Artisanal and Women Cheese Makers at the James Beard awards
On a starry May night at Lincoln Center the goddesses of culinaria descended among us mere mortals that were lucky enough to witness it, I am invariably referring to the 2009 James Beard Awards that celebrated women in food.
For the second year in a row, Artisanal Premium Cheese was invited to be the Cheese Sponsor for the event, so the task at hand was to find women cheese makers that represented great examples of terroir and craftsmanship in the cheese world, not a difficult job, since many of the great cheeses in the planet have long been created and nurtured by remarkable ladies.
I narrowed my selection to five distinct cheese makers, many of which I have a close relationship with, from Dallas Texas, Paula Lambert was represented by her beautiful Hoja Santa, wrapped in leaves with distinct licorice hints, her Montasio rosemary, and the sweet aroma of her Blanca Bianca. From Vermont, we presented the team of Allison Hooper and Adeline Druart and our exclusive Laurier with the slight piquancy that the bay leave imparts, together with Coupole and their absolutely knock out butter with sea salt.
Not to be outdone, we presented Judy Schad’s goat beauties, represented in the form of the light and pillowy Old Kentucky Tomme and infamous ash-dusted Wabash Cannonball, coming around to the Majestic Kunik made by Sheila Flanagan in upstate New York. Of course, we needed to present an example of the Old World, and crossing the pond on a small jump, we finished with the legendary , tangy, and buttery Kirkhams Lancashire made by Ruth Kirkham.
The cheeses were presented in three stations, press room, VIP dinner and in the main room creating the wow effect that great cheeses invoke, which complemented the daring and inventive creations many of the famed women chefs designed for this occasion.
It was then that among the throngs of celebrities and foodies alike, I hurried up to catch one of the few available city cabs, satisfied and proud of a job well done!
-Waldemar Albrecht
Director of Business Development