February 22, 2012
The best cheese I put in my mouth, Saturday 2/18/12 You guys. YOU GUYS. Go get this cheese. Seriously. Stop reading right now and go. get. this. cheese.* Soyoung Scanlan is a cheese maker running her own company, Adante Dairy in Petaluma, California. She primarily makes goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses, all named after musical terms. Like the Wabash Cannonball, Bel Canto is an ash-ripened goat cheese. The similarities end there. This cheese is chalky, fresh, and has a nice acidity to it that is well balanced with the earthiness of the rind. It is delightful from start to finish. When we tasted this on Saturday, eyes rolled in the back of heads and cries of “Oh my god, you have to try this,” echoed throughout the store. Any cheese that can get tenured cheese mongers this excited is something to behold indeed. *Bel Canto is made exclusively for Pastoral, so you’ll just have to come to Chicago and stop by to get some. Trust me, it will be worth the trip. I went to a wine tasting at NotaViva vineyards in Virgina a few years ago. The winemaker is both a musician and music afficionado. In addition to food pairing suggestions his wines come with music pairing suggestions. I would love to eat this cheese with a flight of his wines, particularly the “Cantabile” Cabernet Franc and “Ottantatto” Viognier, which I recall to be my favorites. Yours in Cheese, Linds _________________________________ I hope to make this a regular feature to guide you guys to the cheeses I think you’ll find the most interesting and delicious. Alternate titles are welcome, throw ‘em in the askbox.

The best cheese I put in my mouth, Saturday 2/18/12

You guys. YOU GUYS. Go get this cheese. Seriously. Stop reading right now and go. get. this. cheese.*

Soyoung Scanlan is a cheese maker running her own company, Adante Dairy in Petaluma, California. She primarily makes goat’s and cow’s milk cheeses, all named after musical terms.

Like the Wabash Cannonball, Bel Canto is an ash-ripened goat cheese. The similarities end there. This cheese is chalky, fresh, and has a nice acidity to it that is well balanced with the earthiness of the rind. It is delightful from start to finish.

When we tasted this on Saturday, eyes rolled in the back of heads and cries of “Oh my god, you have to try this,” echoed throughout the store. Any cheese that can get tenured cheese mongers this excited is something to behold indeed.

*Bel Canto is made exclusively for Pastoral, so you’ll just have to come to Chicago and stop by to get some. Trust me, it will be worth the trip.

I went to a wine tasting at NotaViva vineyards in Virgina a few years ago. The winemaker is both a musician and music afficionado. In addition to food pairing suggestions his wines come with music pairing suggestions. I would love to eat this cheese with a flight of his wines, particularly the “Cantabile” Cabernet Franc and “Ottantatto” Viognier, which I recall to be my favorites.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

_________________________________

I hope to make this a regular feature to guide you guys to the cheeses I think you’ll find the most interesting and delicious. Alternate titles are welcome, throw ‘em in the askbox.

Tagged in:

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wGsnoyS

February 19, 2012

Madame Fromage: How To Get A Cheese Education

This week, I’m thinking about a question from a reader named Mia. She wants to live the golden dream — to work in the cheese world as either a maker or a monger. She wrote to me asking how to gain experience. When I put the question out on Twitter recently, several cheesemongers fired right back: “Tell her to get a job at a cheese counter!”

(via Culture)

This is the exact answer I received when I asked that same question. I’m so lucky to have this job. I’ve only worked two shifts at Pastoral and already I feel much more confident in my ability to discuss and recommend cheeses. I’m learning insane amounts on the job, which is really the only way to go about it. Everyone I’ve worked with has been incredibly supportive. I’m amazed by their knowledge and encouraged to achieve those levels myself.

Aside from the obvious benefits of a job working at a cheese store (or counter), working with like-minded people is a major factor that shouldn’t go unstated. Talking with my coworkers about what brought them to cheese, what books and industry magazines they read, and what other shops they frequent is an education in itself. Today my coworkers were talking about what cheeses they love that we don’t sell, where they go to get it, and what they eat or drink with it.

I work with a bunch of cheese nerds, and I love it. It’s like when Walter finds the Muppets and decides to stay with them instead of going home with Gary. I’ve found my people.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Tagged in:

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wGhU2Bl

February 18, 2012
feedthescreencap: I have no idea what the Dothraki word for ‘cheese and crackers’ is but I have a feeling there’s an orgy imminent. NERD ALERT According to the Dothraki wiki, there is no translation for bread or cracker, but cheese is jelli [d͡ʒelli]. Yours in Cheese,Linds

feedthescreencap:

I have no idea what the Dothraki word for ‘cheese and crackers’ is but I have a feeling there’s an orgy imminent.

NERD ALERT

According to the Dothraki wiki, there is no translation for bread or cracker, but cheese is jelli [d͡ʒelli].

Yours in Cheese,
Linds

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wGchQGz

February 17, 2012
Here’s a great reason to join Fab.com if you haven’t already done so. Good sale prices on cheese paper ($6) and other goodies. Looks like prices are good for the next week or until quantities run out. Be warned, though. This site and it’s design-forward products are addictive, as my UPS delivery guy would be happy to tell you. (Hi Todd!) In the fall of 2006, Formaticum was founded to eradicate fromage-icide: the killing of cheese’s delicate flavor and texture caused by plastic wrap. Its product line offers simple ways to track, store and serve savory slices, like paper that simulates cheese cave conditions. Enjoy fromage the way experts do. Fab.com Flash Sale: Formaticum Cheese Limited quantity. Yours in Cheese, Linds

Here’s a great reason to join Fab.com if you haven’t already done so. Good sale prices on cheese paper ($6) and other goodies. Looks like prices are good for the next week or until quantities run out.

Be warned, though. This site and it’s design-forward products are addictive, as my UPS delivery guy would be happy to tell you. (Hi Todd!)

In the fall of 2006, Formaticum was founded to eradicate fromage-icide: the killing of cheese’s delicate flavor and texture caused by plastic wrap. Its product line offers simple ways to track, store and serve savory slices, like paper that simulates cheese cave conditions. Enjoy fromage the way experts do.

Fab.com Flash Sale: Formaticum Cheese Limited quantity.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wGaUdWI

Language and Action

February 17, 2012

A few months ago I noticed something. Where most people say “I want,” I found myself saying “I wish.” I spent some time reflecting on these two phrases, and beyond the semantics I discovered a lack of confidence in my ability to make something happen. So I did the only thing one can do in this situation. I made something happen.

Instead of saying “I wish I could work with cheese,” I started saying “I want to work with cheese.” Defining the desire drove me to action. I contacted my long-time Twitter friend and inspiration, the lovely Tia Keenan, who kindly advised me on where and how to get started.

After many emails, a traditional interview, and an amazing on-the-job interview, I begin working as a Counter Associate at Pastoral Artisan this weekend. (Because I have a full-time job, I’ll only be working weekends and the odd evening.)

I can’t wait to develop my knowledge and experience in this capacity. I hope to share that with you along the way.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wGZiqxc

February 9, 2012
arimage: Jane Selverstone, Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, Alburqueque, uses brie and gouda cheese to illustrate the process of orogenic collapse, in which mountains (the brie in this picture) begin to collapse under their own weight and spread, shortening the foreland regions on either side. The foreland regions, like gouda, do not change shape. Click to enlarge. Read more in her article Are the Alps Collapsing?, published in the 2005 Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences. Deliciously educational. Go play with your food! Yours in Cheese, Linds

arimage:

Jane Selverstone, Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico, Alburqueque, uses brie and gouda cheese to illustrate the process of orogenic collapse, in which mountains (the brie in this picture) begin to collapse under their own weight and spread, shortening the foreland regions on either side. The foreland regions, like gouda, do not change shape. Click to enlarge.

Read more in her article Are the Alps Collapsing?, published in the 2005 Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences.

Deliciously educational. Go play with your food!

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

(via jasonpermenter)

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wG9m7B8

February 3, 2012
At the end of a long week I can only recommend wrapping yourself up in a family quilt with a glass of champagne and a bowl of Langres. Because sometimes you run out of bread, and spoon is as good as a knife, no? Yours in Cheese, Linds

At the end of a long week I can only recommend wrapping yourself up in a family quilt with a glass of champagne and a bowl of Langres. Because sometimes you run out of bread, and spoon is as good as a knife, no?

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Tagged in:

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wFrw7xw

January 24, 2012

tj:

And now, as they say, for something completely different:

The Cheese Shop sketch for Monty Python

I saw this sketch at an early age and consider it to be a formative moment in my development.

“It’s not much of a cheese shop, is it?”

“Finest in the district, sir.”

“And what leads you to that conclusion?”

“Well, it’s so clean.”

“Well, it’s certainly uncontaminated by cheese.”

Truly a classic! There are 43 cheeses named in this sketch. Think you can catch them all? Check your work here. (That would make one helluva list to bring with you to your local shop.)

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Tagged in:

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wFI_2AR

January 23, 2012
I’d love a small print of this for my kitchen. Yours in Cheese, Linds

I’d love a small print of this for my kitchen.

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

(via gemmacorrell)

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wFGZaWF

January 20, 2012
todaysdocument: It’s National Cheese Lover’s Day! INTERIOR OF THE CHEESE HOOP, ONE OF THE SPECIALTY SHOPS IN HELEN. IT IS LOCATED ON ALTE STRASSE (OLD STREET), A COBBLESTONED CUL-DE-SAC IN THE MIDDLE OF HELEN’S MAIN STREET SHOPPING CENTER… 09/1975 Al Stephenson, photographer.  From the EPA Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, 1972 - 1977 What’s your favorite cheese? Thanks to Mike for sharing this. Just look at the cheese-inducede joy on that kid’s face. Happy National Cheese Lover’s Day! Have you hugged your cheese today? Yours in Cheese, Linds

todaysdocument:

It’s National Cheese Lover’s Day!

INTERIOR OF THE CHEESE HOOP, ONE OF THE SPECIALTY SHOPS IN HELEN. IT IS LOCATED ON ALTE STRASSE (OLD STREET), A COBBLESTONED CUL-DE-SAC IN THE MIDDLE OF HELEN’S MAIN STREET SHOPPING CENTER… 09/1975

Al Stephenson, photographer.  From the EPA Series: DOCUMERICA: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Program to Photographically Document Subjects of Environmental Concern, 1972 - 1977

What’s your favorite cheese?

Thanks to Mike for sharing this. Just look at the cheese-inducede joy on that kid’s face. Happy National Cheese Lover’s Day! Have you hugged your cheese today?

Yours in Cheese,

Linds

Tagged in:

Permalink: http://tmblr.co/ZciL8wF4CpDV