cheeseunderground american cheese society, bleu mont dairy, cesar luis, cheese, dreamfarm, martha's pimento cheese, nordic creamery, sara hill, Savory Spoon, willi lehner, Wisconsin cheese

On Location: ACS in Madison

Well it’s official: the 30th American Cheese Society annual conference and competition is now on the books as one of the biggest (and do I daresay best?) cheesy shindigs in the history of cheese nerd conventions. Ever.

With nearly 1,000 cheese geeks from across North America descending upon Madison, Wisconsin this past week to talk, eat and sell cheese, most everyone is now on their way home or has made it to their final destination with their bellies full of cheese and their briefcases full of business cards. And let me just say that after spending the past 15 months planning 32 seminars, 5 tours, numerous special events and a grand Festival of Cheese featuring nearly 1,800 different cheeses for the tasting, co-chairs Bob Wills, Sara Hill and I are ready for a nap.

But before I nod off, let’s share a few photo highlights of the week.

Here’s my cheese-sister-in-crime Sara Hill after being inducted into the prestigous Guilde Internationale Des Fromagers. Check out the website – it’s in French – so you know it’s important. Sara has worked 30 years in the cheese industry and deserves this honor. Congrats, Sara!

Next, let me be the first person to tell every retailer in the nation that you need to carry the new Savory Spoon Panforte, which debuted at Saturday night’s Festival of Cheese. Featuring locally sourced cherries and honey, along with the traditional nuts which made this 15th Century Italian dessert famous, the Door County, Wisconsin version crafted by Janice Thomas can be cut to order or sold in small, gift wooden boxes sourced from France. Two words: super yummy. Contact eatpanforte@savoryspoon.com to order.

Willi Lehner and his Third Place Best in Show Bandaged Cheddar and Big Sky Grana (for the first time ever, the same cheesemaker tied himself for a Best in Show ribbon) – may have (rightfully) stolen the show …

But probably the happiest cheesemaker to win a ribbon may have been Martha Davis Kipcak maker of Martha’s Pimento Cheese. When Martha’s Pimento Cheese with Jalapenos was announced as the second place winner in the Cold Pack Cheese and Spreads with Flavor Added category, she almost couldn’t stand up in shock. But you should have seen her face when the announcer proclaimed she had also taken FIRST in the category with her original Martha’s Pimento Cheese. For someone who’s been in the food industry for 15 years, but only making cheese for less than a year, this is a well-deserved honor. Congratulations, Martha!

Before the conference proper started, ACS goers had their pick of five different tours featuring Wisconsin dairy farms and creameries. I had a blast planning and leading the Driftless Tour of Wisconsin Sheep and Goat Dairies, visiting Dreamfarm in Cross Plains, Hidden Springs Creamery in Westby, and Nordic Creamery in Westby. With a local-foods lunch catered right on the farm and a perfect blue sky, this particular tour showcased the best of Wisconsin.

Thanks to Sarah Bekkum for leading the tour at Nordic Creamery!

Thanks to Brenda Jensen (first in line!) for leading us through her amazingly beautiful dairy sheep farm and creamery.

And thanks to Diana Murphy for showing us her goat farm and creamery!

Of course, there were the seminars. This being Wisconsin, we wanted to plan some not-so-usual tasting sessions, so we brought in experts from the University of Wisconsin to lead a fluid milk tasting …

… and the first-ever cheese curd tasting session!

Of course there were also more traditional seminars, such as a 90-minute educational session on the flavor profiles of Comte.

My favorite event is always the Meet the Cheesemaker, where this year, 70 cheesemakers from across the nation and Canada lined up their wares for show and tell. Of course some cheesemakers, such as Cesar and Heydi Luis are more photogenic than others. Say cheese!

The weather could not have been more perfect to welcome members of the University of Wisconsin marching band to the Monona Terrace rooftop, where the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board threw the mother of all opening conference parties, complete with a toe-tapping band, picnic-style food, mounds o’cheese and of course, free beer. This is Wisconsin, after all.

The conference proper wrapped up Saturday night with the annual Festival of Cheese, where Best in Show winner Winnimere from Jasper Hill Farm was featured (thanks to Mateo for having three cases overnighted to the festival so everyone could have a taste)!

And where tables of blue cheese …

And smoked cheese …

 
And, well, every kind of cheese filled a room to hold 1,200 attendees.
Many, many thanks to the hundreds of volunteers, ACS staff, cheesemakers and all attendees for helping make the 30th ACS so memorable. See you next year in Sacramento, California, July 29 – August 1.

cheeseunderground american cheese society, fromagination, Wisconsin cheese

ACS Folks: Here Are 5 Ways to Become a Wisconsite

Hey there ACS fans and friends! I know you’re traveling to Madison for the American Cheese Society this week, and you might be worrying about how to fit into our cosmopolitan world class city. Here’s my first word of advice: leave the stilettos at home and pack your Birkenstocks. Then follow these five suggestions to become a true member of America’s Dairyland.

1. Eat deep fried cheese curds until you’re sick
Just like Friday fish fries, Jell-O salads, and beer brats, deep-fried cheese curds are uniquely Wisconsin. In downtown Madison, dozens of restaurants offer deep-fried curds as an appetizer or side, and some are even transforming the once lowly fair-food into a top-shelf item. Around the Square, check out the deep fried beauties at The Old Fashioned, Tipsy Cow or Graze. For best results, pair with a local craft beer, because it’s always best to mix hot oil and cheese with a little fermented yeast.

2. Drink beer with a cheesemaker
Madison is home to a thriving craft beer culture, with a half dozen brewpubs located within a couple blocks of the Square. On July 31, buy a $10 Pub Crawl ticket at the ACS Registration desk and buy a pint to drink with one of 18 different Wisconsin cheesemakers hanging out at six different downtown taverns. Visit them all, and you can enter to win a free ACS Registration for next year.

3. Get your shop on down State Street
Madison is a university town, and in the fall, winter and spring, State Street – a pedestrian-only, six-block shopping boulevard – is crowded with students. In good news, it’s summer, so you’ll have it to yourself. Full of eclectic shops and restaurants, State Street is THE place to see and be seen in Madison. Walk to the end and enjoy an ice cream cone at the UW-Madison Union, and sit on the pier while watching sailboats cruise Lake Mendota.

4. Eat a picnic on the Capital lawn
During the lunch hour and extending well into the afternoon, the four sides of the state capital lawn transform into the city’s unofficial picnic spot for downtown workers and visitors. Grab a sandwich and cheese plate from Fromagination, walk across the street, and people watch as you enjoy a cheesy snack. Warning: the lawn is famous for its influx (some might say infestation) of squirrels, so guard that sandwich accordingly.

5. Explore the Capital City Path via B Cycle
A paved bike/walking path starts downtown and rings Lake Monona, enticing many a visitor to hop on a rented bicycle or hoof it around the lake. Buy a B-Cycle pass for just $3 – a special discount for conference attendees from the normal $5 rate (there are two stations on West Wilson, on either side of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, just one block up from the Monona Terrace) – and explore the Capital City Path for an afternoon on wheels. Find information about public restroom stops and drinking fountains at Bike Madison. Be sure and stop to feed the ducks your leftover sandwich on Lake Monona or enjoy the sunset in Olin Park. Pedal back before dark to enjoy the view of the Capital lit up at night.

Of course, it goes without saying that I’ll see you all on Saturday at the Dane County Farmer’s Market, which surrounds the Capital Square, and is the largest producer-only farmer’s market in the nation. See you there!

cheeseunderground american cheese society, fromagination, Metcalfe's Market

Your One Stop Shop for ACS Public Cheesemaker Events

With the American Cheese Society Conference and Competition in town all week at the Monona Terrace, it’s sheer cheese madness in Madison. This week will be one of the only times you’ll ever see hundreds of cheesemakers all in the same place at the same time, and many are doing special events around the state.

So, while the conference itself is aimed primarily towards cheese professionals and serious cheese enthusiasts, here’s a round-up of cheesy events where you can still meet your favorite cheesemaker and taste their cheeses.

MONDAY, JULY 29

Book Signing and Cheese Tasting with Author Janet Fletcher
Time: 6 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

————

TUESDAY, JULY 30

Sartori Cheese Tasting
Time: Noon – 4 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Alemar Cheese Tasting with Minnesota Cheesemaker Keith Adams
Time: 5-7 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

————

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31

Sugar Brook Cheese Tasting
Time: 1-3 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Sartori Cheese Tasting
Time: 2:30-5:30 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free 

Green Dirt Farm Cheese Tasting with Missouri Cheesemaker Jacqueline Smith
Time: 3-6 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

Holland Family Farms Cheese Tasting
Time: 5-7 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Avalanche Cheese Company Cheese Tasting with Colorado Cheesemaker Wendy Mitchell
Time: 5-7 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Vermont Butter and Cheese Creamery Tasting with Vermont Cheesemaker Joey Connor
Time: 5-7 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

ACS Meet Madison, Hosted by Underground Food Collective
Time: 5:30 – 8pm
Location: James Madison Park, 614 East Gorham Street, Madison
Cost: $20 per person, a fundraiser for the Daphne Zepos Teaching Award, purchase at meetmadisonandthedzta.eventbrite.com

Brazos Valley Farm Cheese Tasting with Texas Cheesemaker Marc Kuehl
Time: 6-7 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

 ————

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1

Roelli Cheese Tasting with Wisconsin Cheesemaker Chris Roelli
Time: 1 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Avalanche Cheese Company Cheese Tasting with Colorado Cheesemaker Wendy Mitchell
Time: 4-6 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

Alemar Cheese Tasting with Minnesota Cheesemaker Keith Adams
Time: 4-6 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

Summer of Riesling Crawl
Time: 6:15 – 9 pm
Location: Fromagination, Fresco & Square Wine Company
Cost: $35 per person, purchase ticket at frescomadison.com/rieslingcrawl

———-

SATURDAY, AUGUST 3

Holland’s Family Cheese Tasting
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

Beehive Cheese Tasting with Utah Co-Founder Jeanette Ford
Time: 11am – 3 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

Martha’s Pimento Cheese Tasting with Wisconsin Cheesemaker Martha Davis Kipcak
Time: Noon – 2 pm
Location: Metcalfe’s Market, 726 N. Midvale Blvd., Madison
Cost: Free

Specialty Foods Tasting with Treats Bake Shop, Smoking Goose Meat, Quince & Apple, Lala’s Nuts
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Location: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St., Madison
Cost: Free

American Cheese Society Festival of Cheese – Taste 1,700 Cheeses!
Time: 7 – 9:30 pm
Location: Exhibition Hall, Monona Terrace, One John Nolan Drive, Madison WI
Cost: $55 per person, purchase at www.cheesesociety.org

————-

SUNDAY, AUGUST 4

American Cheese Society Cheese Sale
Time: 11 am – 2 pm
Location: Grand Terrace, Monona Terrace, One John Nolan Drive, Madison
Cost: Free, but bring cash to buy cheeses from the conference

Cheese Tasting and Reading from Cheesemonger, A Life on the Wedge, with author Gordon Edgar, America’s Coolest Cheesemonger
Time: Noon
Location: Glorioso’s Italian Market, 1011 East Brady St., Milwaukee
Cost: $35 per person, register at www.gloriosos.com

Looking forward to seeing all of my cheese friends this week in Madison! Let me know if you know of other events, and I’ll add them to this list.

cheeseunderground american cheese society, cheese geek, festival of cheese. volunteer

Cheese Geek Volunteers Unite: ACS Is Coming to Town!

Cheese geeks unite: the American Cheese Society is coming to town, and we need your help!

On July 31 – August 4, more than 900 cheese nerds from around the world will gather in Madison, Wisconsin for the 30th annual American Cheese Society annual conference and cheese competition. While the event is open to the public, you must be an ACS member and pay fairly hefty fees to attend. That’s why it’s mostly a trade-oriented event.

So here’s where you come in … on Saturday, Aug. 3, the signature event of the conference takes place: behold The Festival of Cheese. That’s when all – and we mean all – cheeses entered into competition are cut and sampled to an adoring crowd. Yes, that means more than 1,700 cheeses are in one room at one time. It’s a cheese coma in the making.

Tickets to the Festival of Cheese are $55 each, but you can attend for FREE, simply by volunteering for a shift during the conference or judging competition. In addition to a Festival of Cheese pass, you also get the awesome conference “Cheese Geek” t-shirt pictured above and a meal during your shift.

Most of all, you get to hang out with cheese nerds for eight hours and glean as much cheese information as your mind will absorb. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities available: you can help cut and plate cheeses, help unload and sort trucks o’ cheese, help prep tables for the Saturday Festival and more. It’s your choice. Sign up here to volunteer online.

ACS Conference co-chairs Sara Hill, Bob Wills and I can’t wait to welcome you to ACS this year and hope you’ll consider volunteering. We look forward to seeing you there!

cheeseunderground milk, sassy cow creamery, Wisconsin dairy

Sassy Cow Success

Sassy Cow Creamery, the little creamery that could, celebrates its five-year anniversary this month of producing on-farm bottled milk and old-fashioned ice cream for a growing consumer base demanding  not only to know where their food comes from, but also the first name of their farmer.

In this case, those first names are James and Robert, third generation dairy farmers who own two dairy farms, and in 2008, built a farmstead creamery in the middle. The Baerwolf brothers, along with their wives (both named Jenny), their growing number of children, and the amazing Sassy Cow sales/marketing guru Kara Kasten-Olson, a former farm girl herself, are a team that freely admits they had no idea what they were doing when they started.

Until Kasten-Olson and the Baerwolfs came knocking on the doors of Wisconsin grocery stores five years ago with gallons and half gallons of both organic and traditional milk, only the big boys like Dean and Golden Guernsey had a presence in the retail milk cooler. Kasten-Olson and the Baerwolfs worked beyond overtime the first couple of years to fight a milk mafia uninterested in a local farmer just to get their product placed alongside the conventional commodity jugs of milk.

Metcalfe’s Market at Hilldale Shopping Center was the first grocery store in Madison to carry Sassy Cow products. In an interview with today’s Wisconsin State Journal, Store Director Jim Meier says Sassy Cow organic milk is now tied with Organic Valley for the top-selling organic milk at Metcalfe’s, and Sassy’s traditional milk is second only behind Metcalfe’s private label.

“We see customers put other products down and pick this one up because it’s right down the road. People are willing to spend a bit extra to support the local economy,” Meier said.

Today, Sassy Cow milk is not only alongside the “big boys” of fluid milk in the dairy aisle, it often takes center stage. With their collectible “cow cards” – Darlene’s been on my fridge for years, after my daughter selected the gallon because she thought the cow’s personality description sounded like her mom – the Baerwolfs do an exceptional job of not only telling their farm story, but connecting the consumer to their farm.

Five years ago, when Sassy Cow Creamery celebrated its grand opening, it did so with lots of formal speeches from a variety of state and local officials, including Alice in Dairyland. The above photo was taken that day in front of a crowd of about 100 people. The same people in that photo are the same people running Sassy Cow Creamery today. You can meet them this Saturday at an Anniversary Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., complete with tours, games, product samples and wagon rides.

Sassy Cow Creamery is located at W4192 Bristol Rd., Columbus, Wis. From Hwy 151, take the Bristol Rd. (Hwy N) Exit. Head North on Hwy N and travel seven miles. Look for the big red barn on your left, and be sure to say hello to Robert, James, the Jennys, Kara and the crew. Congratulate them for a job well done.

cheeseunderground darlington dairy supply, Wisconsin cheese

Thuli Family Creamery

One of the brother-owners of Darlington Dairy Supply, a company well known for providing the Wisconsin dairy industry with innovative, stainless steel processing equipment, is going into the dairy processing industry himself.

Ted Thuli and his wife, Angie, are about ready to open the doors of Thuli Family Creamery on the site of the old Ann Street garage in downtown Darlington. The creamery on wheels – one of Darlington Dairy Supply’s claims to fame – has been customized to use solar power and craft an array of innovative dairy products, including:

1. Swiss Style Yogurt — milk will be non-homogenized with 2 percent and whole milk versions. Smooth and naturally sweet.

2. Cream-line milk — in white plastic 1/2 gallons.

3. Gelato — the real deal, using pasteruized egg yolks instead of chemical stabilizers for smooth and thick consistency.

4. Drinkable Yogurt — with three ingredients: milk, fruit and stevia.

While Ted designed the equipment and developed the recipes, Angie will be the primary operator and day-to-day manager of Thuli Family Creamery. After 28 years in the banking industry, she’s “retiring” to work at the bank two days a week and will spend another two or three days a week crafting dairy products to sell in the creamery’s on-site small retail store. Sons Blake, 27 and Kyle, 25, are also involved, helping their parents build the creamery and get it up and running.

“Of course what I’d really like to do is make Swiss cheese,” Ted says with a grin. Both his grandfather and father were Swiss cheesemakers, and Ted is a Wisconsin licensed cheesemaker himself. “But this is the way to go right now. We’re going to fill a product niche and see what we can do.”

Already, the family’s dairy logo is drawing second looks and smiles. The whimsical cow wearing a bell with a Swiss flag represents the family’s heritage. Angie says they’ll have a future contest to name her.

Of course with Ted Thuli – featured in 2010 on the hit History Channel show, American Pickers, nothing is ever done in a routine manner. Visitors will notice a giant shark head greeting them as they approach the creamery – the same shark head that was used at the 1974 premiere party of the movie “Jaws”. Its missing front tooth will be filled with foam cheese. The creamery boasts an attractive wooden viewing deck for visitors, and the Thulis imagine school children and groups will visit often.

The family creamery marks a dream come true for Ted, who has traveled the world working at Darlington Dairy Supply with his mother and two brothers. The company was founded by his father in 1958, and since then, Ted has built cheese plants in China, Ecuador, Caribbean Islands, Mexico and all over the United States.

“It’s pretty neat to do this in my own hometown,” Ted says. “I think it will be good for downtown Darlington, and it will be good for us. Win-win.” Congrats to the Thulis!

cheeseunderground Cathy Potter, Dairy Connection, Dave Potter, supplies, Wisconsin cheese

GetCulture Inc. Opens in Madison

If you’re an at-home or beginning cheesemaker, I have excellent news to share. Madison’s long-time cheese culture supplier, Dairy Connection, is opening a retail store today on the east side and will sell small amounts of rennet, cultures, cheese forms and all cheesemaking supplies to the public.

Located at 501 Tasman Street in Madison, GetCulture Inc. is connected to the main Dairy Connection building. It’s a cute little shop with lots of awesome stuff for cheese geeks. Dozens of small, hard-to-find plastic cheese forms line one wall, along with stainless steel pots and pans, cheese cloths, and a whole cooler full of microbial, vegetarian and veal rennet. A nice supply of cultures – including those for yogurt, kefir and most any kind of cheese, are also available in small, easy-to-use and experiment-friendly sizes. It’s like the dream shopping experience for a hobby or beginning cheesemaker.

The grand opening is today and tomorrow, May 31 & June 1, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Lots of door prizes – including two tickets to the August 3 American Cheese Society Festival of Cheese in Madison – are up for grabs. You’ll also get to meet store co-managers, Katie Potter and Valerie Tobias, both experts in cheesemaking supplies.

If you can’t make it to the open house, no worries! GetCulture Inc also has a website at www.getculture.com, where they sell everything online. Lipase? Check. Coagulants and rennet? Check. Fermented cheese cultures? Check.

“We’re excited and a little nervous to see how the new store does,” Valerie says. “We’re off the beaten path, but people have already been finding us, plus we have an online store, so customers should find everything they need.”

The GetCulture Inc store is a long-planned offshoot of Madison’s renowned Dairy Connection, launched in 1999 by Dave and Cathy Potter. For nearly 15 years, the business has supplied ingredients to some of America’s best-known cheesemakers, specializing in serving artisan and specialty cheese companies.

In fact, more than two-thirds of all awards handed out to American cheesemakers at the 2011 American Cheese Society annual competition went to companies that count on Dairy Connection for their supplies. That’s a pretty good track record!

Congratulations to everyone at Dairy Connection on your new venture. I know I’m happy to have a great place to recommend supplies for small and beginning cheesemakers.

cheeseunderground cheesemonger, Metcalfe's Market, Wisconsin cheese

Becoming a Cheesemonger

As my inbox and voicemail boxes begin to reach maximum capacity of unanswered messages, I thought perhaps I’d better explain why it may appear the Cheese Underground Lady has fallen off the face of the earth. No worries, I’m still here. These days, I’m just working under a pile of cheese wearing a name tag that says: “Jeanne C: 1st Year of Service”.

That’s because, in an attempt to gain the 2,000 hours of paid work experience I need to qualify for and then take the ACS Certified Cheese Professional Exam (the only exam of its kind offering professionals in the cheese industry the opportunity to earn the distinguished title of ACS Certified Cheese Professional), I’ve started working three days a week behind the cheese counter at Metcalfe’s Market, a family-owned group of specialty grocery stores in southern Wisconsin.

The upside: I get to open, cut, wrap and talk about 500 different cheeses with hundreds of customers a day, giving me WAY more respect for every cheesemonger whose job I thought I knew. My co-workers think I’ve lost my mind when the overhead announcement stating a pallet of cheese has arrived results in me jumping up and down like a kid on Christmas morning with a pile of presents under the tree.

The downside: I may be reaching the upper age limit of being able to to stand, bend, reach, pull, push and heave wheels of cheese all day, so it’s a good thing I’m doing this before I get any older. Let’s just say that at the end of each shift, ibuprofen is my friend. Oh, and I’ve lost 30 pounds since I started. Booyah!

Back in January, I began a crash course with an amazing team of co-workers, learning the ropes on how to stock, face, cut and wrap cheese. Nearly five months later, I feel like I’ve hit my groove, and can adequately answer almost any question a customer throws at me. I also know where the secret stash of super cool demo baskets live, have braved both the boiler room to retrieve giant green trash bags, and survived the cavernous underground walk-in cooler in a successful search for lost boxes of fresh sheep’s milk cheese.

What’s really surprised me, however, is how much I enjoy the customers. Some of my favorites  continue to be the ones who are never really sure what they’re looking for. They know they like cheese. They know they once had a cheese they loved. They just can’t remember the name of the cheese, or anything about it. Challenge accepted.

Once in awhile, we get lucky and a customer will just mix up a name – such as: “Do you carry Pleasant Valley Gruyere?” Then we guide them to the Wisconsin section and hand them a piece of Pleasant Ridge Reserve with a smile.

The hardest questions are the ones like this: “I’m looking for a cheese that I sampled here a couple of weeks ago. It was white. I remember it being salty.” Then the guessing game begins. More often than not, we’re actually able to discern what we think the customer tasted and they leave a happy camper. To date, I’ve never had a customer get angry with me. I’ve come to the conclusion that cheese just naturally makes people happy.

Working with cheese – actually handling it day in and day out – is a much different beast than writing or talking about it, which I’ve done for most of the past 10 years. Thank you to the crew at Metcalfe’s for putting up with me, and I look forward to the next two years (or more!) together. Who knows, I may never leave. 🙂

cheeseunderground Anne Topham, fantome farm, goat cheese, Wisconsin cheese

Thank You Anne Topham, Grande Dame of Goat Cheese

Those of you who braved the last of Wisconsin’s never-ending winter last week at the Dane County Farmer’s Market may have noticed a familiar face missing. That’s because Wisconsin’s grande dame of goat cheese, Anne Topham, retired this spring after nearly 30 years of making French-style fresh chèvre and handcrafted aged goat cheeses for the market.

While Anne would never dream of taking credit for starting the Midwest’s love affair with chevre, all credit surely does go to her and partner Judy Borree for introducing Wisconsinites to fine French-style goat cheese. The pair started milking goats at their Fantome Farm near Ridgeway in 1982, after Topham took a break from studying for her doctorate in education policy studies at UW-Madison.

At the time, no one else in the region was making goat cheese. So, like any good academic, she went to the library. She read cheesemaking books in French, took the University of Wisconsin cheese technology course, and visited pioneering California cheesemaker Laura Chenel. Then she and Judy started experimenting. A pet pig ate their first mistakes. Later, better cheeses went to the Dane County Farmer’s Market, where the pair had to literally give it away in order to get customers to try it, because no one in Wisconsin had ever heard of goat cheese, much less eaten it.

“We cajoled people into trying our cheese at the market. We thought if they tried it, they would buy it, and we were right,” Topham said. She soon began to learn as much from her customers as she had from her books and expert advice.

“Sometimes, a customer might say last week’s batch was too salty so I would measure more carefully the next week. Others would tell us we were making a cheese that you could only find in the mountain farms in Puerto Rico, or that it was similar to the fresh cheese made by the nomadic people in Afghanistan. And here I thought I was only making a gourmet French-style goat cheese!” Topham laughed.

Although many would agree Topham has long since perfected the art of making cheese, she never stopped learning new techniques. She traveled to France in 2003 to study affinage – the art of ripening cheese, went to Italy in 2007 to study the making of Parmigiano Reggiano, and volunteered time in 2010 teaching cheesemakers in Ecuador how to add value to their dairy farms.

Along the way, she learned just as much as she taught, and after every trip, “It made me come back and want to tear up everything I had and start over,” she says. Her 2003 trip to France to study affinage was one of the first study trips by a Wisconsin cheesemaker on the subject.

“Seeing the mechanical caves in France definitely changed my advice to starting farmstead cheese owners,” she said. “Building and planning for such spaces and learning ways to perfect ripened cheese really helped take farmstead and artisanal cheesemaking to the next level here in Wisconsin.”

Thirty years after having to give away fresh chevre to customers in order for them to try it, it’s a bit ironic that Cook’s Illustrated dedicated an entire section to “The Best Fresh Goat Cheese” in its May/June 2013 issue. Editors compared nine different chevres from the United States and France, recommending Laura Chenel’s Fresh Chevre Log as its overall winner. While Anne’s cheese wasn’t involved in the study (she makes only enough cheese to sell at the market each week), it’s likely Fantome Farm chevre would have placed high on the list.

At age 73, Anne says she doesn’t plan to stop milking a few goats or making a little cheese. She’s just not going to make it for sale anymore. The next chapter in her life might include some consulting for beginning cheesemakers, something she’s done quite often along the way, most of the time for free. With 30 years of cheesemaking knowledge, she’s still got a lot to offer. Look for her walking – not working – the farmer’s market on Saturdays, still talking and sharing stories with former customers.

cheeseunderground cheese guild, education, Wisconsin cheese

Wisconsin Artisan Cheesemaker Guild

It’s spring, so time for me to start a new organization. Shockingly, it’s all about cheese.

After talking with dozens of small and artisan Wisconsin cheesemakers looking for opportunities to get together and learn more about their craft, today marks the debut of the Wisconsin Artisan Cheesemaker Guild. Similar to other state cheese guilds, it’s a member-based organization offering networking and educational opportunities for beginning and current artisan and farmstead cheesemakers.

Already at 28 members strong, the guild is intended to be a sister organization to Wisconsin Cheese Originals, a 200-strong membership organization catering to cheese education for consumers. Together, both organizations celebrate Wisconsin artisan and farmstead cheesemakers.

Here’s how it works: currently, the guild is open only to beginning or current artisan or farmstead cheesemakers (future associate memberships for retailers may be added – stay tuned). Guild members pay an annual fee of $150 per company. All employees of member companies are invited to attend or participate in all activities. Some activities, such as specific educational workshops or tours, have additional fees to help cover expenses. All events are listed at www.wicheeseguild.com. 

In support of the guild, the Wisconsin Specialty Cheese Institute (WSCI) is helping sponsor us for our first two years. All guild members become WSCI members and gain access to WSCI programming and benefits. Current WSCI members who are also artisan or farmstead cheesemakers are encouraged to join the guild to be invited to all events. Only new guild members who are not already WSCI members need pay the $150 guild membership fee.

So, bascially, the guild is an opportunity for smaller cheese companies to gain access to more information about cheese aging, new cheesemaking styles, and to visit other cheesemakers in Wisconsin and abroad to expand their knowledge. I plan to organize at least two educational workshops and two membership meetings per year.

Upcoming events scheduled so far in 2013 include:

June 17: Affinage for Artisan Cheesemakers
The guild welcomes Michael Kalish for a half-day workshop in Madison. Trained by Hervé Mons, Luigi Guffanti, and cheese makers across France, Switzerland, and Italy, Kalish will discuss the art and practice of aging cheese. Attendees will learn the variables that affect affinage, as well as rind development, identifying defects, and developing a wash. As the former operations manager at Artisanal Premium Cheese in New York, Kalish apprenticed three years with European cheesemakers and affineurs, including 10 months managing the “tunnel de la collonge” at Herve Mons Fromager-Affineur in France. Cost for guild members to attend is $45, which includes lunch.

September 17: Know Your Mold
The guild hosts Dr. Benjamin Wolfe, microbiologist at Harvard University, for a half-day workshop. Dr. Wolfe is currently working on several cheese microbiology projects, including the ecology and genomics of staphylococci isolated from cheese rinds, DNA sequencing methods for measuring fungal biodiversity in cheese rinds, and comparative genomics of the fungus Geotrichum candidum. Attendees are encouraged to bring in their cheese rinds so Dr. Wolfe can help identify molds and provide other insights. Cost for guild members to attend is $55, which includes lunch.

In addition, the first Guild Membership meeting is in the works for late May. Artisan cheesemaker and guild member Brenda Jensen of Hidden Springs Creamery near Westby, will host a tour of her dairy sheep farm and farmstead cheese operation. Guest speaker Dr. Mark Johnson, senior scientist at the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, will update cheesemakers with information on the Center’s current cheese research projects, as well as plans for the new Babcock Hall as it relates to artisan cheese making. Attendance is free to guild members, but attendees must register in advance. Stay tuned for more details.

I look forward to hanging out with Wisconsin guild members in the coming months. Remember, if you are thinking about becoming a cheesemaker, or are a current farmstead or artisan cheesemaker, you are welcome to join us. Learn more here.