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The Antithesis of a Cheese Snob

“Cheese is food, not a status symbol.”


And with that simple sentence, Gordon Edgar won me over in his new book, “Cheesemonger, A Life on the Wedge” (Chelsea Green Publishing, January 2010, $17.95). As the cheese buyer for Rainbow Grocery Cooperative in San Francisco, Gordon was a cheesemonger before cheesemongering was cool. He’s the Barbara Mandrell of the cheese counter.

Fifteen years ago, this former punk rocker bluffed his way into being hired at Rainbow by proclaiming his favorite cheese was “anything raw and rennetless.” Today, he’s considered to be one of the hippest, most knowledgeable cheese buyers in the country.

I bought and sped read his book last week as a writing assignment for a magazine and have to admit I was not looking forward to it, as I’ve really started dreading reading cheese books. Most of the cheese guides hitting the book stores these days are full of pretentious verbiage written by people who assume that by reputation alone, they are THE authority on cheese.

Not Gordon. While several parts of his book caught me off guard – as in spew coffee through my nose surprised – the preface alone was enduring. Here’s how Gordon starts:

“There are plenty of great cheese guidebooks out there. This is not one of them.” Alrighty then. Well, Cheese Underground readers, I guarantee that by the end of Gordon’s book, you’ll disagree. While “Cheesemonger” is billed as the story of one guy’s memoir of his journey into the cheese business, it’s also an inspiring, introspective read for people like me who have always struggled with being cool enough to fit into the hip cheese crowd.

Not that I really fit into any hip crowd – evidenced by the episode this morning at the doctor’s office with my daughter. After speed reading Gordon’s book for the assignment last week, this week I’ve been carrying it with me everywhere, taking my time, re-reading it word for word and highlighting passages that especially speak to me. My daughter, who is almost always embarrassed by the fact that she has a mother who eats and writes about cheese for a living, was literally mortified when I pulled the book out of my bag and started talking it up to a complete stranger this morning who, like us, was waiting for his throat culture results (strep throat is making the rounds). Avery immediately ditched me and sprinted across the room, not wanting to be seen sitting with the resident cheese geek.

But now, thanks to Gordon, I fully and whole-heartedly am embracing my inner cheese geekness. I am proud to join Gordon as a fearless leader of non-snobs o’ cheese everywhere, keeping in mind that “in the end, the cheese always does the talking.”

Amazing cheese doesn’t need people like me describing it as a frou frou piece of art. It also doesn’t need pretentious authors talking up its “artisan” characteristics or its “terroir.” One of my favorite parts of Gordon’s book is actually the “Cheese Buying for Beginners” appendix, with helpful hints such as to spend your money on real Parmigiano Reggiano. He states: “Some Reggianos are better than others, but all are top quality. For the sake of Sweet Cheesus, don’t buy it pre-grated unless you doing a large event.”

Gordon reminds the reader that after all, cheese is just food. Eat it. Enjoy it. Don’t be afraid of it, and don’t let other people tell you what you like or dislike. And by all means, “buy the cheese that makes you happy.” Well said.
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The Gateway Drug of Cheese

If Master Cheesemaker Sid Cook at Carr Valley Cheese was required to wear every medal, carry every trophy and don every ribbon he’s ever won for making specialty cheeses in the state, he wouldn’t be able to move under all the weight. Clocking in at more than 200 state, national and international awards in the past five years alone, the man officially is a cheese genius.


The inventor of at least 50 American Original cheeses — that means he simply made them up, such as an author writing 50 works of fiction — I like to view Sid’s cheeses as the gateway drug to the artisan and specialty cheese world. While each cheese is a masterpiece in its own right, taken together in a wine and cheese pairing, for example, they can often change the mind of someone who is convinced they don’t like goat, sheep or “those artisan frou frou cheeses.”

While I’ve always been a fan of several of his cheeses, including Cave Aged Mellage – a blend of sheep, goat and cow milk, as well as Mobay – Sid’s whimsical take on the famous French cheese, Morbier, with a layer of sheep milk cheese and a layer of goat milk cheese separated by a layer of grape vine ash and pressed together — I often discover a “new” Carr Valley cheese that I’ve never heard of before, and then I find out he’s been making it for three years.

Take Chevre Au Lait, for example. Yes, say it out loud and you’ll hear an example of Sid’s sense of humor. Behind its silly name, however, is a complex, aged, crumbly goat milk cheese, with just the right amount of flavor kick. The piece I had last week was 1-1/2 years old, and it was at its peak. Pair it with a light bodied red wine, and you’ve got yourself an excellent conversation starter.

While Sid has legions of fans, he also has his detractors. There are those who complain about how many awards he wins at the annual American Cheese Society, and those who insist his American Originals aren’t artisan cheeses because he doesn’t make them in super small batches. I would tell those folks to visit his factories in LaValle and Mauston and watch any and all of his cheeses still being made in open vats, with cheesemakers boasting more than 50 years of experience still putting their hand in the curd to decide when it should be cut.

Sid and the men and women working for him are some of the most knowledgeable cheesemakers in the world. They deserve each and every ribbon they win, and instead of resting on their laurels, are crafting brand new cheeses every year. It sometimes just takes me a while to discover each and every one.
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Favorite New Cheeses of 2009

With the kind of year Wisconsin’s farmers have faced (flat milk prices, bottoming of the economy, low or no profits), everyone in the agricultural sector seems to be quite intent on writing off 2009 and looking ahead to 2010.


But in the world of artisan cheese, 2009 was a pretty good year. Many of our state’s cheesemakers took time to experiment and create new American Originals, with at least 10 new cheeses debuting over the past 12 months. So, in true end-of-the-year tradition, here’s my top 5 list of favorite new Wisconsin artisan cheeses that debuted in 2009:

5. Bohemian Blue, Hidden Springs Creamery & Little Boy Blue, Hook’s Cheese. This partnership between the Hook’s and Hidden Springs Creamery has resulted in two outstanding sister sheep milk blues. Crafted by Tony & Julie Hook at their plant in Mineral Point using sheep’s milk from Brenda Jensen’s farm near Westby, after the make, the wheels are split between both parties. Brenda ages her wheels in her farm cave near Westby and sells it a bit younger as “Bohemian Blue.” Tony & Julie age their wheels in their cellars in Mineral Point, age it a bit longer and sell as Little Boy Blue. They are two, very distinctively different cheeses and both amazing in their own ways.

4. Valfino, Roth Kase USA. This washed-rind cheese actually hit the market several years ago, but disappeared for two years to undergo more research & development, so I’m still counting it as a new cheese for 2009. Valfino is a creamy, runny, mild stinky cheese similar to the Italian Tallegio and sports flavor profiles of beefiness, earthiness and a hint of spice and fruit. Made by Roth Kase USA in Monroe, the cheese was originally a mistake, and we all know it’s the mistakes that are the hardest to reproduce. This is one cheese I’m glad is back on the market!

3. Queso Oaxaca, Cesar Cheese. This was the year string cheese made a comeback in Wisconsin. As the only 100 percent hand-pulled Queso Oaxaca (or as we Americans call it: string cheese) made in the state, this has become one of my all time favorite cheeses. Each Tuesday, cheesemaker Cesar Luis and his wife, Heydi, drive 3-4 hours from their home in Random Lake to Roelli Cheese in Shullsburg, spend about 8 hours stretching 15-pound, 50-foot ropes of string cheese in a vat of 100+ degree hot water, and then drive home again. An auto mechanic by day, Cesar may be the best part-time cheesemaker I know. I can’t wait to see what he’s got up his sleeve in 2010.

2. Pastoral Blend, Sartori. This cheese proves that you don’t have to be a tiny artisan cheesemaker to craft an amazing, original cheese. Cheesemaker Mike Matucheski debuted this beauty to rave reviews at the American Cheese Society conference in Austin, Texas this past summer. Pastoral Blend is a hard sheep/cow mixed milk cheese, and perfectly compliments this company’s new line of BellaVitano cheeses. Now in limited release — I just purchased some at Fromagination in Madison – Pastoral is a cheese to keep your eye on. It may just sweep the 2010 award season.

And my most favorite cheese of 2009 is ….

1. Sterling Reserve, Mt Sterling Cooperative Creamery. Dairy goat producer and cooperative member Pat Lund wanted to reflect the original intent of forming their farmer co-op, so she proposed crafting a goat cheese “simple in nature, powerful in presence and complex in flavor.” Turns out that’s a pretty good description of Sterling Reserve. Crafted by cheesemakers Al O’Brien and Bjorn Unseth in 2-pound daisy wheels in tiny Mt Sterling, Wis., this raw milk goat cheddar is aged at the plant for about 30 days, and then shipped to a farmstead cheesemaker in northern Wisconsin, where it’s washed and aged in a true cave environment for another 60 days. The result is a cheese that can hold its own on any cheese board in any restaurant or cheese contest anywhere, any time. No question this is my favorite cheese of 2009!!

Here’s to a long and prosperous New Year full of new American Originals crafted by Wisconsin cheesemakers!
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Saxony

Still looking for the perfect cheese to serve for the holidays? Look no further. I have one word for you: Saxony.


Crafted by the experts at Saxon Homestead Creamery in Cleveland, Wis., Saxony is made from the milk of the Klessig/Heimerl dairy farm, where cows graze near the shores of Lake Michigan in the summer. The Klessig/Heimerl family first started making cheese in 2005, when they converted an abandoned beer warehouse into a state-of-the-art cheese factory. They’ve been making top-notch cheese every since.

While I’ve enjoyed their first two cheeses, Green Fields and Big Ed’s, I have absolutely no qualms in announcing that I am a HUGE fan of Saxony. Cheesemaker Neville McNaughton was kind enough to give me a quarter wheel two weeks ago to taste, and I served it in three different venues, with three sets of very different people, and got the same result every time.

The first was at the holiday party for the Dairy Business Innovation Center, a non-profit where I do communications work. All 20 consultants agreed it was the best Saxon cheese so far, and to get 20 dairy consultants to agree on ANYTHING is an achievement in itself.

The second venue was for 12 women friends who are all foodies and who have come to expect good cheese when they visit my house. Saxony was the hit of the evening – every one of them kept asking where they could buy it. Saxony is just now starting to hit the retail market, so if your favorite cheesemonger doesn’t yet carry it, ask them to order it.

The third venue was for 21 high school juniors and seniors, all of whom when asked about their favorite cheese, either said cheddar or muenster. After tasting a series of several different Wisconsin artisan cheeses, all proclaimed Saxony to be their favorite. One 18-year-old even pronounced it would be worth paying $20 a pound for. How’s that for an endorsement?

The thing I like about Saxony is that it’s a crowd pleaser. It’s sophisticated enough to satisfy the cheese critic, yet subtle enough to win over the artisan cheese novice. It’s also absolutely beautiful. If you get the chance, try and buy at least a quarter wheel – that way you’ll enjoy the wine-colored rind and raised leaf pattern on the edges. Put it on a wooden cheese board for your holiday table centerpiece and then eat it during the meal. Voila — your table is complete. Happy holidays!
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Skinny Cheese

This just in: women who ate an ounce of full-fat cheese daily gained fewer pounds over time than their less-cheesy peers, according to a study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and reported in the December 2009 issue of Self Magazine.


So if I eat one ounce of cheese a day, I’ll lose weight? Hmmm … according to that theory, the more cheese I eat, the more weight I should lose, right? Kind of like my husband’s theory that the more often he uses the same towel out of the shower, the cleaner it should get?

I wish.

Apparently, the study says that because whole dairy contains conjugated linoleic acid, it can speed up my metabolism. So, by eating a single-ounce portion (about the size of my thumb), every day, apparently I should look like a model.

If only it were that easy. Have you ever tried to just eat one ounce of cheese? It’s literally like trying to reach in and eat a single chip from a big bag of Ruffles. Anyone who can do that is a better person than I. Meanwhile, I’ve been shipping pounds upon pounds of Wisconsin cheese left and right to friends around the country for the holidays. I don’t think I’ll include a copy of Self Magazine in my gift boxes.
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Chocolate Milk Review

I am not proud to admit this, but I had a temper tantrum in my local grocery store on Monday. I think I actually scared two other shoppers and their children, when much to my horror, I went to the milk aisle and there was no Golden Guernsey Chocolate Milk in the cooler.

Let me be clear: chocolate milk is a big deal to me. If I open my fridge and someone has drank the last of my half gallon of Golden Guernsey Chocolate Milk, there is hell to pay.

Hence my horror upon finding only Dean’s Foods chocolate milk in my grocery store on Monday. Yes, Dean’s Foods. No Golden Guernsey. Even the single serving Golden Guernsey Low-Fat, Regular and Chocolate Malt Chocolate Milks were replaced by Dean’s single servings.

Arghhhhh!!!

Turns out it must have been a) a bad dream, or b) a fluke, because when I went back today, there were half gallons of Golden Guernsey chocolate milk back in the cooler (alas, it appears they’ve replaced the GG Chugs with Dean’s single servings. Bummer). However, this got me to thinking — last April, Dean’s Foods bought Golden Guernsey. While these things happen all the time and the product usually stays the same, there is no guarantee Dean’s Foods won’t just keep their own chocolate milk recipe, discard Golden Guernsey’s, and throw my life into complete and utter chaos.

I am actually so worried about this possibility that I’ve done two things: 1) I’ve contacted the Dean’s Foods media dept., asking if they plan to continue the Golden Guernsey recipe and 2) scoped out other chocolate milks just in case my beloved Golden Guernsey gets kicked to the curb.

With this in mind, this morning I drove to three local grocery stores and purchased every different brand of chocolate milk I could find. Turns out that chocolate milk is a lot like artisan cheese — different farmstead producers and local dairies make their own and each one tastes remarkably different.

While I would love to be able to get Tetzner Dairy Farm’s milk in Washburn, or Castle Rock Organic Farm glass-bottled milk in Osseo, or Davis Farm milk in Kennan, alas, all of these farmstead producers live too far away and only have local distribution. Because I live in the Madison-area foodshed, the choices I have when it comes to chocolate milk basically break down to the following – I’ve rated each milk on a scale of one to five cows, with five cows being the best:

1. Dean’s Foods — the container I bought had the plant number of 55-96, which means it was bottled at the Verifine Dairy Products Company in Sheboygan (every carton, jug, bag or bottle of milk produced in Wisconsin is required to have a four-, five-, or six-digit number printed on the container. You can look up that number in this Wisconsin dairy plant directory and find out the exact place your milk was bottled. This is cool for dairy geeks like me, so thought I’d share.) Dean’s Foods is a big company, so I’m guessing it may have multiple bottling plants. But its chocolate milk just tastes like a bad Hershey’s syrup mix. Too sweet and syrupy. Wouldn’t recommend it. Rating: 1.5 cows.

2. Organic Valley — I keep trying this chocolate milk, hoping it will magically someday get better, but every time I drink it, it tastes like cardboard. No flavor. Nada. Nothing. I like the company, I like their products, but the choc milk just doesn’t do it for me. Also, the only plant number I can find on the carton starts with a 27, which leads me to believe it’s not actually being manufactured in Wisconsin, as all Wisconsin dairy processing plant numbers start with a 55. Disqualified. Rating: 0 cows for not being bottled in Wisconsin.

3. Kwik Trip — this LaCrosse-based company has hundreds of Kwik Trip stores scattered throughout the tri-state region, and processes its milk at its own facility in LaCrosse. Although its chocolate milk is not bad, it’s not great either. But, it does get points for convenience, as there are three Kwik Trips — yes, three — in my little town of Oregon, population 8,000. Rating: 2.5 cows.

4. Babcock Hall Chocolate Milk — this stuff is pretty good. The problem is, I can only buy it at the Babcock Hall on the UW-Madison campus. Between the one-way streets, the masses of students zooming in front of me on their annoying Vespa scooters, and little to no parking in front of the store, this is just not an everyday option. Good for special events, but I’m looking for milk in my fridge every day. Rating: 4 cows.

5. Kemp’s/Roundy’s — this “swiss style” chocolate milk is actually really good. In fact, it tastes exactly the same as my Golden Guernsey choc milk, although it is bottled at a different facility – plant number 55-1500, in Cedarburg, Wis. (whereas my beloved Golden Guernsey milk is bottled in Waukesha). One has to wonder if it’s not the same recipe. In any case, if the Golden G goes down in flames, this is a good alternative. Rating: 5 cows.

6. Oberweis — okay, so this milk is actually bottled in Aurora, Illinois, but much of the company’s milk is sourced from Wisconsin dairy farms. Oberweis glass bottles can be found all over Madison, so it’s a real alternative, except for the fact that I don’t like it. It tastes similar to Dean’s and has that Hershey’s Syrup aftertaste. Blech. Rating: 1 cow.

7. Nesquik — hailing from the great state of California, we have the infamous Nestle Nesquik Chocolate Milk. While I was out shopping, I kept coming across these single-serve plastic bottles, so thought, what the hell – let’s try it. Yeah, here’s my recommendation: don’t. Remember when you were a kid and you mixed the Nesquik powder into your milk and drank it? It tastes like that, only worse. Yuck. Rating: 0 cows.

8. Sassy Cow Creamery — last but not least, we have this locally-owned and bottled milk from the Baerwolf family between Sun Prairie and Columbus, Wis. This milk is the only chocolate milk I tried that is sweetened with sugar, instead of high fructose corn syrup, and you can tell. It carries a milder, sweeter taste – the kind of taste where you can suck down an entire half gallon without getting sick (don’t ask). It also won first place at the 2008 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest, earning an unheard of perfect score of 100. So this milk definitely gets a thumbs up. Rating: 5 cows.

So now I have seven half gallons of chocolate milk in my fridge, all opened, and all missing about 1/2 cup of milk. Well, except for Sassy Cow, which I actually drank most of because it was yes, that good. Time to break out another box of Lactaid.
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Raw Milk Proposed Legislation

Raw milk advocates are organizing in an effort to make the purchase of unpasteurized milk legal in the state of Wisconsin.

Current law states selling unpasteurized milk is illegal in Wisconsin. But for about a decade, with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture’s blessing, some dairy farmers sold their raw milk directly to people who bought a share in a cow, technically becoming part-owners. In the past year, however, farmers selling raw milk directly to consumers have received letters and visits from Dept of Ag representatives, informing farmers they can no longer sell their milk using this method, and have effectively shut down at least two dairy farms engaging in the sale of fluid raw milk for consumption.

Yesterday, two state legislators from northwest Wisconsin introduced a bill for co-sponsorship regarding the sale of raw milk, according to Midwest AgNet. LRB 3242/3 by Sen. Pat Kreitlow (D-Chippewa Falls) and Rep. Chris Danou (D-Trempealeau) would permit the sale of raw milk directly from Wisconsin farms in certain controlled conditions.


Under this proposed bill, in order to sell raw milk, farmers would need to obtain a grade A dairy farm permit from the Department of Agriculture, make certain that the container for the raw milk was prepared and filled in a sanitary manner, and display a sign explaining to consumer buyers that the milk is not pasteurized, alerting them to possible health concerns.

The lawmakers have given their colleagues until Dec. 4 to have their names added to the bill as co-sponsors. The Department of Agriculture has not released any formal statement either in favor or opposition to the bill.

In related news, Wisconsin Ag Connection reported last week that a newly formed farm organization in Wisconsin is holding a networking meeting next month to promote and preserve unregulated direct farmer-to-consumer trade, which they say fosters the availability of locally grown and home-produced food products. The Wisconsin Independent Consumers and Farmers Association is scheduling the forum for December 12 at 10 a.m. at the Town of Dalton Hall in Green Lake County.

Clifford Cordell of New Auburn told Wisconsin Ag Connection that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss ways Wisconsin groups and organizations can better communicate and share ideas to enhance their overall strength to pass favorable legislation to protect their choices.

“We are inviting all groups concerned about the freedom to grow and purchase locally grown foods,” Cordell told Wisconsin Ag Connection. “In particular, we want to motivate people to go to trials of small farmers around the state who are being persecuted for trying to provide very healthy alternatives to the traditional menu that we are accustomed to. Raw milk dairy farmers are coming under attack more and more since the Department of Agriculture has decided to change its interpretation of its own regulations.” (For more information about the Wisconsin Independent Consumers and Farmers Association, or to get details about the meeting, call 715-418-0424.)

Earlier this month, 20 people spent nearly two hours during the Department of Agriculture’s monthly “public comment” section of its board meeting commenting on selling raw milk to the public. Many stated that state law, which prohibits such sales, was unfair and should be changed.

While I didn’t attend the meeting, I did read about it in all three ag papers last week. Reporters from The Country Today, Agri-View and the Wisconsin State Farmer did a good job of reporting the situation, including the impassioned pleas from dairy farmers who argue that in times of low commodity milk prices, selling raw milk off the farm is the only thing keeping them alive.

Wisconsin Agriculture Secretary Rod Nilsestuen has promised to re-visit the issue and will report on the agency’s stance at the next board meeting. Should be interesting to see what path this issue takes …
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The Snowman Pin

Warning: today’s post is not about cheese. Please humor me while I share what happened to me this morning.

Tell me this hasn’t happened to you: one day, you’re the cool, hip mom with highlights in her hair, listening to the same radio station as your teenager, saying OMG on your Facebook account, and ordering a tall, no fat, two pump caramel latte with whip at Starbucks.


And then, the next morning, you wake up with gray hair, an extra chin and a stupid little perky snowman pinned to the lapel of your wool coat that you don’t notice makes you look completely ancient until you’re sitting in the local coffee shop, drinking a black cup of coffee next to a group of old retired guys doing the daily paper’s crossword puzzle in unison who sound something like this: “What’d you get for 23 across, Frank?” Frank cups his hand around his ear and yells, “WHAT?” The other guy repeats: “I said, what did you get for 23 across?” And someone from the other side of the room yells: “CREEL!” Which results in a “Uhhhhh” and nodding of the heads from the gaggle of old men.

What the frick?

In yet another sign that I am not getting any younger – (who says what the frick, anyway?), today was the day that a silly little silver snowman pin made me realize I am a middle aged mom. OMG.

It seemed like a good idea at the time. Three weeks ago, I got sucked into going to a Lia Sophia party – you know, the kind of costume jewelry party that women who reach a certain age start spending WAY too much money on, in an attempt to look younger? I came home with three necklaces (buy two, get the third half price, whoo-hoo!) and this adorable little snowman pin the hostess through in for free. Hey – who doesn’t love stuff that’s FREE?

So I pinned it on my winter wool jacket, put it back in the closet and forgot about it until this morning when the thermometer read 33 degrees. Yep, time to break out the winter coat. I threw on the coat, took my daughter to school and mosied to the coffee shop, upon where I looked down and there it was, staring me in the face.

A stupid little silver perky snowman that jingles when I walk and sports an eternal smile. You know, the kind of thing women who have reached a certain age wear in an attempt to draw attention away from their gray hair and extra chin – the very things that I woke up with today?

Sigh.

I need another cup of coffee.

And a much bigger snowman pin.
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New Book: WI Master Cheesemakers

By now, you’ve probably heard about a new book that’s out called The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin, by James Norton and Becca Dilley. Although I pre-ordered a copy and it arrived a couple weeks ago, today was the first chance I’ve really had to sit down and take a look.

All I can say is that anyone who is curious at all to learn more about the people who make your favorite cheeses should buy this book, read it cover to cover, and soak in its captivating photography. I sat down this afternoon with the intention to skim it for notes and get ideas on future blog entries, and 90 minutes later, had consumed most of its 185 pages word for word. Wowsers.


And just to be clear, I’m not giving this book a favorable review because of page 52, although I find that particular page, titled: “The Legend of the Cheese Underground,” to be exceptionally well written. Big smile.

Instead, I love this book because of its personal stories and testimonies from each cheesemaker, and its amazingly honest take and reporting of Wisconsin’s dairy industry. I also admire the authors because they admit in just the third sentence of the introduction: “Up to a certain point, gaining knowledge about cheese only exposes how little you actually know about it.” Ain’t that the truth. The longer I write about cheese, the more I realize I need to learn.

Some of my favorite excerpts/quotes from The Master Cheesemakers of Wisconsin:

Page 20: Master Cheesemaker Bruce Workman, who crafts 180-pound wheels of Emmentaler says: “I wanted to be a culinary chef, and I am. I just use larger vessels.”

Page 45: Master Cheesemaker Myron Olson lamenting about the bad rap that Limburger gets: “A few years ago we had a chef in Chicago and she loved Limburger. So she put ‘Limburger and Dumplings’ on her menu. Couldn’t sell anything. Next week – same people, same restaurant – she put it back on her menu as ‘Smear Ripened Cheese and Dumplings.’ People went wild for it.”

Page 61: Master Cheesemaker Sid Cook: “We make about 60 different cheeses. Quite a few of them are American originals. They’re cheeses that … well, we just make ’em up.”

Page 65: In describing the countryside surrounding Cedar Grove Cheese: “The first thing a visitor to the Cedar Grove Cheese plant in Plain is likely to remember is how beautiful the countryside is. Legend is that Iceland and Greenland were misleadingly named in order to confuse invaders. It’s possible that Plain was named according to a similar scheme; Cedar Grove’s plant is nestled in among rolling hills, streams, dales and bucolic stretches of tree-bordered fields that recall rural Ireland more readily than the American Midwest.”

Page 66: Master Cheesemaker Bob Wills: “This is probably the most exciting time in the dairy industry in Wisconsin that there’s ever been. It’s kind of like there’s a renaissance. During history there have been these little periods when there’ll be groups of writers in Paris or New York, or when Shelley and Keats and Byron and all those guys hung out together and all challenged each other … it just feels like that’s what’s happening in Wisconsin … people are just clamoring to see what we’ll do next.”

Page 76: Master Cheesemaker Tom Jenny worries about making his first vat of Swiss cheese in four years, now that he’s working on American Originals with Sid Cook at Carr Valley. Sid wants Tom to make authentic Swiss for him: ‘You want me to use a whole vat – 17,000 pounds of milk? What if it doesn’t turn out?’ Tom asks Sid, who answers: ‘We’ll just call it something and sell it in the store.’ No worries.

Page 81: Master Cheesemaker Gary Grossen: “For 51 years, I lived above that cheese factory, until 2001. I’m the real McCoy cheesemaker.”

Page 89: The authors describe the hum of activity at Master Cheesemaker Joe Widmer’s plant in Theresa: “With the addition of the right music – something with a manic tempo – the action that takes place in Widmer’s Cheese Cellars would resemble an elaborately choreographed dance number.”

Page 90: Master Cheesemaker Joe Widmer, talking about crafting Brick cheese at his plant: “We’re still using the bricks my grandfather bought in 1922. We’re making cheese like the Flintstones.”

And perhaps the best quote to sum it all up:

Page 164: Master Cheesemaker Bruce Willis at Burnett Dairy Cooperative in Alpha, Wis: “It all starts with the milk, farmers taking care of their cows. We’ve got the ultimate happy cows here.”

If you happen to live in Wisconsin and want to meet the authors of the book, here are some upcoming opportunities:

Wine & Cheese and a Discussion at the Wisconsin Memorial Union
WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 19 at 5:30 pm
WHERE: Wisconsin Memorial Union, 2nd Floor Main Lounge, 800 Langdon St, Madison, WI
Launch Party with Reading and Signing & Cheese Tasting
WHEN: Friday, Nov. 20 at 5:00 pm
WHERE: Fromagination, 12 S. Carroll St, Madison, WI
Launch Party with Reading and Signing & Appearance by Master Cheesemaker Kerry Henning
WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3:00 pm
WHERE: Larry’s Market, 8737 N. Deerwood Drive, Milwaukee, WI

See you there!

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Wisconsin Cheese: State Snack?

The Journal Times first reported on Oct. 8, that while Wisconsin does not currently have a state snack, it soon could thanks to a group of students from Wauwatosa who took their lessons from state government class seriously and brought their idea to their legislator.
In a bipartisan effort, lawmakers, including Rep. Samantha Kerkman, R-Randall, have signed on to a bill introduced by Sen. Jim Sullivan, D-Wauwatosa, that would designate cheese as the state snack.
Reporter Paul Sloth quips: “Should Sullivan’s bill make it to Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk, the designation would grant to cheese a place in the annals of Wisconsin history alongside such other venerated state symbols as the polka (state dance), Antigo silt loam (state soil) and the trilobite (state fossil).”
Now, project coordinator Mary Hartl, who caught me at the cheese festival this past weekend with a bright yellow flyer touting the project, is urging folks like you to contact the chair of the Agricultural Committee, Senator Vinehout, to set a hearing date on the bill so it can move forward. Mary wants all of us to Email Senator Vinehout to let her know that we want Wisconsin cheese to be our state snack.
Here’s the story behind the story:
The idea to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack was started during the 4th quarter of the 2005-06 school year. At that time, Hartl’s 4th grade Wisconsin History class was studying state symbols. After reading about the symbols in the Blue Book, the class decided it would be a great idea to try and get a state snack passed by the state Legislature. Since the class had recently studied Wisconsin government, she decided this would be a good project for the students to experience the law making process.
The students did a lot of research and contacted 81 cheese factories asking for their support. Sixty-seven replied, all supporting the project. Then the class contacted Sen. Tom Renolds, but since the school year was almost over, no further progress was made until 2006-07.
That year, the fifth graders, who were no longer studying Wisconsin history, continued their enthusiasm. The new fourth grade class took over as active participators. They updated the previous year’s research and designed/produced a Cheese Map of Wisconsin illustrating their findings. They also contacted Senator Jim Sullivan to introduce the bill and wrote more letters asking for support.
Although teacher Mary Hartl retired in 2007, she has continued to work with the two classes, who are now 7th and 8th graders, to make Wisconsin cheese our state snack. She says because of budget and other important issues, the cheese bill has been passed over many times. She’s hoping that this year, is the year Wisconsin cheese will finally get its due recognition.
So come on, people! Let’s rally around retired teacher Mary Hartl, her students in Wauwatosa and let’s get this baby through the Legislature. Who couldn’t use a feel good story?