News From The Cheese Caves

We anticipate a room full of applicants at this year’s American Cheese Society’s Conference, almost 200 cheese peeps who will be taking the broad-based exam, each one hoping to become an ACS Certified Cheese […]

Did you forget that yesterday was German Beer Day? You may have thought the beer celebrations only take place in October. Not according to our German beer expert Freddy Bohn. According to Freddy there is a […]

On my subway ride into work this morning I overheard a pre-teen kid ask his dad who cut the cheese.

Whenever I hear the word “cheese,” or whenever I see it referenced in print, I tune in.

On hearing […]

A friend told me about a recent cheese shop visit when the cheesemonger told her that the crystals in an aged Parmigiano Reggiano were salt. Alors! Not that there is no salt in Parm but this does not make the […]

The fun and friendly crew who signed up for Artisanal’s fondue class last Friday night were rewarded with some ridiculously good eats.

The stage was set to make and consume four different fondues, topped […]

So what does that bring to mind?

Hopefully you are in the cheese cognoscenti – those that recognize that the excitement occurring in the cheese world today is happening right here within our shores. Few […]

Champagnes and sparkling wines have advantages over still wines in pairing with cheeses – their effervescence. The juice of hundreds of different varietals can go into crafting sparkling wines but true Champagnes […]

Take two pieces of cheese and call me in the morning.

Cheese has components that help alleviate stress. The casein in cheese is a precursor to opioid peptides, which along with helping to moderate our […]

We received a call this morning from a customer who said that the Azeitão we sent her was bad. Of course the customer is always right; however, I have strong doubts that there was anything wrong with the cheese. […]

Merlot (pronounced mehr-LOT, as in “like-it-a-lot”) was featured at our “Meet the Winemakers” session recently. Special guest producers included Roman Roth of Wölffer Estate, Gilles Martin – winemaker for McCall […]

I recently put together a wine and cheese club selection for a local wine retailer in New Canaan, Connecticut. The concept is to offer clients a nice bottle of wine that is perfectly paired with an artisan cheese, […]

A recent “GoodEats” online article offers advice on foods that can help defend us from the cooler season’s coughs, colds and the flu. I had to check to make sure that dairy was included in the short list. The […]

I usually recommend that you buy less cheese but that you make sure to buy it often. The ideal is to have cheese on hand for today or possibly a few days’ consumption. This is certainly true for the softer, wetter […]

I had not tasted one of these rare beauties in several moons. Castelmagno is one of the rarest cheeses produced in Italy. It is a good thing that the cheese has been awarded DOP status. This should help […]

I was a guest speaker at the Epcot International Food & Wine Festival last weekend; the theme last weekend was Italian Cheeses and Wines. Ever since I made my first presentation there back in 1998 the cheese […]

There was a time not too long ago that if you put those first two words together – American Cheese – it suggested something else: processed cheese. Today, however, we can take great pride in artisan cheeses […]

I have addressed concerns regarding molds in this column before. I feel compelled to write a few more words about them again.

Recently one of our customers opened a package of one of our cheeses and found that […]

When I learned that I would have an opportunity to teach alongside Eleanor Leger of Eden Ice Cider Company, combining hard ciders and artisanal cheese, it immediately brought to mind my first taste of this […]

During this election year it is important to remember that there are several political components to the cheese world. It would be great to hear a few choice cheese questions posed to the candidates during the […]

Starting this Saturday, September 29th, residents of the northern hemisphere will be treated to the sight of a full moon. And not just any full moon – a harvest moon, so named because its light allows farmers […]