Bought Right at Bi-Rite

I bet nobody’s ever said that before, right?

Moving on: Early last week I attended another delightful class at The Cheese School, Old World vs. New World with Juliana Uruburu. I’ll write more about that later (there is so much to say!), but one of the highlights of the class was my introduction to an incredible ‘New World’ Parmesan, Sartori SarVecchio. As soon as I had a taste of this cheese, I knew that I wanted more! But…that’s not quite where this post is going. The following evening I was riding the 33 bus back home from my pilates class in the Inner Richmond and, not having had any dinner, I was growing quite hungry.  I fondly recalled the taste of SarVecchio and remembered Juliana telling the class that many long-distance runners and cyclists carry a hunk of parmesan or other hard, protein-packed cheese in their pocket for an on-the-go energizing snack. Now, I’m no long-distance runner or cyclist, but anyone familiar with the 33 bus knows that it can be just as trying. Anyone familiar with the 33 bus also knows that it goes right past Bi-Rite Market on my way home, and these facts all resulted in me getting off the bus two stops early in search of some SarVecchio!

Well…Bi-Rite didn’t have any SarVecchio. So, I went home empty-handed. Pshaw! No way. Bi-Rite did have some impressive looking Parms, but I figured that since I had covered that territory in class the night before (again, more to come on that soon), I should strike out in search of something new. I had something my heart set on something hard and salty, and one of Bi-Rite’s friendly cheese specialists suggested Spanish Roncal. A name-controlled classic that I’d never tried? Sold! Of course, once I’d spent about 5 seconds in the cheese section I just knew I’d have to go home with a few treats, so I let this same lovely lady give me two more recommendations, and I went home with the Roncal, a Dutch Remeker, and an Italian Toma Della Rocca — around the world, and only two blocks from home!

Roncal – Raw Sheep’s Milk from Valle de Roncal, Navarra, Spain

 

This traditional Spanish cheese is produced in the Navarra province from the milk of Latxa and Aragonesa breeds of sheep. Roncal gets it’s name from the Roncal Valley in the Pyrenees mountains, which is home to seven villages that work cooperatively to make the cheese. Roncal is an uncooked, pressed, natural rind cheese, aged between 4 and 8 months. The aging process creates a cheeses with firm beige or  brown rinds that are sometimes covered with spots of gray mold. The paste is light yellow and has small holes and the appearance of little cracks. When cut and allowed to stand for a bit, the cheese can start to look sweaty. This isn’t bad, though! It’s a sign of the butterfat weeping out, which indicates the richness of the cheese (George Harrison should have written about that)! How does it taste? Great! I had what I’m assuming was a younger Roncal. It had a decent amount of moisture (which I’m into) with a somewhat nutty but more citrus & olive-y flavor. As the cheese ages, it gets drier, darker, and that nutty flavor will get meatier. Maybe if I had let mine sit around for awhile I’d experience some of that, but polished it off pretty quickly for lunch the next day. Yum!

 

Remeker – Raw Cow’s Milk from Lunteren, Holland

It was decidedly easy to eat this delicious cheese, but I had a hell of a time trying to learn about it! I’ve got some stuff, but my resources were limited AND questionable, so take all of this information with a grain of salt. According to my research, Remeker cheese is made in Lunteren, Holland by the Van de Voort family, using raw Jersey cow’s milk. The cheese is sold at two ages — Young and Old. The more aged cheese is Old Remeker and the younger is just…Remeker. Or, at least, that’s what it said on the label of the one I purchased! The (Young) Remeker is aged for 6 months, while Old Remeker is aged for 16 months! I can’t speak to the taste of  Old Remeker (which I’ve read is ‘deep and complex’), but the Remeker we had (Mike had his fair share) was a delight! Dense & moist for a firm cheese, it was rich and creamy with some nice hints of fruit and hay. With the Remeker, I was again confronted by a cheese that I would describe as ‘fudge-y’, which is just…lots of fun!

 

Toma della Rocca – Pasteurized Cow, Sheep, and Goat’s Milk from Piedmont, Italy

Oh, Toma della Rocca. Just one taste of this bad boy and I was ready to run away to Italy forever. He might look all nice and neat in this portrait, but once you get your hands on him it gets messy real fast. Even this picture doesn’t do him justice (I don’t know why I’ve turned this cheese into a man — very weird, me), but this experience is worth the mess!  Toma della Rocca hails from the Alta Langa region of  Italy (right on the border of Piedmont & Lombardy), where soft mixed-milk cheeses are the norm. The cheese is ripened for about 10 days, and tastes and acts more like a goat’s milk than a mixed-milk cheese (based on my experience, at least). It has a nice bit of salt & runniness under it’s thin Geotrichum rind (that’s the brainy kind), but the majority of the paste is thick, chalky, and slightly sour. Because of the goat’s milk, you get a lot of tang and lemony flavor, but the cow’s milk contributes a lot in terms of thickness and a hint of sour cream. The sheep’s milk? That just makes the flavor linger in your mouth, which was a-okay by me. I enjoyed this cheese for a few days in various ways, but my favorite was actually as a breakfast to-go. One day I went to the gym before work (which, wow, never happens) and by the time I was heading out the door I was both running late and very hungry. I sliced off a thick piece of sweet batard, grabbed some Toma della Rocca from the fridge, slapped it together, and walked out the door. And it was amazing! Because the cheese was so cold, it was very firm and the tang was really pronounced. Paired with the sweetness and density of the bread, it was just an amazing (and amazingly filling) treat. I felt like I was eating a very classy version of a bagel and cream cheese!

Sorry I’ve Been A-Whey…

Hi readers. As you may have noticed, there’s been a serious lack of action on this blog recently. 2 weeks back I went out of town for a week and, since my return, I’ve been catching up with work, friends, and cheese! I just haven’t had much time to actually write and, when I did find myself with some free time, I was too tired to do anything but turn on The Food Network or HGTV (both almost as addicted as L’Amuse Aged Gouda).

Now, I plan to turn that around from here on out, but I wanted to spend a little time getting everyone up to speed. So, some brief words (I toyed with the idea of calling this post ‘Curds of Wisdom’ but it didn’t feel quite right) on recent happenings, and then we can get back to normal blogging.

First: I am thrilled to report that, this summer, I will be an intern at The Cheese School of San Francisco. Not too familiar? Check out their awesome website, which features information about the school, the courses, and even the internship program. One big plus? It’s paid! Starting in July, I’ll be spending roughly 15 hours per week in the beautiful building at Powell and Francisco in Nob Hill, SF. I’ll be setting & cleaning up before and after classes, helping out during the classes and, I believe, doing some light administrative work. Last week I sat down for a drink with one of the school’s current interns, Devon Foster, who is also a cheesemonger at Cowgirl Creamery in The Ferry Building. Devon and I had a delightful conversation about all things cheese. She told me a little bit about the CA cheese community and did a lot to reassure me that it’s a really welcoming circle. Lately I’ve been nervous about jumping into the unknown and starting out as a newbie, so her stories of acceptance did a lot to lessen my fears. Devon also praised The Cheese School internship experience, which left me very excited. I’ll get to learn a ton about different cheeses, how to cut, plate, and serve, and I’ll be introduced to so many inspiring and experienced cheese professionals. I’m starting to sense that I may have a future in cheese-related catering and event-planning (we’ll see), so all of this really appeals to me. I can’t wait!

Speaking of The Cheese School and inspiring cheese professionals: On March 13th I took my first Master Class at the school, Identifying Cheese Flavors with Peggy Smith of Cowgirl Creamery. Yep, THE Peggy Smith of THE Cowgirl Creamery. For me, it was a big deal. It was such an incredible experience that I spent the next week gushing about it to anyone who would listen. As such, I want to write real blog entry about the class, the cheeses, and Peggy, so this is just a brief mention and placeholder until that time. The big take-away from the evening is that I left completely at peace with my decision to leave publishing for cheese. While I was a novice compared to almost all the attendees (mongers, farmers, cheesemakers, chefs, etc.), I felt able and understanding of almost all of the concepts covered and excited to embrace and conquer those that I didn’t. Every single person there was friendly and wonderfully weird (just like me!), and I had some great conversations with two mongers from Mission Cheese (my nextdoor neighbor/dream employer) and even with Peggy, herself. I felt like I was floating on my way home that night, filled with a relief that I can’t fully explain. So, keep a lookout for a full post on that class, it’s coming soon.

What else? Oh, well, it had to happen eventually: I had my first semi-embarrassing cheese celebrity awkward encounter. I thought for sure it would happen sometime with Gordon Edgar, but the world likes to keep us on our toes. A few weeks ago I went to the Winter Artisan Cheese Fair kick-off event at Cheese Plus in Nob Hill. It was a great little ‘party’, just some cheesemakers giving out samples around the store, and then a small ‘buffet’ of samples out front. I was just getting started in the buffet line, testing out a delightful Alpine fondue, and slightly eavesdropping on the girl in line in front of me. I could see out of the corner of my eye that she was tasting a Vermont Butter & Cheese Coupole for the first time, and I was happy to hear her exclaim the deliciousness of the cheese and to ask more about it. It was at that point that I heard the not-yet-seen person behind the counter explain that it was a cheese made at her creamery in Vermont. Without thinking, and with a mouth slightly full of bread and cheese, I blurted out “Oh my gosh are you Allison Hooper?” It was not a smooth, casual, cool moment for me. It was dorky and borderline creepy. “Yes” she responded, “Who are you?” At that point, I explained that I wasn’t really anybody (yet), just an aspiring cheese professional and a major fan of her cheeses. She was flattered and friendly but busy and those in line behind me were growing inpatient, so I simply thanked her and moved on. When I got home and told Mike what had happened, he made fun of me for being a spaz and not telling her just HOW much of a fan I was, and said that I should at least send a follow-up email with a link to my blog (which is, after all, named in honor of one of her cheeses). Soooo… I think I’ll probably do that, so that something more than embarrassment can come of that encounter. To be fair, I did share that story with Peggy Smith, and she got a little chuckle out of it, so…it’s not for nothing.

Okay, that seems like enough for now! I’m slowly making my way though Steven Jenkins’ classic Cheese Primer. After Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, it is quite a change in attitude and approach, but there’s a ton of information in there and I’m learning a lot. I’m even taking notes and doing some color-coded highlighting, so I feel like a student again! On the radar: Tomorrow evening I’m meeting with Anthea Stolz, the buyer for Bi-Rite who also taught the Desert Island Cheeses course that I took, and I’m really looking forward to that.  I’d like to solidify the relationship and, of course, talk about future employment options, but I’m also thinking of doing small profiles/interviews of local cheese professionals and posting them on this blog. I have no journalism experience, so they wouldn’t be anything amazing, but I just like the idea of spotlighting those who inspire me. What do you think?

 

Cheese, Please: What’s This All About?

I’m leaving a life in publishing for a career in cheese and documenting here for posterity, purpose, and proof.

So, yes. I am now an aspiring cheese-seller and specialist. Gordon Edgar, in his book Cheesemonger, strictly warns that you should not call yourself a cheesemonger until you’ve really earned your stripes. Since I basically have this guy’s book to credit for solidifying my decision, I don’t want to overstep my/his bounds. (Though, if we’re being totally honest, I am an aspiring cheesemonger).

I am writing this after 4+ years in book publishing. Those years have been good, but they haven’t been great. When they have been especially not-great, I’ve always rewarded my efforts or soothed my frustrations with some nice cheese and some decent wine (I have lower standards for the wine than I do the cheese). And, while I’ve always passionately eaten and explored cheese, I never really thought that I could make a career out of it. I am now so happy (really, I can’t emphasize the ‘so’ enough) to see that I was wrong. I can make a life out of selling cheese, and that’s exactly what I hope to do.

While San Francisco isn’t the best location for a life in book publishing, it certainly seems to be the place for cheese. In the past months I’ve gotten more and more serious about making this career change, and I’ve been genuinely amazed at the opportunities and resources I’ve discovered in that time. First, The Cheese School of San Francisco. How could I take the presence of such a one-of-a-kind institution as anything but a sign that I’m on the right path? Just learning of this community and of the classes offered (I’ve already signed up!) has filled me with added drive, encouragement, and confidence. I’m also very lucky to live in the mission, where I have access to the friendly and informative cheese-sellers and experts at Mission Cheese, Bi-Rite Market, and Rainbow Grocery. All of these cheese professionals have been so encouraging and helpful, even further steeling my determination and inflating my excitement. One Bi-Rite employee kindly recommended the aforementioned Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge by Gordon Edgar, and I haven’t been the same since.

Now, like I said, I’ve always loved eating and learning about cheese. I love tasting new flavors, experiencing new textures, and experimenting with wine, beer, and condiment pairings. The idea of spending my life doing something so fun — and bringing such fun into the lives of others — is what first attracted me to a career in cheese. It wasn’t until I read Edgar’s book that I realized how some of my other great passions are directly involved in cheese-making and selling. A longtime vegetarian (shhh — I try to pretend there’s no such thing as rennet), I’m passionate about animal rights & humane treatment, especially as relates to farming. For a long time, I thought I’d one day be editing and publishing books on humane and sustainable farming and eating practices. You can, and perhaps should, call me naive, but I had never directly connected this interest to cheese and dairy farming. How foolish! Once Edgar’s book brought to light the ‘politics’ of cheese (forage vs. feed, animal health, land use and suburban sprawl, climate change, etc.), I became even more convinced that I’d made the right decision. What first brought me to publishing — the idea of making a difference in the world — can also be directly applied to cheese-selling. I’m sold!

Now, I just need help in making the switch. My amazing colleagues at Berrett-Koehler publishers have worked with me to create an ‘exit strategy’, whereby I will be leaving the company sometime this summer (exact date TBD). In the time between now and then, I plan to learn as much as possible about cheese and the SF cheese community, meet as many people as I can, and suck up gloriously to those people in the hopes of a job or an apprenticeship. This change is as exciting and invigorating as it is terrifying. I’m starting this blog for me as much as for anyone else, to keep track of my efforts and education. Enjoy!