American Cheeses

[ludja]

Thank you for participating in our forum; I also really enjoy your stints on The Splendid Table w/Lynne Rossetto Kasper.

I have the first edition of your book, Steven Jenkins Cheese Primer and since it has been almost ten years since it came out, I wondered if you could share what you believe are the most exciting advances in American cheesemaking since then.

trends? best new producers or best up and coming cheeses?

Thank you!

[master cheesemonger/grocer]

Ludja, since my Cheese Primer came out in '97, American (and Canadian) artisanal cheesemaking has become ten times as prolific and remarkable as it was then, and it was rocking then. It has skyrocketed. American and Canadian cheeses have won top prizes at every international competition. Many, even the obscure, have become staples in the inventories of food shops and supermarkets across the country.

It's not about advances, nor is it about trends. It's about cheesemakers. As if Sally Jackson's sheep cheeses from Washington weren't enough, Mary Keehn's Cypress Grove goat cheeses (McKinleyville CA), Judy Schad's Capriole Farm goat cheeses (Indiana), Mary Falk's Lovetree Farm sheep cheeses (Wisconsin), Joel Widmer's Wisconsin Brick Cheese, Grafton (VT) Cheddar, all of these cheesemakers among the original signers of the Declaration of American Cheesemaking Independance, we now have all these New Young Bucks making cheeses so fine it's embarrassing. An embarrassment of riches. To list them all here would require more time than I have. I would have you taste the Cato's Corner cheeses from CT, the Sprout Creek Farm cheeses from NY State, the Cowgirl Creamery cheeses from CA, the Bingham Hill Blue from CO, the Berkshire Blue from Mass., the Pleasant Ridge Reserve from the the Uplands Cheese Co. in Wisconsin, everything Allison makes at Vermont Butter and Cheese, particularly her "fontina" of goat's milk, anything Cindy Major makes at the Major Farm in VT, Sadie Kendall's creme fraiche from CA, Jules, raw milk Gouda from the Winchester Cheese Co. down near San Diego (!), the astonishing Thistle Hill Farm (VT) Tarentaise from Vermont, a dead ringer for Savoie's Abondance.

Bless you for caring, and continue to keep your heart and your eyes open, at farm stands, greenmarkets, assiduous counters such as those at the three Fairway Markets, and the results of the annual American Cheese Society competition, this year's at Madison, WI in a week or two.

[ludja]

Ludja, since my Cheese Primer came out in '97, American (and Canadian) artisanal cheesemaking has become ten times as prolific and remarkable as it was then, and it was rocking then. It has skyrocketed. American and Canadian cheeses have won top prizes at every international competition. Many, even the obscure, have become staples in the inventories of food shops and supermarkets across the country.

It's not about advances, nor is it about trends. It's about cheesemakers.

This is wonderful to hear!!

I am lucky to live in a place that has a bunch of good artisanal cheesemakers (N. California; and have been enjoying cheeses from Cowgirl Creamery, among others). But it is great to hear from you that there has been such large growth and enthusiasm all over the US.

Thank you also for the specific cheese recommendations as well as for pointing out the annual American Cheese Society competition for us. Sounds like a good place to keep up on the "pulse" of American cheesemaking.

I also can't wait to look for some of the N.England cheeses when I go back East to visit my family!

Thanks for a great response!