The Cheese Blog
Reflections on cheese, farming, and discrimination
Over the past few weeks business have been sending out emails voicing their support for the Black Lives Matters movement. I support these businesses's words and pledges. Black lives matter.
As I've watched these emails hit my inbox I've been mulling over how to best support the anti-racism movement. Today, it's through sharing some things I've learned.
If you don't work in the cheese industry you might not know that it happens to be very, very white. To date, I can’t name a single black-owned cheesemaking company or cheese shop owner in the country. Though there are many reasons one might point out to explain the mainly white industry, like high rates of lactose intolerance in the black community, much of it is still because of systemic racism. Sometimes on the part of the cheese industry, and sometimes beyond that.
One example of discrimination that deters entry into the cheese and food industry is how hard it is to own and keep a farm if you are person of color. Opening a creamery on top of that is even more difficult!
Because I think a huge part of transforming our society into one where all community members can flourish is through education, I wanted to share a few articles that have helped me understand discrimination in our food and farming industry better. I thought you may find these readings helpful, too.
Here are a few just to get started.
There were nearly a million black farmers in 1920. Why have they disappeared?
The Young Black Farmers Defying A Legacy of Discrimination
A New Generation of Black Farmers Is Returning to the Land
7 Awesome Cheese Deals and Artisan American Cheeses to Buy, Now
Sweet Grass Dairy’s Thomasville Tomme
As long as the milk is flowing…. the cheese keeps rolling.
As we all know, there are some products you can't just stop making because there are less shelves to stock them on. Like, cheese, because of milk being so perishable.
So what is a cheese lover to do? Eat up.
There is 1 simple thing you can do to support cheesemakers now. If you’re able, buy their 🧀. Eat it (score!). And send it to friends (a virtual cheese hug). That’s it!
The last time I wrote about how to support cheesemakers while sheltered-in-place I shared some of my favorite California producers that had just started to offer online shipping. Now, I'm going national (but of course I couldn't help sticking in a Cali producer or two). If you have an awesome cheese shop near you, shop there! But if you don’t, or prefer delivery… here are 7 of the sweetest artisan cheese deals and online shops I found to date, most of them with some pretty awesome combo packs.
Visit & buy from the online shops below to support American 🧀 makers. Sending hugs to all of you at home.
Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt Tam with Friends in Cheese Spicy Tomato Jelly
7 Stellar American Cheesemakers who are Selling Online Now
RedHeaded Creamery- From creamy brie to Cotton Candy Clothbound cheddar, RedHeaded creamery in Minnesota makes some of the tastiest (and inventive) cheese around.
Cowgirl Creamery- Cowgirl has always done an amazing job at making their own cheese, and supporting cheesemakers whose wares they carry. Two of my favorite packs from Cowgirl are their Meat & Cheese Collection (hello, charcuterie), and their Good Neighbors collection featuring cheeses from their local friends.
Lakin’s Gorge- This is a teeny, tiny, one-woman operation in Maine whose cheeses we can hardly ever get here and I can’t help but love them. Do they offer a lot? No. But what they’re now selling is pretttttty cool.
Tulip Tree Creamery- Like creamy or boozy cheeses? Check out this small creamery in Indiana. If you’ve been following my Day Drinking videos on Instagram, maybe you already know them. Really, everything they make is good.
Jasper Hill - Breathe deep, cheese geeks, Jasper’s seasonal, raw-milk Winnimere is on sale (!!!!). Plus, their GIFT PACKS, such as the Wurst Kӓse Scenario, stuffed with whey-fed pork sausage, look amazing.
Sweet Grass Dairy- This company runs one of the best grass-fed, rotational pasture dairies (and one of the first successful commercial ones) in the country. They make beautiful milk and cheese in Georgia. If you didn’t already know, Southern cheese rocks. Would I like a Georgia on my Mind pack with a Pimento Cheese add on? Don’t mind if I do!
Parish Hill- Does it look like they make everything? They do! Because this creamery is run by one of the best cheesemakers and cheese consultants in the country. There is nothing I wouldn’t recommend on their site. See something you think you may like? Get it. You will.
Love & Cheese in the Time of Corona- Bay Area Wine & Cheese Pairing, Live & Delivered!
Introducing Cheese (& Wine!) in the Time of Coronavirus: 2 cheeses, 2 wines, delivered to your doorstep, plus a virtual cheese and wine pairing!
I and my favorite wine shop, Solano Cellars, have been working round-the-clock to solve the problem of Cheese in the Time of Coronavirus. How do I continue wine and cheese pairing with you all when we must sip 6 feet apart? How do we support local cheesemakers as they struggle to sell all the cheese on their hands with no restaurants to sell it to? How do we put the "social" back into your social distancing?
How?! We’ll deliver wine and cheese to your Bay Area doorstep (Bay Area only for now) and hold a live Zoom cheese and wine pairing. Delivered Thursday April 9th, and Zoom Friday 7pm April 10th.
What you get:
Goat babes of Stepladder. Will not be in our Zoom session.
- 2 local cheeses! (8-ish ounces total)
- 2 perfectly paired wines! (1 for each cheese)
- a quick & fun video! (with me, re: cheeses & pairings)
- an optional Zoom invite (with Kirstin & your fellow Bay Area tele-cheesers! Please: put your pants on for this one)
For only $75!
(Solano Cellars delivery minimums of $150 still apply so buy one for you and a distant friend, more wine to meet minimums, or, delivery is $25.)
How does it work?
What we do:
1) I pick 2 gorgeous cheeses from our local California producers.
2) Dan of Solano Cellars selects two wines to meet Kirstin's exacting specifications.
3) The VB/SC team delivers both to your doorstep a week from today, on Thursday, April 9th!
What you do:
1) tell your friends to join you for a virtual wine & cheese tasting!
2) Watch a 5-10 minute video of Kirstin telling the stories of the cheeses and wines... on your own time, at your sofa-ensconced leisure!
3) Tune in on Friday, April 10th, at 7PM, for a 20-minute live pairing/tasting Zoom session with Kirstin and your fellow cheese & wine lovers! 4) Schedule your own Zoom session immediately afterward with your friends, and cheese the night away!
THE CHEESES & WINES
Stepladder Creamery’s "Ragged Point," Cambria, California
Made on a former avocado and citrus ranch just miles from Big Sur, Stepladder Creamery’s "Ragged Point" is a rich and lovable triple-creme. It has a bloomy white rind and a buttery paste. It also has a big, cheesy crush on the sparkling wine it’s paired with! (Pairing: Domaine de Montbourgeau Cremant du Jura: our go-to when we want an organic, dry, mind-dilating Champagne sub!)
Stepladder Creamery’s "Cambria," Cambria, California
A lively, semi-firm cheese, Cambria was one of Stepladder’s first aged wheels. Here a combination of goat and cow’s milk offer herbal notes and flavors of creme fraiche that go gorgeously with Gamay. (Pairing: Jean-Paul Brun "L'Ancien" Beaujolais: put down your Pinot, and get ready to get Gamay-got!)
JOIN US! I hope to drink with you all soon.
Support California Cheesemakers by buying their Cheese - 10 Who Ship direct!
At Valley Ford Creamery, Photo by Molly De Coudreaux
I hope you are all coping, safe, and healthy. From parents not having enough or any childcare to people loosing jobs, it’s extremely difficult right now. And, if you happen to be an emergency worker, bless you. Thank you for being there. We are so grateful.
How you can support cheesemakers right now:
If you’ve been wondering how the shelter-in-place is affecting your favorite cheesemakers there is news to share. For many (especially the smaller ones) who rely on restaurants or onsite visits for business, sales are low to none.
The simple way you can help cheesemakers is by buying their 🧀.
If you’re able. That’s it.
Now’s the time when if you see a cheese you love, especially from a small producer, buy it!
Order it. Eat it. And rejoice the hell out of it. 🙌 You have more than a go-ahead, you have appreciation! (I’ve already sent a couple packages to family members that are hanging out alone that I wish could hug in person. But let’s be honest, we can all use a cheese hug right about now. Buy all you want!). Head over to the amazing Madame Fromage for a list of cheesemakers all over the country who have said they can use some extra love right about now. Or…
Visit & buy from the online shops below to support California 🧀 makers. Sending hugs to all all you.
Tomales Farmstead’s Assa
Stepladder Creamery’s Ragged Point
10 California Cheesemakers who are Selling Online Now
Valley Ford Cheese - Great Alpine styles and a sweet, friendly blue. All amazing with red wine (why yes I do know this from personal experience).
WM Cofield Cheese- British all the way, with a Midwestern flair. Cheddars, Stilton-inspired blue + cheese curds. 🏴
Achadinha Cheese - Great Portuguese style wheels made a third-generation dairy family.
Stepladder Creamery- Newer, stellar creamery - check out their website, join their club, or email info@stepladdercreamery for smaller orders.
Tomales Farmstead- at the moment you can currently still buy this at the SF Farmer’s CUESA Market! Email for direct shipping.
Penny Royal - Super sheep & goat cheese from creamy to firm. And oh yes, they make & ship great wine, too.
Nicasio Valley Cheese- Swiss-Italian, mellow and lovely on a cheeseboard, and great for cooking, too.
Point Reyes Cheese- blues, and tomas and goudas (oh my!).
Nicolau Farms- Goat & cow’s milk, great firm styles & Fiscalini Cheese- 5-star cheddar and aged cheeses, both Nicolau & Fiscalini are made in Modesto.
Central Coast Creamery- mixed milk goudas and friendly cheddars.
5 Cheeses to Stock Your Fridge With Right Now
You’re stuck at home. Now what? 5 Cheeses to Stock Your Fridge With
In these unusual times where many of us are in shelter-in-place zones, or only hitting shops when absolutely necessary, it can be hard to figure out what food to have on hand. Obvs, I’m all for cheese. Cheese is delicious and lasts a while. It’s a work-horse in the kitchen and is a great source of protein and nutrients (and if your grocery store meat aisle is anything like ones near me, the pickings are slim). And it’s an amazing source of comfort. Seriously, friends, let’s not forget how important comfort is when keeping our stress down and bodies happy.
All the cheeses I mentioned are easily substitutable because they’re styles. Sending hugs, and happy cheese thoughts to you and your friends and family.
Here are 5 cheeses to stock your fridge with now, and what to do with them.
Feta or Chèvre: The Salad Charmers
Cook 2-4 batches of barley, chick peas, lentils or beans. Stash in fridge. Make a simple vinaigrette to keep on hand (I like 1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil, plus zest of 1 lemon). When ready to make a salad, mix your grains or beans with grated vegetables like carrots or a leafy green, a fresh herb of choice (I love dill or oregano), your dressing and feta, and you have a meal. Both feta and chèvre last 4eva. Here’s one of my favorite lentil and feta salad recipes. Substitute with abondon.
Alpine Wheels: The Melters
We all need a little melted cheese in our lives right now, right? Yes, and you can make lots of melty cheese dishes ahead of time, meaning you don’t have to cook every night. Mac and cheese freezes well. If you make pizza dough you can keep it in your fridge for 2-3 days and toss some cheese on it when you’re ready. Lasagna? Freezes too. Alpine style cheeses like Comté, Gruyere, Stepladder Creamery’s Bob Ross and Point Reyes Toma are amazing melters because they have low acidity and the pH melts just right. They also last forever.
Pressed & Aged: Umami Forever
Cheeses like Bellwether’s Pepato, Parmesan or Fiore Sardo are little umami machines. You can slice, grate, or sliver cheeses like these over pasta, broiled veg (it’s asparagus season), and grain salads when you want some extra, nutty, savory flavors, or a dash of saltiness without extra salt. Here’s an easy, flexible pasta and cheese recipe.
Cheddar & friends
If you’ve got the above 3, you’ve got the basics, but I like having these last two on hand too, or subbing any of the top ones out for 4 & 5.
High-acid British-style cheeses like Cheddar brighten up food. Add them to melted dishes (half Alpine style + half-cheddar makes for perfectly balanced mac n’ cheese or grilled cheese) for a bright boost, or sprinkle over foods whenever you think a dish could take a touch more lemon. They’re lively and love feeling included (FOMO alert).
Your favorite cheese
Oozy, gooey, stinky, whatever you’re feeling, get it. Food serves a social purpose and in times like this, keep whatever cheese makes you happy close. For reals. At top is Prix de Dianne, one I love from Lakin’s Gorge, a small cheesemaker in Maine that could use a little extra love right now.
* At the time of this post, we can still order from our amazing cheesemakers and cheese shops all over the country. Crossing my fingers this will hold because these people rock. Plus, cheesemakers are some of the most hygienic people in the country (seriously, 60-80% of a cheesemaker’s job is cleaning. Themselves, the floors, the tables, under the tables, the ceilings, the cheese vats, the cheese fourms…)
So Fresh, So Clean: Meet the OG Cheese, & Whey Ricotta
Soft and freshies rule in the kitchen. Plus, Italians are the genius creators of whey ricotta.
Historical records suggest that fresh cheeses were first made up to 7000 years ago in Anatolia. Since they are the simplest cheeses to make, makes sense they were the first, right? Not normally aged over a day or two, freshies are ripe with subtle, sweet, and gentle flavors. Think chevre, ricotta, fromage blanc, paneer, and queso fresco.
Cheese at its most basic, freshies are either just heated milk or whey with an acid added, or 🥛 with a tiny bit of buttermilk or cultures, and rennet. The cultured or acidifying milk is left to form a curd, then drained, and sometimes in the case of queso fresco or paneer, pressed. They taste like milk, cream, and sometimes 🍋. Because of their simplicity they’re wonderful for cooking.
They don’t hog the spotlight and let other flavors shine.
One of my favorite ways to serve freshies is with seasonal produce. These ricotta dishes were served above in summer time. See those 🍅? Fresh cheese let them be the star. Shown above (photo by Erica Garlieb) is homemade ricotta studded with tomatoes, and, served over crostini with pea and herb puree. In winter and early spring I’d serve freshies with pickled carrots, seared mushrooms, and broccoli rabe.
One of my favorite freshies is ricotta.
True ricotta, the OG ricotta, is made from whey. It was created when one day an Italian cheesemaker re-heated the rich whey left over from making pecorino (whey is mainly whey protein and of water, but especially in the case of rich sheep’s milk, still has a primo amount of butterfat left) until more curds appeared, drained them, and said, “ta da, ricotta!” “Ricotta” means re-cooked, or, cooked twice. If you haven’t tried whey ricotta before, look for whey on the label at cheese shops! It’s delicious. And Sicilys? Well, it’s legendary.
Even though Italian nonnas would scold anyone who tried to call anything but whey ricotta by the name, what most of us are used to is “whole milk ricotta,” not “whey ricotta.” This style is made by bringing milk and often cream to almost boiling, then adding an acid like 🍋 . The acid breaks up the butterfat and binds up proteins into fluffy, rich curds. It’s simple, rich, and oh so lovable.
Bring freshies into the kitchen!
Don't Let your Triple Creme Go Naked. 3 Lux Triple Creme Pairings
3 Triple Creme Pairings for your buttery cheese to snuggle up to.
We’ve all polished off a half wheel of a triple creme with only bread as the vehicle. Let’s leave the size of the wheel vague, please. But here’s the thing. I don’t want you to miss out anymore on an optimal creamy cheese experience.
You could be doing more.
While it's long been thought that the ideal pairing for a cheese as seemingly rich as cultured butter is Champagne, triple creme cheese has broad pairing abilities. Cloaked in a white bloomy-rind jacket with a creamy paste, triples are friendly. Open. Undiscriminating in pairing sessions. They play well with others.
A triple creme is a cheese whose butterfat content is from 60-75%. Never fear, this is the percentage of fat in dry matter, meaning that because triples are so young and full of whey, which the FDA doesn't measure, the butterfat is actually lower than it sounds. Yay! But it is exactly because the cheese is so soft and creamy and rich that it charms in pairings. A triple’s butterfat wraps itself around piquant or acidic flavor, soothes any abrasive notes, and snuggles up to to sugar and crunchy things as easily as a toddler does a blankie. Think of it as just one more way to enjoy your triple.
Here are my top 3 triple creme pairings.
Blessed be... the chip! One day when I was wine bar manager we were having a sparkling ✨ wine party. We were serving, of course, triple crimes, and, potato chips because they’re good with 🍾. By the end of the night we ran out of bread so I put a piece of Mt Tam on a potato chip. I fell in love. I love cheese mishaps! The chip provided the perfect contrast of textures with its salty crispiness for the triple creme‘s cream.
If you want to take your creamy experience to another level, contrast in texture, or flavor. Pairing your triple with something sour or spicy highlights the cheese’s sweet, creamy notes, and the high butterfat in the triple easily stand up to tart and piquant flavors, making for a very fun pairing. I pair mine here with Friends in Cheese’s Tart & Spicy Tomato Jelly.
People rave about how much they love wine & chocolate together. Me? I prefer my chocolate with butterfat. Think chocolate cheesecake, but better. The only rules are 1. play around with contrasts (mix flavors and textures) and 2. that you must talk about what happens in cheese and chocolate club.