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The 10 Best Wisconsin Cheeses of 2015

It was a good year to live in Wisconsin. Our cheesemakers debuted new cheeses, won boatloads of awards, and did happy dances on stage. And because it’s almost time to say goodbye to 2015, I think we should pay tribute to the great cheeses that continue to put Wisconsin on the map. Here are my 10 favorites.

1. Cupola, Red Barn Family Farms

Exceptional cheese starts with exceptional milk. No one knows this better than the five dairy farmers who make up Red Barn Family Farms, founded by veterinarian Dr. Terry Homan and his spunky wife, Paula, back in the mid 2000s. Every dairy farmer adheres to the Red Barn Rules, resulting in exceptionally happy cows that give give exceptionally good milk. Cupola is the company’s signature cheese (their Heritage Weis 3-Year Cheddar is also one of my all-time favorites). Cupola is a white, hard, alpine style cheese crafted by U.S. Champion Cheesemaker Katie Hedrich Furhmann for Red Barn Family Farms. This is a limited-availability cheese so if you see it at your favorite specialty cheese counter, buy it immediately.

2.  Marieke Bacon Gouda, Holland’s Family Cheese

U.S. Champion Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman is known for making a variety of flavored goudas – mustard melange, cumin, foenegreek, insert another 10 flavors here, but she outdid herself this year with her new Bacon Gouda. Made on the Penterman family farm in Thorp, Wisconsin, this farmstead bacon gouda is chock full – and I mean freakin’ chock full – of bacon. As most of you know, I come from a long family line of folks who don’t eat a lot of cheese, and when I presented this cheese to my father on Christmas Eve (keep in mind he was recovering from the stomach flu), he took one bite and then kept eating. The whole thing. Because yeah, it’s that good.

3. Petit Nuage, Landmark Creamery

Newcomer Cheesemaker Anna Landmark and her business partner Anna Thomas Bates put Wisconsin on the map with this French-style button sheep’s milk cheese last year, and followed up this year with a shiny gold medal at the 2015 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest for their Petit Nuage. Available seasonally from February through October, each cheese is just one ounce in weight and less than two inches in diameter – a perfect single portion. I’ve seen the cheese paired with honey, ginger, a variety of preserves, and even black pepper, but seriously, it’s amazing alone and makes a lovely addition to a cheese board.

4.  Queso Oaxaca, Cesar’s Cheese

America’s best string cheese. Period. I could just stop here, but I have to gush a bit more because I find it amazing that cheesemaking duo Cesar and Heydi Luis still hand-stretch every single batch of this delightfully stringy, salty, addictive cheese. I compare this bright white cow’s milk cheese to a bag of potato chips. You can’t eat just one, and before you realize what’s happened, the entire package is gone. Popular with kids and adults alike, this is the one cheese that teenagers always, always expect me to have in my fridge, and when I don’t, inform me I have failed their cheese needs.

5. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Uplands Cheese

Just when you think there’s nothing more that can be said about America’s most awarded artisan cheese, Cheesemaker Andy Hatch hits it out of the park with another stellar season of alpine-style greatness. Pleasant Ridge Reserve has been so good for so long, many of us take it for granted. But the current wheels for sale – aged about 15 months – are some of the best cheese I’ve ever tasted. If you haven’t had Pleasant Ridge in a while because you think it’s old news, it deserves another look. Simply put, this cheese never goes out of style.

6. Three-Year Cheddar, Hook’s Cheese

In a year when Tony and Julie Hook made national headlines with their 20-Year Cheddar (and then donated half of the proceeds – $40,000 to the Center for Dairy Research in Madison), their 3-Year Cheddar is still my favorite. When folks ask what cheese best describes Wisconsin, this is the cheese I put in their cart. Solid, sharp cheddar with a construction-orange hue that put Wisconsin cheddar on the map years ago. A true Wisconsin classic.

7. Dunbarton Blue, Roelli Cheese

Dunbarton is one of the few Wisconsin cheeses that can serve dual purposes on a cheese board: both Cheddar and Blue. That’s because this cellar-aged, natural-rinded cheddar sports a few deep veins of blue. It literally tastes like a cloth-bound cheddar until you hit a blue vein, and then the heavenly combination of rustic cheddar and blue mold meet for a new flavor all its own. Remember the commercials from the ’80s for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – where chocolate and peanut butter accidentally meet to make the perfect candy bar? The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board should reenact that commercial for this cheese, because newly minted Master Cheesemaker Chris Roelli continues to strike gold with cheddar + blue = Dunbarton Blue.

8. Extra Aged Goat, Sartori

Master Cheesemaker Pam Hodgson releases this limited-edition cheese twice a year, usually in summer and then in time for the year-end holidays. Hand-crafted in small batches, the 22-pound wheels are aged a minimum of 10-months. If you like Sartori’s BellaVitano Gold, you’ll like this cheese, as it reminds me of the Gold, but without the Gold’s sweet fruity finish, and instead a deeper, tangier bite. Bright white, crumbly yet still sliceable, Sartori’s Extra Aged Goat is a perennial award winner on the world stage and is the perfect goat’s milk cheese to serve your friends who are under the impression they don’t like goat’s milk.

9. Roth’s Private Reserve, Roth Cheese

I swear to God this cheese keeps getting better every year. Made in traditional copper vats and aged in the Roth Cellars in Monroe, Private Reserve is released on flavor, not age. It’s always aged a minimum of six months, but the wheels this year have to be closer to one year. This is literally the best Gruyere cheese you will ever eat that does not have Gruyere in its name.

10. Jeffs’ Select, Maple Leaf Cheese & Caves of Faribault

There’s no easier way to class up a cheese board than with this aged cow’s milk gouda made by Master Cheesemaker Jeff Wideman at Maple Leaf Cheese in Monroe, and then aged by Cheesemaker Jeff Jirik at the Caves of Faribault in Minnesota. With its annatto-rubbed pumpkin-colored rind, this striking cheese sports a dark golden hue with deep caramel notes and tyrosene crystals the size of walnuts. Okay, well perhaps I’m exaggerating about that last part, but this cheese is so good that I can’t exaggerate its taste enough. Buy. It. Now.

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Cheese Questions from a Fifth Grader

Sometimes all it takes to slow one down in the midst of a crazy busy, cheese-cutting, cheese-selling, cheese-eating holiday season is a hand-written letter from a fifth grader.

Checking my post office box this morning resulted in a lovely collection of Christmas cards from friends and colleagues, a large pile of cheese equipment catalogs, a newsletter from the local senior center, and a letter from Sumayya, a 10-year-old from Quincy, Massachusetts, zip code 02169.

Guess which piece of mail I opened first.

Dear Ms. Jeanne Carpenter,

My name is Sumayya. I am 10 years old and I am a student in the fifth grade.

I am studying cheese for my topic all year long. I got interested in cheese when I went to Whole Foods in Hingham, Massachusetts and saw all of the delicious, different, and colorful varieties of cheese.

I will use the information you provide in my report. Of course, I will use the information. It came from a cheese expert!

Enclosed is a self-addressed envelope, a tea bag, and five questions. So sit back, relax, and enjoy a cup of tea while – please do – answer my questions.

Thank you for your time. I really, really, really, really really appreciate it. 

Well, Sumayya, not only will I drink your tea and answer your questions here on Cheese Underground, but you can also expect a large envelope full of cheese-related information coming in the mail to you soon. But first, let’s answer your questions.

1. What is your favorite type of cheese? Why? (Mine is smoked Swiss because it is sweet as well as tangy).

Excellent opening question, Sumayya. It’s always a good move to ask someone their favorite cheese. My favorite type of cheese is washed-rind: sticky & stinky – think Taleggio from Italy, St. Nectaire from France, Grazier’s Edge from Minnesota, and Kinsman Ridge from Vermont. I attribute my love of savory, meaty cheese to the fact that I grew up on a beef farm and ate meat & potatoes every day for lunch and dinner (although we referred to these meals as dinner and supper). Washed-rind cheeses remind me my favorite childhood Sunday noontime meal: savory roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. I can still picture my mother making gravy on the stove – which incidentally, is the one food I excel at cooking. Gravy makes everything better.

2. What is the most complicated part of making cheese? (I would say drying the cheese is most complicated). 

Another solid question. And Sumayya, you are on to something about drying cheese. Any cheesemaker worth her salt will tell you that making a good cheese is the successful combination of two things: 1) making cheese and 2) aging the cheese (also referred to as affinage). I should point out that I am not a cheesemaker, nor do I ever aspire to be one – there’s a reason I have a B.A. in English (it’s called little to no math requirements) – and cheesemaking is all about science. If Kenny Rogers would have written a song about cheesemaking instead of gambling, it would have gone something like this:

You’ve got to know when to check the pH
Know when to drain the whey
Know when to cut the curd
And know when to wait
You never count your cheese forms
While you’re stirrin’ the cheese curd
There’ll be time enough for countin’
When the cheesemakin’s done

Also, now that I’m re-thinking this, you probably shouldn’t actually watch the Kenny Rogers “The Gambler” video link referenced above – it’s full of messages not suitable for a 10-year-old. Moving on.

3. Is smoked cheese better or plain cheese better? Why? (I think smoked cheese because it adds more flavor).

Sumayya, I’m sensing you may like smoked cheese, which is awesome. Smoked cheese is one category of many types of cheese, and it’s all a matter of personal preference. In Wisconsin, lots of folks enjoy a good smoked Gouda. Smoked cheeses are particularly popular during the holiday season and during winter, because, I suspect, they are a comfort food. They make us feel good. I don’t know if you have long winters in Massachusetts, but here in Wisconsin, winter often starts in November and lasts through mid-April. A good smoked cheese can chase a bad winter day away.

4. Do you know of anyone else I could contact for my project? If so, please give name, address, zip code, and phone number.

Holy cats, I can think of about 20 people who are more qualified to answer these questions than I, so I am going to compile that information and put it in the mail to you. If you wait until January 1 to mail your questions, you are more likely to get a response, as everyone here in Wisconsin is currently obsessed with making, selling, cutting or eating cheese for the holidays.

5. What do you think will be the future of cheese? Will there be more or less as an average per year? Why?

Well, Sumayya, as long as there are 10-year-olds out there like you, I would say the future of cheese is pretty darn bright. Cheese consumption in the United States keeps growing every year. We are seeing an increase in the number of artisan and specialty cheesemakers, resulting in a world where American cheeses now compete on the same stage as the great European cheesemaking nations. Cheese is recognized as a healthy source of protein, perfect for kids to grow up strong and healthy. Plus it’s yummy. So cheese is here to stay.

Happy holidays, Sumayya. And watch your mail for a package of cheesy goodies.
 

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Cheese Gifts for the Naughty and Nice

It’s holiday season, so you know what that means: cheese gifts and cheese boards galore. And because you’re no doubt the designated cheese geek in your circle of friends, everyone’s expecting a cheese gift box or cheese platter for their next party. If you’re stuck in a cheesy rut, here are some ideas:

The Cheese Gift Box for the Relatives You Don’t Like
Yep, we’ve all got an in-law or an annoying opinionated uncle in our family that we don’t particularly care for, but we know they expect a gift. So this year, give them the gift of cheese. Kill them with kindness with a simple gift box of your favorite medium cheddar, mild blue and young gouda. Tie it up and stick on a bow, and then spend bigger bucks on the folks you like. Which leads me to:

The Cheese Gift Box for Your Favorite Friends
This is where it gets fun. These are the people that you choose to hang out with; the people who ask you the questions they don’t know about cheese and expect you to know the answer. So wow them with the same formula as above, but swap for stellar Wisconsin cheeses: Hook’s 15-Year Cheddar (only available now, during the holidays); Dunbarton Blue from Roelli Cheese in Shullsburg (crafted by newly-minted MASTER Cheesemaker Chris Roelli; and Marieke 6-9 month Gouda, because it a) tastes amazing, b) won the 2013 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, so you’ve got the hardware to back you up, and c) it’s made by one of the coolest women on the planet: Marieke Penterman. Slam. Dunk.

The Cheese Platter for the Holiday Work Party
This one’s tricky, because you’re likely feeding a crowd who may know next to nothing about cheese, but as pointed out earlier, expect you to bring the good stuff because you’re the office cheese geek. So go with volume on a budget. Pick up some healthy-sized chunks of Cedar Grove Extra Sharp Cheddar in Plain, Wis.; Edelweiss Butterkase from Master Cheesemaker Bruce Workman in Monticello; Widmer’s Brick Cheese Spread and a package of Potter’s Winter Wheat Crackers; and a large log of Blueberry Goat Cheese from Montchevre in Belmont, Wis. You’ll have an attractive, well-rounded cheese platter with plenty of talking points that won’t put you in the poor house.

Finally: The Cheese Gift Box for the Cheese Geek
Let’s face it: this is Wisconsin, so we’ve all got that one friend who is REALLY into cheese. Pamper them with a themed gift box of the hottest style of cheese right now: alpine. Start with the no-brainer of Pleasant Ridge Reserve from Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville; include a healthy chunk of Grand Cru Surchoix, an extra-aged Gruyere (yes, it’s still a Gruyere, even though they took that word off the label) from Roth Cheese in Monroe, and if you can find it: Cupola from Red Barn Family Farms, a semi-hard cheese with notes of caramel and toasted pineapple. Include a bottle of your favorite Pinot Noir or Beaujolais and you’ll be official friends for life.

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GMO Labeling May Change How Wisconsin Cheesemakers Do Business

Organic. Grassfed. American Humane Certified. You’ve seen these labels in your favorite specialty cheese store, signifying the cheese you’re about to purchase is certifiably processed as described.

But there’s another label – a black rectangle with two spears of grass and an orange butterfly – that’s causing quite the level of consternation these days in the cheese world. It’s the Non-GMO Project Verified Seal, and it has the potential to change the way a significant number of cheesemakers make cheese in the United States. And if one of the world’s leading natural food markets has its way, you’re going to be seeing it a lot more.

With more than 400 stores in the United States and Canada, and annual sales of $14.2 billion, Whole Foods is THE major player in the North American natural food market. Last year, the company announced that by 2018, all products (including cheese) in its U.S. and Canadian stores must be labeled if they contain genetically modified organisms, known as GMOs.

Whole Foods is the first national grocery chain to set a deadline for full GMO transparency. Its GMO labeling will go further than any current state law or pending national initiative for labeling.

“This is about providing transparency to consumers,” says Cathy Strange, global cheese buyer and national procurement & distribution officer for Whole Foods Inc. “Our quality standards for food already prohibit the use of artificial colorings, flavorings, preservatives, hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup. This is just taking it to a higher level.”

So what is a GMO?

Simply put, a GMO is an organism that has DNA, or genetic make-up, that does not occur in nature. Most of the time, GMO crops are genetically engineered to survive herbicides or resist disease. But often, they are developed to serve customer demand. One of the first GMO-foods to hit the U.S. market was in 1994, when American shoppers and grocers alike whole-heartedly embraced the Flavr Savr Tomato. It had been genetically engineered for delayed-ripening and boasted a longer shelf life than conventional tomatoes.

In 1997, on the heels of global questions about the safety of genetically altered food, the European Union declared mandatory labeling on all GMO food products, including animal feed. The U.S. did not follow suit. By 1999, more than 100 million acres were planted with genetically engineered seeds, and the American marketplace began fully embracing GMO technology.  Today, nearly 90 percent of all corn, sugar beets, soybeans, canola and cotton in North America are GMO-grown, according to the United States Department of Agriculture, and more than 70 percent of all packaged foods contain GMOs.

And, more GMO foods are entering the American marketplace all the time. Just last week, the FDA approved AquAdvantage salmon—the first edible genetically engineered animal to earn such approval. The salmon, produced by AquaBounty Technologies, are genetically engineered with DNA that causes them to grow to market size much faster than other salmon.

Current U.S. Regulations on GMO Foods 

No federal laws requiring the testing or labeling of genetically engineered foods exist in the United States. However, Americans, largely via grassroots efforts, have led GMO-free initiatives in several places, succeeding in creating eight GMO-free zones. These include the counties of Trinity, Santa Cruz, Marin, Mendocino and Humboldt, all in California; Jackson and Jefferson counties in Oregon, and Maui, Hawaii. The states of Connecticut, Maine and Vermont have all passed mandatory labeling laws. Alaska has required labeling of genetically-modified salmon since 2005. Additional legislation for mandatory GMO labeling is pending in 35 states. However, all of these laws and regulations are in danger of being overturned.

In July, the House of Representatives passed The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015,  known as the DARK Act. This bill, if voted into law, would block states from labeling foods as having genetically engineered ingredients, and negate any GMO labeling laws that have already been passed. In fact, “The preemption language in the bill would nullify over a hundred local laws that, directly or indirectly, regulate genetically engineered crops,” according to a CivilEats.com article. This is because federal law trumps a law below it, such as a state or local law.

But the DARK act has no control over individual retailer requirements for GMO-free foods. That’s why the 2018 labeling mandate by Whole Foods has gotten the attention of the state’s cheese industry. A large number of cheesemakers sell cheese to Whole Foods, which is, without question, the largest specialty cheese retailer in the United States. If these companies don’t want Wisconsin cheese labeled as a GMO product by one of their biggest retail customers, they must find alternatives to the feed that animals eat to produce milk.

“Our goal is to work with farmers and cheesemakers to get them moving in the direction of non-GMO products,” Strange says. “We have people on our team who have been personally meeting with cheesemakers in Vermont, Wisconsin and California to work with them not just on the feed, but on the feed mills being used to mix rations for animals. Many of these feed mills are mixing rations for dozens of farmers, and the non-GMO feed can not be mixed with conventional feed.”

Already, Strange says Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont has been GMO-free for three months, and Vermont Creamery is close. Both companies produce award-winning cheese sold at Whole Foods markets across the continent. In fact, Jasper Hill’s Harbison was just awarded ‘Best American Cheese’ last week at the World Cheese Awards in Birmingham, England.

“Our bottom line is we want food to be transparent,” Strange says. “Will we kick out non-GMO products from our stores? Of course not. But we do think customers will make the choice to not consume GMO products once they are labeled. And as we all know, the customer ultimately has the last word.” 

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Dairy Sheep Symposium Comes Back to Wisconsin

If you’re currently milking sheep, have ever thought about milking sheep, or just curious about why people milk sheep, then you should plan on attending the 21st Annual Dairy Sheep Association of North America (DSANA) Symposium in Madison, Wisconsin on Nov. 5-7.

This year marks the first year in six years that the symposium has been held in Wisconsin, considered by many to be the dairy sheep mecca of North America. Hundreds of folks will descend on Madison for the event, which also includes a pre-symposium sheep milk cheese-making course at the Center for Dairy Research at UW-Madison.

Twelve presentations by 16 animal scientists, dairy sheep producers, veterinarians, and sheep milk cheese makers and marketers will be held at the Pyle Center. A sampling of topics and presenters include:

  • Impacts on Non-GMO Labeling on Artisan Cheese Production, by Cathy Strange, Global Cheese Buyer, Whole Foods Market
  • Special Considerations for Small Ruminants, by Dr. Doug Reinemann, UW-Madison
  • Perspectives on Surviving and Growing in Dairy Sheep Production, by Bill Halligan, Bushnell, Nebraska; Dean and Brenda Jensen, Westby, Wisconsin; and Dave Galton, Locke, New York
  • A New Producer and Their New Cheesemaker – Challenges in Getting Started, by Sam and Abe Enloe, Enloe Brothers Farms, Rewey, Wisconsin, and Anna Landmark, Landmark Creamery, Albany, Wisconsin
  • Markets and Marketing of Sheep Milk Cheeses, Jeanne Carpenter, Specialty Cheese Buyer, Metcalfe’s Markets, Madison, Wisconsin (yep that’s me).

In addition, attendees are invited to an all-day tour on Saturday, Nov. 7 (also led by me -whoo-hoo!) to Cedar Grove Cheese in Plain, and to Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby, where participants will visit a modern dairy sheep farm and artisan cheese plant operated by Dean and Brenda Jensen. We’ll also enjoy a farm-to-table-lunch at The Rooted Spoon in Viroqua.

Be sure to click here for a complete program with registration information. I hope to see you there!

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Wisconsin Cheddar Tour with Gordon Edgar

Exciting news, cheese peeps! If your lifelong dream has been to tour three cheddar cheese factories, eat lunch on a goat farm, enjoy dinner at a swanky Italian restaurant, and ride a bus with an acclaimed cheesemonger author, than I am about to make all of your dreams come true.

On Friday, October 23, my friend and author Gordon Edgar (of Cheesemonger fame) is coming to America’s Dairyland to celebrate the October release of his new book: Cheddar: A Journey to the Heart of America’s Most Iconic Cheese.

To celebrate, Gordon and I are going to lead an all-day tour to the heart of Wisconsin Cheddar country. We’ll meet at Larry’s Market in Brown Deer at 8:30 am to talk Cheddar with co-owners Steve Ehlers and Patty Peterson.

Then we’ll board our private coach bus and drive north for an exclusive tour of Henning’s Cheese in Kiel, the only cheese factory in America still making Mammoth Cheddar wheels. We’ll tour the factory, talk shop with Master Cheesemaker Kerry Henning, visit their charming retail store, eat some cheese, and get back on the bus.

Mammoth Cheddar Wheels at Henning’s Cheese

Next stop: famous LaClare Farms, a farmstead goat dairy crafting raw milk goat cheddar and award-winning American originals, including the 2011 U.S. Champion Cheese, Evalon. We’ll tour the goat farm on a tractor and wagon with farm patriarch Larry Hedrich,  enjoy lunch in the creamery, prepared especially for us by farm chef Jim McIntoshk, and do a little shopping in the farm retail store.

Then it’s south to Theresa, this time for a tour and Cheddar talk with Master Cheesemaker Joe Widmer at his third-generation family cheese factory, Widmer’s Cheese Cellars. Joe and his son, Joey, are making some of the best Cheddar in the country, and we’ll hear from the dynamic duo on their secrets to success.

Master Cheesemaker Joe Widmer making cheese.

The evening concludes with a four-course dinner and cheddar tasting at destination Italian restaurant Trattoria Stefano with chef and owner Stefano Viglietti in Sheboygan, along with a Cheddar tasting and talk with Chris Gentine, of The Artisan Cheese Exchange and founder of Deer Creek Cheeses, including such award-winning cheddars as Deer Creek The Fawn, The Stag and The Doe. We’ll be back to Larry’s Market by 8 pm.

On the bus in between stops, Gordon will entertain us with readings from his favorite chapters of his new Cheddar book. At the end, all tour attendees will receive their very own autographed copy!

Larry Hedrich giving a tour in the dairy
goat barn.

Cost for this Cheddar extravaganza is just $149 per person and includes:

•    Round trip coach bus transportation from Brown Deer to all tour stops
•    Lunch on the farm at LaClare Farms
•    Dinner and Cheddar tasting at Trattoria Stefano
•    Autographed hard-cover copy of Gordon Edgar’s new Cheddar book, to be released Oct. 5

This tour is limited to 30 attendees, and is already half sold out. Book your spot early at: www. WisconsinCheeseOriginals.com. I look forward to seeing you on the bus!

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Build a Dairy, Name a Goat: Bifrost Farms Looks to Rise in Wisconsin

Everyone knows that in Wisconsin, it’s not easy starting up a small-scale, farmstead cheese operation. Every cheesemaker selling cheese commercially must be licensed, his or her facility must be licensed, and an array of permits and bureacratic hoops written for the big boys must be navigated. And if you’re a small goat or sheep dairy operation, good luck finding a banker to loan you money.

That’s why Meg and Joel Wittenmyer, land stewards for a diverse 20 acres in northwestern Wisconsin that they call Bifrost Farms, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign on barnraiser.us. Their goal? To raise $4,000 before the ground freezes to install critical infrastructure needs at their farmstead goat dairy so they can work on the interior of a new micro-creamery this winter.

“It’s scary enough starting a new career at 57,” says Meg, a Wisconsin Licensed Cheesemaker, goat milker, hay thrower, animal wrangler and bottle washer (literally). “But one that requires not only physical stamina, but puts you in the position of being responsible for the lives of so many wonderful animals…well, it’s kind of daunting. But, I’ve faced challenges all my life and never met one I couldn’t overcome.”

The Wyttenmyers’ first step is renovating a building on their farm for a new micro-creamery, with a goal to open in May 2016.  This fall, they are trying to get critical infrastructure work done before the snow flies, so early next year, when they apply (and hopefully receive) a USDA micro-loan, they are ready for the rest of the work.
Meg has been experimenting with making goat’s milk cheeses for years, and after spending the past two years earning her Wisconsin Cheese Makers License, she’s already found her first waiting commerical customer. After tasting samples of Meg’s delicious Chevre and Farmhouse Feta, Menomonie Market Cooperative is eager to carry Bifrost Farms cheese as well as Cajeta (a thickened syrup usually made of sweetened caramelized milk, originally from Mexico) and, one day, Gelato. “We can’t get this done fast enough,” Meg says.
In addition to making goat’s milk cheeses, Meg is also dedicated to opening her facility to aspiring cheesemakers looking to gain their 240 needed apprenticeship hours with a licensed cheesemaker. Small-scale operations that meet the state’s requirements for internships are few and far between, especially on the western side of the state. 
Those hoping to have their own micro-creamery one day must do as Meg did. Part of her hours were attained at the UW-River Falls Dairy Plant over three semesters, (where incidentally, not only did she not get paid, but had to pay student tuition to be able to work in the plant for liability reasons). The balance of her internship time included a short stint of 30 hours with a small goat dairy two hours away, while the rest occurred at a medium-sized creamery, which was still 100 times larger than her plans for Bifrost Farms, and an hour’s drive from her home.

Once Bifrost Farms is operational, Meg plans to hang out her shingle for interns who not only want to make cheese, but need to understand what it’s like to operate at a micro-level, where often times one or two people are doing all the work. This is not a new problem for small cheesemakers, but hopefully, with one more micro-creamery in the mix, it won’t be so hard, she says.

If you’re interested in helping Meg & Joel with their dream of building an on-farm goat’s milk creamery, I’d urge you to visit their barnraiser.us site, and learn more about their operation. Even a gift of $5 or $10 adds up, plus they’ll recognize you on their Facebook and Twitter feeds. Larger donations come with more rewards, such as farm tours and baskets of cheese, once the dairy is licensed. My favorite reward? Donate $55 and you’ll get to name a goat next Spring at Bifrost Farms. Because who doesn’t want to name a goat? C’mon people!
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Thousands Descend Upon Festival of Cheese in Providence

With more than 1,400 cheeses to try at last night’s Festival of Cheese – the annual culmination of the American Cheese Society conference and competition – cheese lovers from around the world descended upon dozens of tables filled with cheeses sorted by category: flavored, fresh, farmstead, smoked, washed-rind, blues, international style, American originals, Italian-style, soft-ripened, cheddar and more, all in a quest to taste every cheese possible.

Some succeeded. Many failed. The rest of us are still in a cheese coma.

For me, one of the best parts of the annual Festival of Cheese is volunteering to prep the event. As usual, my husband and I were in charge of the cheddar table. Our mission: sort, cut, prep and tray 119 cheddar cheeses of every shape, color, variety and size, onto only seven tables. With one of the best volunteer crews ever assembled, we did it in just over six hours.

Here’s a look at the process:

8 AM: Uriah and I pose for a selfie to remember how energetic we looked before shepherding hundreds of cheeses from cooler truck to speed rack to cutting tables to plating:

9 AM: three of my awesome volunteers starting to cut and plate cheddar. I always encourage my team to get creative in cutting and traying the cheeses, because after all, how often are we encouraged to play with our food?

10 AM: beginning to sort where the cheeses will land:

NOON: Here’s a portion of our table, about halfway through the process. Time for lunch:

2:30 PM: We are almost done – just have to fluff up the tables with crackers, flowers and fruit. Time to take a team photo:

4 PM: And, it’s showtime. Here’s a glimpse of just a portion of our magnificent cheddar tables, with my hand-carved “cheddar mountains”. Gosh, playing with cheese is fun:

Of course, the main perk of attending the Festival of Cheese is getting to try all the winning cheeses, including the Best of Show winners. Here they are, in all their glory:

It’s also fun people-watching – here’s a shot of U.S. Champion Cheesemaker Cecylia Szewczyk taking a photo of one of her many award-winning cheeses before the crowds arrive. The girl just keeps racking up the cheese awards:

Every year, I try to find the most unusual cheese at the event, and this year was no exception. This creative cheesemaker decided to insert a lemon into the middle of his cheese. Not surprisingly, the cheese was lemony in flavor:

If you missed this year’s Festival of Cheese, fear not! The event will be repeated again next year, this time in Des Moines, Iowa. I look forward to seeing you there in 2016!

All photos by Uriah Carpenter.

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Two Wisconsin Cheeses Win Top Spots at American Cheese Society

Clara and Larry Hedrich of LaClare Farms in Wisconsin with
David Rogers, of Standard Market in Illinois.

One cheese: two makers. The European model of separating cheese making from cheese aging, while celebrating both the cheesemaker and the affineur, got a boost in America tonight, as a farmstead cheese from Wisconsin aged in cellars in Illinois was named the second best cheese in the nation.

Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka, a mixed milk cheese crafted with goat and cow’s milk by Katie Hedrich Fuhrmann and her team on LaClare Farm, and aged by David Rogers and his team at Standard Market in Westmont, Illinois, was named Runner-Up Best in Show at the 2015 American Cheese Society competition, widely regarded as the Oscars of the artisan cheese industry. The Cave Aged Chandoka tied Roth’s Private Reserve from Emmi Roth in Monroe for runner-up honors, while Best in Show went to Celtic Blue Reserve from Ontario, Canada.

“I just got off the phone with Katie, and all she could say was: ‘Holy crap’. We both agreed that might be an understatement,” David said shortly after the win was announced. While Katie was not in Providence to accept the award (she stayed home to make cheese), her parents, LaClare Farms founders, Larry and Clara Hedrich, climbed on stage with big smiles to accept top honors with David.

Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka

While only four wheels – yes, just four wheels – of the winning batch of Cave Aged Chandoka exist in the cellars at Standard Market, another 20 wheels will be available in four months, with another 20 wheels available soon after, and so on. The cheese is currently in very limited retail – you can find it at Standard Market, Eataly and Mariano’s in Chicago – but like any big win, the cheese will likely be in much broader distribution once more is properly aged.

The award is particularly vindicating for Standard Market, which put significant time and expense into building in-store aging cellars to create a unique American artisan cheese aging program, a bold move not common or even understood in the United States.

“We started cave-aging the Chandoka about three years ago,” David says, and over time and trial, settled on releasing the cheese at about six months. Twenty-two pound wheels of LaClare Farms Chandoka are shipped right out of the vat to Standard Market, where David and his team apply lard and linen. Regular Chandoka, sold by LaClare Farms, is not bandage wrapped and is sold younger. The difference between the two cheeses is night and day. Where regular Chandoka is mellow, creamy and smooth, Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka is bold, earthy and crumbly. It’s hard to even tell they were ever once the same cheese.

Rounding out the Best in Show honors was Harbison from the Cellars at Jasper Hill, a company well-known for aging cheese for other cheesemakers in its underground caves in Vermont. The Cellars won Best in Show in 2013 with Winnimere, and again in 2006, with Cabot Clothbound Cheddar aged at The Cellars at Jasper Hill.

Hidden Springs Creamery Cheesemaker
Brenda Jensen with her 9 ribbons.

The 2015 ACS Judging & Competition saw 1,779 entries of cheeses and cultured dairy products from 267 companies from 31 states and three Canadian provinces. Wisconsin cheesemakers took the most awards of any state – with 99 total ribbons. California was second with 47, while Vermont captured 44 awards.

Hidden Springs Creamery, a farmstead sheep dairy near Westby, won the most awards for Wisconsin, with nine ribbons, tied with Lactalis in Belmont. Klondike Cheese was close behind, with eight awards, while Sartori Cheese, Hook’s Cheese and Crave Brothers all earned five ribbons apiece.

Holland’s Family Cheese swept the International Style with Flavor Added – All Milks category, with a first place for Marieke Gouda Foenegreek, second place for Marieke Gouda Cumin, and third place for Marieke Gouda Jalapeno. Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman did a happy dance on stage upon learning she had won all three ribbons in the class.

All Wisconsin companies earning awards at tonight’s competition for their cheeses were:

  • Arena Cheese, Arena: Colby
  • Arthur Schuman Inc, Montfort: Cello Rich and Creamy Mascarpone, Montforte Gorgonzola Cheese Wheel, Montforte Blue Cheese Wheel, Cello Riserva Copper Kettle Parmesan Cheese, Cello Riserva Artisan Parmesan Cheese
  • BelGioioso Cheese, Green Bay: Gorgonzola with Sheep’s Milk, American Grana, Sharp Provolone Mandarino, Black Truffle Burrata
  • Burnett Dairy Cooperative, Grantsburg: Smoked String Cheese
  • Cedar Grove Cheese, Plain: Ovella, Weird Sisters, Traditional Feta, Donatello
  • Clock Shadow Creamery, Milwaukee: Pizza Cheese Curds
  • Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo: White Cheddar Cheese Curds, Oaxaca, Farmer’s Rope String Cheese, Fresh Mozzarella- Bocconcini, Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Curds
  • Edelweiss Creamery, Monticello: Brick
  • Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Ellsworth: Brick, Hot Pepper Jack
  • Emmi Roth USA, Monroe: Roth’s Private Reserve, GranQueso Reserve, GranQueso, Grand Cru Surchoix
  • Graf Creamery, Bonduel: Brethren Roll Salted Butter
  • Hidden Springs Creamery, Westby: Manchego Reserve, Farmstead Feta, Driftless-Honey Lavender, Driftless-cranberry cinnamon, Driftless- basil /olive oil, Driftless Natural, Meadow Melody Reserve, Meadow Melody, Timber Coulee Reserve
  • Holland’s Family Cheese, Thorp: Marieke Gouda Foenegreek, Marieke Gouda Cumin, Marieke Gouda Jalapeno, Marieke Gouda Aged (9-12 month)
  • Hook’s Cheese Company, Mineral Point: Triple Play, Sheep Milk Cheddar, Three Year Cheddar, Barneveld Blue, EWE CALF to be KIDding Blue
  • Key Ingredient Market: Garlic Cheddar Spread
  • Klondike Cheese, Monroe: Brick, Muenster, Odyssey Peppercorn Feta, Odyssey Tomato & Basil Feta, Odyssey Mediterranean Feta, Odyssey Reduced Fat Tomato & Basil Feta, Odyssey Sour Cream, Odyssey Greek Yogurt
  • LaClare Farms Specialties, Pipe: Standard Market Cave Aged Chandoka
  • Lactalis American Group, Belmont: 3 Kg. Brie, 1 Kg. Brie, 8oz. Brie, 1 Kg. Camembert, 8oz. Camembert, 3 Kg. Triple Cream Brie, 8oz. Feta, Président 8 oz Parmesan-Peppercorn, Rondelé Garlic & Herbs
  • Landmark Creamery, Albany: Petit Nuage
  • Maple Leaf Cheese, Monroe: Low-fat Cheddar
  • Montchevre-Betin, Inc, Belmont: Fromage Blanc, Chèvre in Blue, Oh-La-La! Fresh Spreadable Goat Cheese
  • Mt. Sterling Cheese Co-op, Mt Sterling: Raw Milk Mild Cheddar, Whey Cream Butter
  • Organic Valley, LaFarge: Organic Blue Cheese, Organic Pepper Jack, Organic Pasture Butter, Organic Salted Butter, Organic European Style Cultured Butter
  • Pine River Pre-Pack, Newton: Port Wine Cold Pack Cheese Food, Pepper Jack Cold Pack Cheese Spread, Chunky Bleu Cold Pack Cheese Food
  • Rosewood Dairy, Inc, Algoma: Pesto Farmers Cheese
  • Saputo Specialty Cheese, Richfield: Black Creek Colby, Great Midwest Habanero Jack
  • Sartori Company, Plymouth: Limited Edition Pastorale Blend, Reserve Dolcina Gorgonzola, Reserve Espresso BellaVitano, Reserve Kentucky Bourbon BellaVitano, Limited Edition, Cognac BellaVitano
  • Saxon Cheese, Cleveland: Asiago Fresca
  • The Artisan Cheese Exchange, Sheboygan: Deer Creek The Fawn, Deer Creek The Stag, Deer Creek The Doe
  • Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville: Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Extra-Aged Pleasant Ridge Reserve
  • V&V Supremo Foods: Queso Chihuahua, Queso Chihuahua with Jalapeno Peppers
  • Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Theresa: Washed Rind Brick Cheese, Cheddar with Jalapenos

Congratulations to every company from both the United States and Canada on their wins!

All photos by Uriah Carpenter. 

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Cecylia Szewczyk: U.S. Champion Cheesemaker

In a matter of minutes one night last March, the identity of Cecylia Szewczyk was forever changed. Known as one of the leading food biotechnologists in Poland, and before that, one of the fastest potato peelers on the shores of the Baltic Sea (more about that later), this brainy blonde in heels with an infectious laugh became known overnight as the best cheesemaker in America.

After leaving a global cheese culture company, and spending months finding just the right place in the American cheesemaking industry, Cecylia – the lead cheesemaker of a Guggisberg Cheese team in Ohio – won the 2015 U.S. Champion Cheese Contest for a big wheel Swiss that was only three months old. Judges deemed it to be one of the best cheeses they had tasted. Ever.

“I was absolutely stunned,” Cecylia says today, four months after winning the most coveted cheese crown in America. “When I got the call, I just started shrieking. It was unbelievable.”

Unbeknownst to Cecylia, her reaction was broadcast to a crowd of several hundred people at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest evening gala. After the winner was announced, her cheesemaker friend, Kari Skibbie at Holland’s Family Farm, put Cecylia on speaker phone next to the event microphone and in front of a hushed crowd.

“While we were talking, Kari said she was going to put me on speaker, but she forgot to mention that speaker was close to the microphone and everybody in the room, including the judges were listening!” Cecylia said. “I was convinced I was speaking to a bunch of friends, so some very inappropriate words were used in this speech of mine. Thankfully, everybody was laughing with me at the end.”

Not only were people laughing and celebrating with her, but many an eye teared up that night. I remember having to dig in my purse to find a tissue after Kari said good night and hung up the phone with Cecylia. And many people around me did the same. For those of us who have known Cecylia for years, and witnessed the struggles she’s gone through, it was very much like watching Cinderella become a fairy tale princess with a crown of cheese.

That’s because Cecylia was born into Nowinka, a village of 16 people in northern Poland on the Baltic Sea, where everyone ate herring and potatoes. Her parents both worked poorly-paid factory jobs and no one had very much money, but Cecylia’s family was lucky to have nearby fields of vegetables and fruits that Cecylia, her sister, brother and mother had to weed.

“We used to laugh that our hoe was our best childhood friend,” Cecylia says. “I remember envying other children, that after school they could just come back home and study. We had to weed, and if we didn’t have to weed, we were peeling potatoes – buckets and buckets of potatoes.”

Cecylia is still quite possibly the fastest potato peeler in the world. “Last weekend we went camping with some friends and I promised one kid, Skyler, fries. I took a bucket of potatoes, peeled them, cut them by hand and made fries. All of our American friends were looking at me like I was crazy, but when they tasted my fries they said these were the best fries they ever had. It’s funny how I thought what was my worst nightmare growing up now gives me so much pleasure.”

The budding master o’ potato peeling left her tiny village with a strong ambition to do well in school. In college, she studied chemical engineering for two years before switching to Food Technology and Human Nutrition with a major in Food Biotechnology at University of Warmia and Mazury in Poland. She also studied at the Technological Educational Institutions of Athens, Greece, culminating with two degrees: Engineer of Science (Technical Bachelor) and Master of Science.

“When I was graduating from my Master studies, Tetra Pak company nominated me and two other students to the best student of that year,  and during the official graduation ceremony I was introduced to  the sales director from CSK Food Enrichment responsible for Polish, Southern and Eastern European markets. He was looking for a Technologist to hire and he interviewed me right there. So I started working for an international ingredient supplier and got to travel to many amazing countries, visit many interesting companies from really big ones to farmstead operations producing artisanal cheeses and participate in all kinds of technological trials,” Cecylia said.

“Somehow along the way and among all other dairy products, natural cheese became my definite favorite for couple of reasons,” she says. “First of all, I think natural cheese is the most challenging from all dairy products as it requires deep understanding of milk, chemical, physical and biological processes occurring during its making. Second, I think there is something very noble about cheese making. To make a unique piece of cheese that is appreciated is like creating a piece of art that you can serve on a plate next to a grape and a glass of wine for somebody’s ultimate pleasure. I think it’s a beautiful product.”

Before joining Guggisberg Cheese just a little over one year ago, Cecylia had the chance to work with a variety of Wisconsin cheesemakers, including: Marieke Penterman at Holland’s Family Farm, Master Cheesemaker Jeff Mattes, Terry Lensmire and Dan Stearns at Agropur, Rod Kregel and Fernando Vaquero at Swiss Valley Farms, Roger Larson from Maple Leaf, Gregg Palubicki and Terry Schultz at Saputo, Marc Druart at Emmi Roth, Myron Olson at Chalet Cheese, and Bruce Workman at Edelweiss Cheese, who also makes big wheel Swiss.

“Bruce really is the Workman. He wakes up every night at 1 am to make cheese and what is worse – he made me do it too!” Cecylia joked.

Along the way, she’s made many good friends, especially Brian Riesterer from Brisan Ingredients, whom Cecylia says is the “most inspiring cheese researcher” she’s ever met. It might also help that Brian traveled with his family to attend Cecylia’s wedding in Poland and brought 40 pounds of peanut butter and maple syrup that was served at the reception.

But she credits Richard Guggisberg for helping her find her place in the American cheesemaking world. For more than a year, she’s participated in a joint project between Guggisberg Cheese and Chalon Megard, a French production equipment supplier. “For Chalon Megard, it’s their very first equipment installation in U.S., and there is a lot of adjustments that have to be done towards American standards, as well as Guggisberg’s technology. I’m a connective link that helps point out the critical adjustments and improve communication between the two,” Cecylia says.

Giant cheese!

“Richard Guggisberg is probably one of the best managers, business minds and cheesemakers I’ve ever met in one person,” Cecylia adds. “Sometimes I tend to take too much on, and in the beginning, would end up overwhelmed and stressed. And then he would come to me and say: ‘Cecylia, it is supposed to be about fun, remember?’ And he is right, because it should be about fun.”

So what’s in the future for this newly-crowned champion cheesemaker? These days, Cecylia is experimenting with making all sorts of different cheeses, as she has full access to equipment that makes big wheels of cheese. She’s working on a variety of categories, but is keeping secret the specific types of cheese she’s perfecting.

“Let’s just say you’re always going to know which cheese is mine on the table,” Cecylia laughs. “It’s always going to be the biggest one.”