Cole Dawson - Cheese It! Start making cheese at home today

Rogue Creamerys award-winning blue cheese is literally the crme de la crme.

Blessed are the cheese makers.

Monty Python

Introduction: A New American Revolution

We all know American cheeseit tastes best melted on a burger. Commercial cream cheese spreads like chewing gum and tears our bread. Velveeta and Cheez Whiz are memorable for their eye-catching packaging and orange-yellow color, not for their flavor. Processed cheeses defined the American dairy case for decades. Until 2003.

Actually, the revolution in cheese crafting began with experiments by California goat farmers in the 1980s, but in 2003 Rogue Creamery of Oregon stole the honors at the World Cheese Awards in London with its Rogue River Blue. Thats Londonhome to Stilton and English Cheddar. It was the beginning of a burgeoning respect for Americas artisan cheese makers. In 2007, Rogues award winner became the first raw-milk dairy product approved for export.

Liz Thorpe has tasted hundreds of fledgling fromages in her capacity as vice president of Murrays Cheese in Greenwich Village, New York. Says Thorpe, As American cheeses have gotten exponentially betterit has become harder and harder to pick which to buy [for our store]. The major criterion used to be Is it edible? Now, an American cheese needs to be superlative to meet her criteria.

Cheese revolutionaries followed a path similar to California winemakers in the 1970s: they transplanted old-world traditions to their native soils, microclimates, and growing seasons. Small-scale cheese makers are now spinning milk into gold all across the country. About 500 members are registered with the American Cheese Society, whose total membership has almost tripled in the last decade. Many more hobby farmers who are not members of the association are handcrafting cheeses.

As membership has risen, so has competition for the American Cheese Societys blue ribbons. Each August, the association awards creameries for that years best-tasting cheeses. Three states usually dominate the winners circleWisconsin, Vermont, and California. In recent years, the winners circle included Colorado, Maine, Utah, and Texas.

RIDE EM COWGIRLS

The story of Cowgirl Creamery offers a glimpse into the demand for handcrafted cheeses. In 1997, Sue Conley and Peggy Smiththe cowgirls and former chefsstarted making soft cheeses using organic whole milk from a neighboring dairy in Point Reyes Station, a hamlet north of San Francisco. Today, the company comprises two creameries (at Point Reyes and Petaluma), three stores, and a mail-order business. From a single recipe for their award-winning Mt. Tam, the creamery now offers ten varieties, producing about 3,000 pounds of cheese a week.

We were lucky, says Peggy Smith. Right about the time we opened Cowgirl Creamery, people were ready to expand their knowledge and their appetite for cheese. They had explored the word of wine, theyd learned about vinegars, they were using Italian olive oils and demanding good, crusty breads. Cheese was just waiting to be discovered.

From the start, Cowgirl Creamerys handcrafted cheeses benefitted from local organic whole milk.

A true appreciation for cheese begins with the first taste of a carefully crafted artisan variety.

Americans expanding appetite for cheese created a desire for variety when eating out as well as eating in. Selling directly to restaurants is a lucrative business for farmers. Laura Chenel, a goat-cheese pioneer, got her start in 1979 when Alice Waters of Chez Panisse put Chenels chvre on the menu. The cheese plate is nearly ubiquitous in fine restaurants today, and that trend has sent sales soaring.

When master cheesemonger (the manager of a specialty cheese department or shop) Steven Jenkins wrote his classic The Cheese Primer in 1996, he recommended thirty best American cheeses to readers. Today, that list would be a book in itself. North American artisanal cheeses, he says, have reached a level that puts them on par with the artisanal cheeses of Europe, both in quality and variety." Jenkins should know; in 1980, he became the first American Cheese Knight, or Chevalier du Taste-Fromage.

SAY CHEESE

If so much exciting cheese is readily available, why bother to make it at home? Three reasons: health (yours, the animals, and the environments), savings, and satisfaction. With a small investment of money and time, novice cheese makers can make perfect soft cheeses that can be eaten right away, including ricotta, paneer, mozzarella, mascarpone, and cottage cheese. With a bit more investment in ingredients, supplies, and time, they can make semi-hard cheeses such as Colby, Jack, and Cheddar. After tasting success, a serious artisan may move on to tackle mold- and bacteria-ripened cheeses such as Camembert, Stilton, Gorgonzola, and Muenster.

Redwood Hills Sharon Bice helps create the creamerys signature chvre.

Need more inspiration? Seek out family-run creameries in your area. If they offer tours, youll see the miraculous alchemy of cheese-in-the-makinga blend of art and science. Many creameries are closed to the public for logistical reasons (small operations would be overwhelmed by visitors) or hygienic reasons (cheese making demands a strictly controlled environment). But others welcome visitors, who can roam the grounds, pet the herds, meet the cheese makers, sample the product line, and ask questions.

Successful cheese making takes practice (what doesnt?), but by trial and error, youll understand more about dairy foods than you ever would simply by buying them ready-made on supermarket shelves. Homemade also tastes better, and you can tweak the recipe any way you want to.

WHAT ABOUT THAT FANCY WORD, ARTISANAL?

An artisan is a craftsperson whose products are made by hand. The American Cheese Society defines artisanal cheese as a cheese produced primarily by hand, in small batches, with particular attention paid to the tradition of the cheese-makers art, and thus using as little mechanization as possible in the production of cheese. Artisan, or artisanal, cheeses may be made from all types of milk and may include various flavorings.

Cowgirl Creamery marries commercial efficiency with personal involvement to create their artisan cheeses.

To classify as farmstead, a cheese must be made using milk from the farmers own herd or flock on the farm where the animals are raised. Milk used in the production of farmstead cheeses may not be obtained from any outside source. Farmstead cheeses may also be made from all types of milk and may include various flavorings. So all farmstead cheese is artisanal, but not all artisanal cheese is farmstead.

A simpler way to define artisanal cheese making is getting your hands in the curds. This book is designed to help you get your hands in the curds. If you follow directions carefully, especially the cleanliness tips, we can almost guarantee that youll be on your way to a culinary adventure that is whey cool. But first, a bit of history.