Ybrig
• Appenzeller
• Prattigauer

-Chris Farris
Culinary Advisor

Artisanal Premium Cheese can be excellently paired with a number of great cocktails. Here are several recommendations.

1. Los Beyos with a Gin Martini – The crumbly texture of this Spanish cow’s milk cheese will bring out the taste of a dry Gin Martini.

2. Parmigian Reggianao with a Bloody Mary – Parmigiano has a long history of tomato pairings, and stands true with this tomato juice based cocktail.

3. Aged Gouda and Scotch – The salty caramel tones enhance the smokiness of a good scotch.

4. Pierre Robert with a Tequila Sunrise – Fruit based drinks match well with this triple-crème cow’s milk cheese.

5. Rockie Sage and a Long Island Iced Tea – Pair this savory goat cheese with a refreshing Long Island Iced Tea.

Looking for more cheese and cocktail pairings? Take a look at a number of gin and cheese pairings that were created with Bombay-Sapphire.