Cutting the Curd

Ivy Ronquillo is about to join the frazzled ranks of cheese shop owners with her new emporium Second Mouse Cheese in Pleasantville, NY. While Ivy has extensive experience in the advertising industry, as well as a culinary degree from FCI and years working in specialty food for the likes of Murray's and Artisanal, opening a shop presents an entirely new set of challenges. We join Ivy on the precipice of this new adventure to find out how she's faring and what's keeping her up at night. This will be part 1 of our conversation, and we hope to have Ivy back in a year or so to join us for a status update in part 2.

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What do you do when your plans turn to ash––literally?! Inga Witscher, host of PBS's Around the Farm Table, chats with Elena about the unique moment she and her husband find themselves in. Just as they were on the cusp of building out a brand new cheesemaking room, their barn and facilities burned down last fall. Now, rebuilding is the new plan.

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In our second episode of the 2019 Cheesemaking Elements series Elena dives deep into the world of cheese cultures. Culture expert Robert Aguilera explains how culture houses work and why we're starting to see monoculture creep when it comes to starters and adjunct cultures used in cheesemaking. Plus, how the culture supply chain business is changing within the growing cheese industry.

Check out the Cheese Science Toolkit Robert mentions at the end of the episode!

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Diane welcomes Steve Jones of Portland's Cheese Bar and writer Adam Lindsley––co-authors of Cheese Beer Wine Cider: A Field Guide to 75 Perfect Pairings––to the show this week. Listen as Diane gets to geek out on two of her favorite things: cheese and beer!

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This will be seven years since the DZTA was founded in 2012. The organization has grown its squad of cheese teachers, just released a newly defined vision for the organization and has a revamped membership on their Board of Directors. Rachel Juhl, Chief Administrator of the Endowment, chats with Elena about how the organization has grown and what's in store for Award winners of the future.

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Founded in 1940, Murray's Cheese remains a New York City institution. Over the past ten years they've taken their cheese show on the road, and 430 stores later they have made their mark within their Kroger 'Cheese Shops' all around the country. Elena talks with Lauren Toth, Project Manager, Training & Curriculum at Murray’s Cheese about how the Kroger program became such a huge endeavor, and how it all works.

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Our 2019 Cheesemaking Elements series kicks off with...milk! Sheep’s milk, at that, in all its luscious glory. Elena interviews Mariana Marques de Almeida, sheep and goat specialist on everything from milk production to cheesemaking.

Check out the Dairy Sheep Association for more resources!

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On this month's book review Diane Stemple interviews Mike Edison, fellow Heritage Radio Network host (Arts & Seizures) about his latest memoir, You Are a Complete Disappointment, A Triumphant Memoir of Failed Expectations. With the title pulled from real life––it was one of the last things the author’s father said to him before dying––there's a lot to get into here!

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Cheese-focused culinary specialist, Rachel Freier, joins Elena in studio. Rachel’s experience working with chefs and culinary students reveals that, unlike truffles or prime cuts of meat, specialty cheese is woefully misunderstood by back-of-house staff. Undaunted by the learning curve, Rachel is committed to changing how cheese is thought of—and handled—in the restaurant kitchen.

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On today's show Elena looks at a facet of the cheese business that's tangential to the supply chain: cheese tourism. Anna Juhl, Founder and CEO of Cheese Journeys and Sylvain Jamois, Private Chef and Cooking Instructor, join Elena in studio to chat about their growing cheese-focused travel business, Cheese Journeys.

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