News From The Cheese Caves

What if we were to tell you that there is an exciting initiative underway that will create new jobs, promote local foods, and fuel small business growth? Sounds like the sort of project America needs, right? And guess what: we need YOU to make it happen! And there’s only a few days left!

Our epic endeavor is called The Great American Cheese Project, Artisanal Premium Cheese’s new crowdfunding initiative on the RocketHub platform that will generate revenues for hundreds of American cheesemakers and their milk suppliers. And what makes this endeavor “epic,” you ask? Just how is this project “great”? Well, ladies and gentlemen, consider for a moment that last year there were over 500 American cheesemakers producing more than 1,900 cheeses, many of them with no markets to sell to – same goes for their milk suppliers. And now Artisanal Premium Cheese is in the process of assembling the largest line of more than 300 American artisan cheeses from six defined regions covering the entire nation. We age these cheeses and handle the marketing for cheesemakers in the food service and retail sectors. The Great American Cheese Project will enable Artisanal Premium Cheese to enlarge its inventory, which will not only give struggling dairy farmers and cheesemakers the opportunity to extend the reach of their great products but will simultaneously expand the range of great options available to our customers.

Over the past year, we’ve added to our inventory a number of cheeses produced by a diverse array of cheesemakers across the country: Vermont’s Consider Bardwell Farm and Vermont Farmstead; Texas’s Brazos Valley Cheese; Pennsylvania’s Doe Run Dairy; Maryland’s Firefly Farms; New York’s Twin Maple Farm, 5 Spoke Creamery, and Old Chatham Sheepherding Company; and Idaho’s Lark’s Meadow Farms.

Keeping in mind all the great cheeses America produces, it is imperative to realize that the dairy industry across the country faces an array of challenges and needs our help. For example, dairy farmers in California (which produces almost one-fifth of America’s milk) are struggling with the rising cost of livestock feed caused by the current drought in the Midwest. “It’s darn serious,” according to Sacramento dairyman Case van Steyn, quoted in a Sacramento Bee article that warns of a rising tide of bankruptcies across the state’s dairies, while The Hanford Sentinel just announced that “twenty California legislators have joined with Western United Dairymen in calling for emergency price relief for floundering dairy operations.” And the situation is darn serious in New York, too, where the new federal farm bill threatens to reduce milk production, according to The Watertown Daily News.

The time to support America’s dairy industry is NOW. One of the most rewarding ways to do so is by pledging your support for The Great American Cheese Project. We need your pledges and there’s only a few days left! A host of benefits awaits you! Your participation in our RocketHub campaign will grant you UP TO 46% OFF on our cheeses and other products, including signed copies of “Mastering Cheese,” by our Dean of Curriculum, Max McCalman; in addition, we will ship our new Artisanal CheeseClock platters, plates and knives to you to help you enjoy cheeses in your home, just as if you took a class at Artisanal in New York City.

Tell us, friends, will you join us in the new American Cheese Revolution? Not only will you get the opportunity to enjoy some sumptuous cheeses and other goodies – you’ll be doing so for a good cause that you’ll find deliciously worthwhile.

Mickey’s Camp wraps up its 12th annual fundraising week today in Indiana with a record number of enrollees.

The camp was a dream of Indianapolis businessman Mickey Maurer – a camp designed for adults that would include various activities similar to those offered at children’s summer camps – with a goal of benefiting local charities. Last year’s camp raised close to a quarter million dollars for various organizations including a Rotary foundation, the Eskenazi foundation, and Youth Mentoring services.

Mickey has invited me to come present a cheese tasting seminar every year since the camp’s inception. I have missed only one year so I have often wondered when the campers would ever tire of it. It has probably helped that I have presented different cheeses each year. The cheese seminars have developed a loyal following among veteran campers, many of whom have signed up for every session since the beginning (except for the year I had to skip).

There is another Mickey who loves cheese, the one that hosts the Epcot Food and Wine Festival at Disneyworld each fall. This year’s festival is its 17th with a cheese and wine seminar tasting scheduled for every Saturday morning.

The first cheese and wine tasting I hosted (at the second festival in 1997) was such a success that Mickey increased the frequency to every weekend, at 10:30 in the morning. Cheese and wine at that early hour does not appear to dissuade cheese fans; each of the sessions has either sold out or has come very close to selling out each weekend.

The first cheese and wine session at Indiana’s Mickey’s Camp starts at 8:30 am on the Wednesday’s each year, followed by three other sessions throughout the day. Each of these comes very close to filling up too.

Apparently, it is never too early to have a little cheese and wine.

Max McCalman

You can always count on John Greeley for a pithy quip.

John served as the American Cheese Society’s Judging Committee Chairman for several years and is still very much involved with the process as Chairman Emeritus. When he saw the many colorful ribbons on my conference lanyard last week he said “It’s Max McCalman, the Italian Admiral!”

The ribbons included:

Presenter
Ask me about Certification
Committee Member
Certification Body of Knowledge
Competition Judge
Distributor
Educator
Retailer
Sponsor

I have been involved with the cheese professionals certification project since its inception in 2005 (seems longer) when Kathy Guidi and Laurie Greenberg moderated a panel on that topic at the American Cheese Society conference in Louisville. One question in their minds was what made me a Maître Fromager? How did I earn that title? As it turned out, it was mostly autodidactic.

The title was given to me by Picholine restaurant’s Chef/Owner Terrance Brennan. When we launched the cheese program at Picholine I juggled the jobs of Fromager (cheese person) and Maître d’Hotel so he combined the titles into one. It seemed to make sense at the time, even though the jobs are not usually held by one person simultaneously. Indeed, I was not able to manage both jobs. The demands of the cheese program became so great that I had to give up the “hotel.”

The Maître d’Hotel job title is often reduced to “Maître d’” anyway; concluding the title with “Fromager” added cachet and, deserved or not, to be the first one in a US restaurant added more. The job offered an outlet for my dining service talents, much the way tableside service used to offer the Maître d’Hotel positions. The cheese service was a little more physical, sensual and creative.

The Maître Fromager title stuck, even though I knew very little about cheese at the time. I certainly was not the expert the title suggested. It behooved me to become as expert as possible asap. The restaurant’s diners asked me questions about our cheese selection, about cheese in general, and about other cheeses I had never heard of. No other work experience better proved the Socratic theory of learning. I attended seminars, joined the American Cheese Society, invited other cheese persons to come and give me advice, and read everything on cheese I could find (before Google and Wikipedia). Back then there were precious few resources in English. Steve Jenkins’s Cheese Primer was published after we launched our cheese program at Picholine.

It did not take long to discover that holding that title was a big deal in some places – like France.

Our ACS session on certification spawned the endeavor; many of us thought it should be a Fromager certification, similar to a Master Sommelier certification. That idea was nixed by ACS members, some of whom said they would sooner call themselves (if they passed an exam) a Certified Cheese Monger. The Francophobes got their way, but only up to a point. I pointed out that the word “Sommelier” was commonly used and is now a part of our English language which is about 50% French-derived anyway. The Cheese Monger title was rejected by our side of the aisle so the more generic Certified Cheese Professional name was adopted.

Our ad hoc certification committee was led by Susan Sturman. She oversaw the entire development of the certification, which reached fruition upon administration of the first exam at the 29th American Cheese Society conference August 1st, 2012. Susan selected that occasion to resign from the committee chairmanship after nearly a decade at the helm. The ACS Board of Directors gave her a special award for her outstanding leadership.

I have taken on her old job as chairman of the committee, but only after I received Sue’s assurance that she would assist me during the transition and then into the future. Even though she resigned from the position she assured me that she will assist as needed.

It was a Raleigh good conference.

Max McCalman

Results Are In!
From The American Cheese Society Competition

What did Olympic athletes do before whey powder and Super-Extra-Powerful-Trinitroglycerine Protein Bars? They ate cheese. Lots of it, and “straight out of the basket” (Pausanias). They might have come up with democracy even faster if they were eating cheeses as good as what we have today. Here are some of the 2012 competition results, fresh from Raleigh, North Carolina:

Farmstead Cheeses
Cheeses “made with milk from herds on the farm where the cheeses are produced”

Soft (all milks)
1st Sequatchie Cove Creamery, TN
Dancing Fern
2nd Cellars at Jasper Hill, VT
Weybridge from Scholten Family Farm
3rd Coach Farm, NY
Coach Farm Fresh Goat Cheese
3rd Rivers Edge Chevre, OR
Rivers Edge Chevre Siltcoos

Goat’s milk
1st Ruggles Hill Creamery, MA
Greta’s Fair Haven
2nd Sprout Creek Farm, NY
Madeleine
3rd Boston Post Dairy, LLC, VT
Tres Bonne
3rd Latte Da Dairy, TX
Latte Da Caerphilly

Sheep’s milk or mixed milks
1st Black Sheep Creamery, WA
St. Helens
2nd Willamette Valley Cheese, OR
Perrydale
3rd Everona Dairy, VA
Stony Man
3rd Kokoborrego Cheese Company, OH
Owl Creek Tomme

Semisoft (cow)
1st Fromages CDA Inc, QC
Le Baluchon
2nd Fromages CDA Inc, QC
Le St-Anne
3rd Thistle Hill Farm, VT
Tarentaise

Hard (cow)
1st Cricket Creek Farm, MA
Maggie’s Reserve
2nd Flat Creek Lodge, GA
Natural Rind Cheddar
2nd Fromagerie La Station, QC
Louis D’Or
2nd Fromagerie La Station, QC
Alfred Le Fermier
2nd Fromagerie La Station, QC
Chemin Hatley
2nd Robinson Farm, MA
A Barndance
2nd Sprout Creek Farm, NY
Toussaint
3rd Nature’s Harmony Farm, GA
Fortsonia
3rd Uplands Cheese, WI
Extra-Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve

American Originals

Goat’s milk
1st Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, VT
Coupole
2nd Ruggles Hill Creamery, MA
Brothers’ Walk
3rd Rivers Edge Chevre, OR
Rivers Edge Chevre Beltane

Sheep’s milk or mixed milks
1st Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, WA
Flagsheep
2nd Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery, VT
Cremont
3rd La Moutonniere Inc., QC
Sein D’Hélène

Cow’s Milk
1st Spring Day Creamery, ME
La Vie en Rose
2nd Plymouth Artisan Cheese, VT
Original Plymouth
2nd Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese CO., CA
Point Reyes Toma
3rd Cowgirl Creamery, CA
Wagon Wheel

See what won Best of Show and more results on the ACS website

“There’s husbandry in heaven” (Banquo, Shakespeare)

And as for husbandry on earth, we’ve clearly got a lot to be proud of in this country.

Paul M. Capobianco

A friend of mine just forwarded an article by Benjamin Phelan entitled “Others’ Milk” which asks the question “Why don’t we consume dairy products from mammals that aren’t cows?” In this piece I came across a paragraph that captured my attention:

“The sheep people are a weird bunch,” says one chef, who wanted to remain anonymous so as not to offend his favorite cheesemaker. “Sheep are difficult to raise, and fickle. You don’t get much yield, and the cheese isn’t that popular, so you’re talking about an eccentric person. It’s very difficult.”

Though much of what that chef is saying may be true, the part about sheep cheese not being popular is so wrong! I mean: who does not like Manchego?

In all the years that I have observed people assessing a selection of cheeses, the sheep varieties are almost always their favorites. Maybe that unnamed chef does not care for sheep cheeses, and admittedly, he is not entirely alone. The brebis (French for sheep) cheeses tend to be highly aromatic, yet pleasurably so. That aroma may be full, comprising hints of olive oil, grass, meat, and occasionally, they can be a bit fishy. The high concentrations of short chain fatty acids contribute mightily to those big aromas, as well with the high protein contents in sheep milk.

One cause for that perceived lack of popularity could be the relative cost of sheep cheeses; they are usually more expensive than goat cheeses, which are themselves generally higher than cow cheeses.

Why the higher prices?

As the chef pointed out: the yields are low, far lower than cow, and they are somewhat lower than goat yields too. Some cheese makers carefully consider crafting cheeses from sheep milk. Low yield (which is attributed less milk each milking, and to shorter lactation cycles) is only part of the problem. The animals also have to be sheared from time to time. With low yields and the extra care required, there is also the matter of dealing with several more animals (each with its own issues) to deliver the equivalent volume of milk as one cow. Keeping in mind that the sheep milk itself has more solids than goat or cow, that smaller volume of milk will produce more cheese, ounce for ounce. It is sometimes said that sheep milk wants to be cheese, or that it is closer to being cheese.

Actually, the number one no-no for cheese customers is goat. Too many people can’t get their goat. One quality the sheep cheeses share with the goats is high concentrations of short chain fatty acids, the ones that give added aromas, some of them a bit animal. The sheep milk has a little extra butyric acid, a short chain fatty acid that gives them an advantage in the aroma/flavor department. The overall aroma/flavor of sheep milk cheeses are almost universally enjoyed.

There is also the elevated conjugated linoleic acid content available in sheep milk cheeses that should be considered, that fatty acid that has been shown to be an effective cancer fighter and weight reducer.

Weird bunch, are we?

Max McCalman

The American Cheese Society will hold its 29th conference in Raleigh next week and it promises to be a milestone conference. The first certification exam will be offered to 150 people in the cheese industry August 1st. The conference will include the annual cheese judging competition (with a record number of entries – over 1,700 cheeses) highlighted by the awards ceremony Friday afternoon. The keynote speaker at the conference will be Temple Grandin, and cheese experts from around the world will speak at various sessions, including one I will moderate entitled “Cheese, a Near-Perfect Food.”

For all the many exciting parts of this conference, the stand-out for many attendees will be the certification exam, its raison d’être summed up by this mission statement:

“The mission of the Cheese Professional Certification project of the ACS is to support artisan cheesemaking by developing a Certification Program and by fostering cheese education.”

The idea to create this certification was conceived nearly a decade ago by Laurie Greenberg and Kathy Guidi at an ACS conference in Louisville.

The non-profit organization was founded by Professor Kosikowski to cater to the interests and needs of small scale cheese makers and others interested in cheese. It seemed logical that a certification for cheese handlers (everyone involved in the path, from the producers to the end-consumers) would serve the cheese makers and the entire industry very well, all the way through to the consumers. When registration for the first exam was opened late last year it did not take long for the 150-seat allotment to fill; it happened faster than many expected.

There are people already registered to take the exam the next time it is offered in 2013. This shows that there is vital interest in this certification. Many other industries have certification programs: chefs, sommeliers, health professionals, and many others. With the rising popularity and connoisseurship of cheese, it is high-time that cheese receives a similar focus.

It has taken this many years for our little volunteer group to assemble this certification program, longer than we expected. As it turned out, developing a credible certification is a serious and demanding enterprise. I don’t know if we would have been able to bring this certification effort to fruition if we had not enjoyed the dedicated leadership of our committee chair – Susan Sturman.

The ACS-endorsed Certified Cheese Professionals will, we believe, raise the standards for the industry, and raise awareness and appreciation for cheese.

Max McCalman

Further cuts to the price of milk expected to occur on August 1^st has had a cascade of effects in the UK. The pressure from activists and protestors seems to be working. Mostly recently, the massive supermarket entity Asda agreed to give a “winter feed supplement” to farmers, at least until next year. Other milk processors may follow suit on the way towards a sustainable price for local dairy farmers.

Farmers have, in particular, been making a loss on the milk that is used to create products like cheese and butter; further cuts risk harming 27% of producers and 25% of the milk market volume. One of the UK’s leading producers, Stephen Britten at Arla, said of his plant in Leeds, “We can’t go on any longer.”

Last week, hundreds of farmers blockaded milk processing plants with their tractors. Farmers for Action threatened that their members may not put their milk on the market. There was even talk of pouring milk into the streets. At least one dairy farmer took a different approach.

Simon McCreery, a dairy farmer from East Lothian, made a “secret milk round” with NFU president Nigel Miller. Together they delivered milk from McCreery’s cows to 300 homes in Edinburgh last Friday on July 20^th.

After the “secret milk round” McCreery is being called “the dairy godmother.” McCreery’s actions actually speak louder than his charming new moniker: those deliveries in Edinburgh were even nobler than charity, and McCreery exemplifies something more human than the supernatural help that saves Sleeping Beauty—gratitude. That, say the milk advocates, was the point of delivering all those pints of milk; to say thank you to the Scottish consumer on behalf of their local dairy farms.

There is, perhaps, no greater cohesive force than gratitude. It is there at work within all the other more conventional virtues; it is the sentiment that endows each with creative potency and steadfast possibilities. Perhaps more focus on gratitude is what is missing from so many social movements.

Paul M. Capobianco

Sources

Dairy Godmother Delivers Milk to Protest Prices

Farmers Demonstrate Against Supermarket Milk Prices

Supermarket Giant Asda Agrees to a Higher Milk Price

Last week I attended the 3rd Beer Bloggers Conference in Indianapolis. The camaraderie and shared experiences continue to be ones that I will treasure and relive through every craft ale or lager I taste. Though I have attended the two previous conferences only as a craft beer advocate, this year I also participated as a passionate employee of Artisanal Cheese.

My tenure with Artisanal thus far has shown me some surprising parallels between craft beer and the local cheese movement here in the United States. While artisan cheesemakers are not fighting for market share as craft brewers do with gargantuan operations like A-B/InBev, the small producers are in battle of finances, awareness and distribution. The labor of love that farmers, dairies and artisans have for their art truly shines in the ever more delicious product cheese-lovers taste everyday just as it does for the craft brewers.

During the past few years, I have witnessed the ongoing evolution and deepening of the relationship between the craft beer industry and the bloggers that support it. By utilizing the audiences and channels of bloggers, the smaller craft breweries are tapping into not only the interests of people already highly involved with the segment, but introducing new people to an alternative to mass-produced and adjunct-filled American lager.

To the same end as the craft beer bloggers, Artisanal is stepping up to become THE central rallying point of the American artisan cheese movement to support the “craft” cheese producers. By working collectively with the entire local cheese industry, we can further boost the awareness, promotion and access to great products.

I love being able to locally taste some of the incredible craft beer from across the US, though I do love travelling to meet my fellow bloggers to enjoy them.  A favorite annual conference event is “The Night of Many Bottles”.  Picture a banquet room with tables lining three walls filled with bins of ice with incredible (and in some cases) very rare craft beer from all over the US. Now imagine yourself sampling these tasty brews with fellow craft beer advocates as well as industry professionals. In addition to being led by fellow “citizen” or non-industry bloggers, I also had the pleasure of tasting beer from representatives of RAM Brewery & Restaurant, Green Flash, Florida Beer Company, Flying Dog and beer guru and author Randy Mosher’s new endeavor, 5 Rabbit Brewery. The discussion of the nose, taste, mouthfeel and the crafting of these beers creates an energy that must be experienced to be believed.

Now think of a similar setup, but with 150 different American artisan cheeses. That scene became Artisanal’s Media Day on June 27th, where we replicated the energy of “The Night of Many Bottles”, though on a much smaller scale. I hope in the future that I will be able to participate in a “Night of Many Cheeses” on a similar perspective, and I anticipate that Artisanal will be at the heart of it. I would love if everyone could do the same with artisan cheese in their personal spaces. Just think of all the pairing parties, gatherings and events that could be enjoyed in the company of friends and family!

As I always say, “Life’s a tap…drink up ‘til it’s dry.”

Daniel Fisher
Customer Service Manager
Artisanal Premium Cheese

We recognize the cheese excitement occurring right here within our shores. While there are marvelous developments occurring elsewhere, what is happening with cheese here in the States is especially dramatic. Most of these developments are positive: a tripling of per capita consumption since 1970 (with a continuing rise), a growing connoisseurship, and remarkable improvements in cheese quality. All this bodes well, though there are some major challenges yet to be overcome.

The slowly growing recognition that dairy products are actually beneficial to health along with accurate information replacing prejudice about cheese’s supposed health risks is, I believe, a major contributor to this movement. At the same time, this recognition of dairy-sourced nutritive values has led to increased standardization and blind acceptance that all dairy products can offer these benefits in abundance.

What has passed as milk in this country is a shadow of its former self. Organic or not, that milk is usually depleted of its beneficial fats, is invariably homogenized (an energy-wasting process that denatures fats, making them more susceptible to attack and breakdown by enzymes, all with the goal of making the resulting milk “nice”). Even worse is what happens to the other nutrients: the proteins that are denatured through excessive heat treatment via ultra-pasteurization, the loss of fat-soluble vitamins (up to 80% of vitamins A & D) by the par-boiling of the milk, and the significant depletion of B vitamins and minerals. Is this really what we should be recommending to health-conscious consumers? A low-fat, homogenized, ultra-pasteurized, nutritionally depleted white liquid with little flavor and virtually no aroma?

Fortunately we have some outstanding artisan cheeses available in America, and more and more of them crafted from uncompromised milk. All the same, we should not be glib when we promote raw milk products. After all, bacteria recognize nourishing foods when they see it far better than we do as a species. Here, it is worth noting that cheese enjoys a stellar track record for food safety. As a food category, there are far fewer food-borne illnesses caused by cheese than can be attributed to other food groups, fruits and vegetables included.

I see farmland across this country that could be used for artisan dairying, quite a lot of it. With a growing hungrier planet we have an excellent opportunity before us to grow the artisan cheese industry here in the U.S. Many have already seized this opportunity with wonderful results. The states that recognize cheese is a value-added commodity also recognize cheese as a commodity that adds revenues to municipal coffers and benefits local economies by creating jobs.

Most people that go into cheese making go into the field (literally) to make a living, while producing what can be the world’s greatest food – cheese. I recommend that we choose a variety of cheeses, and that we consume as much as we can, not only American-made cheeses but also some of the old-world types that are barely hanging on.

Max McCalman

This is a question I recall asking myself years ago when I was rethinking the description I wrote the day before. The cheese sample was wrapped correctly and set in the cave with its ideal temperature and humidity. The cheese changed noticeably; it had become better balanced. When I asked an industry veteran, Debra Dickerson, about the altered state, she told me she believes the enzymes played a role. After all, cheese is a living food, lest we forget.

Sometimes those changing profiles are noted in how a cheese pairs with a wine: same cheese with the same wine, slight differences one day to the next. In those instances other external factors may influence those relative successes. The time of day may be different; the temperature of the wine and cheese, or the ambient temperatures might be different; different flavors may linger on the palate; or even how well we may have slept the night before could be a game-changer. Yet the cheeses do change themselves; the wines too. The younger softer cheeses will change more dramatically than the aged ones; they are still in their “formative years,” so to speak.

Another factor altering our assessments of the same cheese will be our familiarity with it. A first impression may be a little jarring. On second taste on another day, we may be better acclimated. Those heady aromas may be a little easier to ingest if we remember that the flavors are actually rather tame. This is one of the biggest reasons why cheeses taste different on different days. The aromas become less volatile as a cheese matures. This can make a cheese less challenging to wines; or this can give them enhanced synergies with a particular wine.

This is one of the thrills of tasting artisan cheeses: that you can expect the unexpected. This can cause angst for makers entering their cheeses into competitions. They are generally forbidden to take samples from their entries; they have to analyze their candidates from their outer appearances and aromas only; they must hope for the best. In our Best in Show class we sample cheeses the way judges analyze them: visually, aromatically, by flavor and texture. One difference is that we assess those cheeses while enjoying wines alongside. Remember, those wines can place a spotlight on nuances in a cheese, and those subtleties may be a little different from one moment to the next.

I believe this is one thing that makes artisan cheeses especially exciting; they are always evolving.

Max McCalman