Jeanne Carpenter Uncategorized

Cheesetopia Milwaukee: Thank You Marieke Gouda

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Here’s a huge shout out to Wisconsin Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman, her amazing family and all the staff at Marieke Gouda for making Cheesetopia possible this year in Milwaukee.

What is Cheesetopia, you ask? It’s a festival I organize with the goal of bringing some of the best artisan cheesemakers from the Midwest to the heart of a different city every year. This year, Cheesetopia calls Milwaukee home, and thanks to the sponsorship of Marieke Gouda, the event is sure to be a success.

Already, the event is nearly sold out, with little to no publicity, thanks to the hundreds of loyal members of Wisconsin Cheese Originals. Today, less than 100 tickets remain on sale. Act quickly if you’re interested in attending.

Here’s the scoop:

Cheesetopia Milwaukee 2018
Presented by Marieke Gouda & Wisconsin Cheese Originals
April 8, 2018
The Grain Exchange, 225 E Michigan St, Milwaukee, WI
Noon – 4:00 PM

Cheesetopia 2018 returns to downtown Milwaukee in the historic Grain Exchange room of the Mackie Building. Finished in 1880, the room was built as a sunken trading pit, where traders set the price of wheat. It was considered to be the most lavishly decorated public space of its time. The walls are adorned with large murals depicting the themes of transportation, agriculture, trade and commerce. Colossal faux-marble pillars boast carved depictions of locomotives and steamships. It is inside this room that 40 of the best artisan cheesemakers from across the Midwest will sample and sell more than 150 artisan cheeses.

Tickets
$35. Includes appetizers & samples of 150 cheeses. Cash bar. Click here to purchase.

More Information
Cheesetopia brings a star-studded line-up of award-winning cheesemakers and artisan food producers to a unique venue in the heart of a different city every year. A cheesemaker, company owner, farmer or senior representative is required to be present for each company, ensuring attendees meet the makers of their favorite cheeses.

Here’s the line-up in 2018:

  • Alemar Cheese Company, Mankato, Minnesota – Cheesemaker Craig Hageman sampling Bent River, Blue Earth Brie & Good Thunder
  • Ames Farm Honey, Delano, Minnesota – Artisan Sarah Mogilevsky sampling Single Source Raw Honey
  • Caprine Supreme, Black Creek, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker and Owners Todd & Sheryl Jaskolski sampling Goat Milk Cheese Curds, Feta, Lavender Jack, Brie, Cheddar & Chevre
  • Carr Valley Cheese, LaValle, Wisconsin – National Sales Director Dave Christoff sampling Marisa, Black Sheep Truffle, Porto Duet, Billy Blue, Cocoa Cardona, Menage, Mobay, 6-Year Cheddar, Wildfire Blue, Penta Creme, Fontina de Provence, Cheese Stix & Flavored Butters
  • Caves of Faribault, Faribault, Minnesota – Head Cheesemaker Rueben Nilsson Cheese Plant Manager Jill Ellingson sampling St. Pete’s Select Blue Cheese, Jeff’s Select, St. Mary’s & Smoked Amablue
  • Cedar Grove Cheese, Plain, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Bob Wills sampling Olive Cheese Spread, Quark with S.A. Braai Chutney, Montague, Extra Sharp Organic Cheddar & Ovella
  • Cosmic Wheel Creamery, Clear Lake, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Rama Hoffpauir sampling Circle of the Sun, Antares & Moonglow
  • Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, Waterloo, Wisconsin – Owner George Crave sampling Fresh Mozzarella, Marinated Fresh Mozzarella, Part-Skim Mozzarella, Mascarpone, Cheese Curds & Jalapeno Cheddar Cheese Curds
  • Deer Creek Cheese, Sheboygan, Wisconsin – Representative Kayla Immel sampling The Doe, The Rattlesnake, Vat 17, The Blue Jay, 5-Year Cheddar, Stag & Moonrabbit
  • Edelweiss Creamery, Monticello, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Bruce Workman sampling Grass Based Raw Milk Aged Gouda, Havarti, Dill Havarti, Butterkase & Tuscan Dream
  • Hidden Springs Creamery, Westby, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Brenda Jensen sampling fresh Driftless in various flavors, Wischago, Ocooch, Vernon Renegade & Bohemian Blue
  • Hook’s Cheese, Mineral Point, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Tony Hook and National Sales Manager Sara Hill sampling Colby, 5-Year Cheddar, 10-Year Cheddar, Galway Bay, Triple Play, Goat Pepper, Sheep Milk Cheddar, Sheep Milk Butterkase, Blue, Blue Paradise & Little Boy Blue
  • Jacobs & Brichford Farmstead Cheese, Connersville, Indiana – Owner Matthew Brichford sampling Everton, Everton Premium Reserve, Tomme de Fayette, Briana & Ameribella
  • Kettle Range Meat Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – Artisan Mark Bearce sampling Kettle Range Cured and Charcuterie products including Guanciale, Pancetta, Summer Sausage, Snack Sticks, Bacon Jam, Nduja & Smoked Sausages
  • LaClare Farms Specialties, Pipe, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Katie Fuhrmann & owners Larry & Clara Hedrich sampling Evalon, Martone, Cave Aged Chandoka, & Raw Cheddar
  • Landmark Creamery, Albany, Wisconsin – Cheesemakers Anna Landmark and Anna Thomas Bates sampling Petit Nuage, Aged Anabasque, Samwell & Pecora Nocciola
  • Maple Leaf Cheesemakers, Monroe, Wisconsin – Owner Shirley Knox & Cheesemaker Jake Huffman sampling English Hollow Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Jalapeno Jack & 10-Year Cheddar
  • Marieke Gouda, Thorp, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Marieke Penterman sampling Belegen 4-6 month Gouda, Marieke Golden, Foenegreek Gouda, Truffle Gouda & Summer Fields
  • Potter’s Crackers, Madison, Wisconsin – Owner Nancy Potter sampling crackers, crisps and oyster crackers
  • Quince and Apple, Madison, Wisconsin – Owners Clare & Matt Stoner Fehsenfeld sampling a variety of small-batch preserves
  • Redhead Creamery, Brooten, Minnesota – Cheesemaker Alise Sjostrom sampling Lucky Linda Clothbound Cheddar, Little Lucy Brie, North Fork Whiskey Washed Munster & Cave Aged Garlic Cheddar
  • Renard’s Cheese, Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Christopher Renard & Sales Director Samuel Perlman sampling Farmers Cheese with Pesto, Sriracha Cheddar, Legacy, Morel & Leek Monterey Jack
  • Roelli Cheese, Shullsburg, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Chris Roelli sampling Dunbarton Blue & Red Rock
  • Sartori Company, Plymouth, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Pam Hodgson & Master Cheesemaker Apprentice Jeremy Werdeo sampling Black Pepper BellaVitano, SarVecchio Parmesan, Merlot BellaVitano & MontAmore
  • Saxon Creamery, Cleveland, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Eric Steltenpohl & Anthony Servais sampling Saxony Alpine, Snowfields, Asiago Fresca, Big Ed’s Gouda & Various Spreads
  • Sheep Dairy Association of Wisconsin – Sheep Dairy Farmer Laurel Kieffer sampling a variety of Wisconsin sheep milk cheeses
  • Shepherd’s Way Farms, Nerstrand, Minnesota – Cheesemaker Jodi Ohlsen Read sampling Friesago, Big Woods Blue, Hidden Falls, Shepherd’s Hope, Friesago & Sogn Tomme
  • Tulip Tree Creamery, Indianapolis, Indiana – Cheesemaker Stephanie Montalban & Sales Director Laura Davenport sampling Trillium, Tigerlily, Foxglove, Fromage Frais, Nettle & Dutch Tulip
  • Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, Wisconsin – Cheesemaker Andy Hatch sampling Pleasant Ridge Reserve
  • Vermont Creamery, Websterville, Vermont – Representative Molly Browne sampling St. Albans, Bonne Bouche, Cremont & Fresh Chevre
  • Widmer’s Cheese Cellars, Theresa, Wisconsin – Master Cheesemaker Joseph C. Widmer, Sr. and Cheesemaker Joseph C. Widmer, Jr. sampling Aged Brick, Mild Brick, 4-Year cheddar, 12-Year Cheddar, Caraway Colby & Brick Spread
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What Happens When a Master Cheesemaker Retires?

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Listen to an interview with Master Cheesemaker Mike Matucheski and master-cheesemaker-in-training Erin Radtke on Cheese Underground Radio:


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A bit of the backstory:

What happens when a master cheesemaker responsible for creating some of the most awarded Wisconsin original cheeses starts thinking about retiring? Well, he finds and mentors a replacement. I’m talking about Sartori’s Master Cheesemaker (and current U.S. Champion) Mike Matucheski, who in a state full of third and fourth generation cheesemakers – the vast majority of whom are men – is mentoring a 34-year old woman to replace him.

Five years ago, when I first visited the Sartori plant in Antigo, Wisconsin, Mike told me he was beginning to plan his retirement, and that he was adamant a woman should replace him. At the time, I was surprised. The Wisconsin dairy industry is dominated by men – most cheesemakers, milk haulers, veterinarians, farm workers and even cheesemongers – are men.  

I wondered if he would be successful in his quest. So earlier this summer, I visited the Sartori cheese plant in Antigo again to get the scoop on whether Mike had found a new wizard behind the Sartori cheese curtain to replace him.

Mike first started working at what is now the Sartori cheese plant in Antigo 24 years ago, making Parmesan, Asiago and Romano for the company that then owned the cheese factory: Kraft Cheese. Two months after he started, Kraft decided to close the plant. Governor Tommy Thompson intervened, the state provided some seed money to do a feasibility study, and the employees ended up buying the plant and reopening as Antigo Cheese.

Fast forward to 2006, when Sartori Cheese purchased the plant. That launched a successful period of innovation for Mike and his team, including introducing a full line of flavored BellaVitano cheeses, including BellaVitano Black Pepper, which won the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in March.

But nobody, not even Mike Matucheski, can make cheese forever. He’s planning to retire in three years, and in preparation, recently handpicked his successor. She’s a 34-year-old woman named Erin Radtke. She’s already got several years of cheesemaking experience to her name, and is looking forward to starting her master cheesemaking training in a few years.

Erin grew up in the Antigo area and started working at Antigo Cheese in 2004. She had worked with Mike off and on over the years, and of course knew who he was, but it wasn’t until she was promoted to the cheese making room where she knew she had found her calling. “I was always striving to make things better,” she says. That caught Mike’s attention. Soon, Erin started taking cheesemaking courses at the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin and kept working hard.

Since then, she’s taken every course at CDR and will be eligible to start the Master Cheesemaker program in four years. She plans to become certified in Parmesan and mixed milk cheese.

By then of course, Mike will be retired. And Erin will be one of literally a handful of women master cheesemakers in the state. I asked her what that might mean to her.

“I feel like it is important. Just working in the milk and cheese industry in general is not easy for women. If you go to any dairy plant, I can guarantee you’re at ratio of three to one or two to one of men to women. Becoming a cheesemaker, and someday a master cheesemaker as a woman, will be a real accomplishment. It’s telling other women: you can do it, too.”

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Thank you to Dairy Connection Inc. for sponsoring this episode of Cheese Underground Radio. Dairy Connection Inc. is a supplier of cultures, enzymes, cheese-making supplies and trusted expertise since 1999. A family-owned business based in Madison, Wisconsin, the dedicated Dairy Connection team takes pride in its commitment to be the premier supplier to artisan, specialty and farmstead cheese-makers nationwide. To learn more, please visit www.dairyconnection.com.

 

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