Cutting the Curd

State #7: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne continues the saga that is The State of Cheese with Michigan: the next chapter. Aubrey Thomason of Zingerman’s Creamery in Ann Arbor calls in to explain just how much of cheesemaking and mongering is packaging or cleaning or wrapping or straight up cheese creation. Learn about their lactic style fresh cheese, why the value added dairy industry can be so tricky, plus the low down on goat’s milk cheese and the “raw milk bust”. This episode was sponsored by Fairway: like no other market.

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State #6: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne’s State of Cheese special continues with Kentucky: the bluegrass state, and home of Kenny Mattingly of Kenny’s Country Cheese. Learn how a trip to meet with international cheesemakers impressed Kenny enough to turn his dairy farm into an artisanal cheesemaking operation that would eventually reach up to 30 varieties. Kenny speaks on Kentucky’s positive attitude towards raw-milk cheeses, some major breaks he’s had distributing his cheese at venues in Kentucky, and what he sees for the future of his dairy farm. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of fine grass-fed beef from the California coast.

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State #5: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne continues her State of Cheese series with New York State. Dean Sparks from Empire Organics joins Anne on air to talk about how to keep the quality of dairy high and the wages fair for everyone from the farmer to the distributor. Speaking on everything from simple eggs to value added dairy products, Dean stresses the importance of making sure everyone’s markup is fair, so the farmers make a reasonable wage and the consumer pays a reasonable price. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

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State #4: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne continues her State of Cheese series with Connecticut. With her Ma and Grandma sitting in, Anne speaks to Mark Gellman of Cato Corner Farms in Colchester CN. Tune in to find out how Mark went from a dozen cows to over 40 in his career as a dairy farmer, and about the depth of flavor that raw milk adds to cheese. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch.

Photo: Mark Gellman on his farm in Connecticut

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State #3: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne continues her State of Cheese series with Virginia and Helen Feete of Meadow Creek Dairy. Feete sells delicious Grayson, Appalachian and other wholesale cheeses from the mineral-rich pastures of the mountains in southwest Virginia. Tune in to hear about Helen’s Jersey herd, raw milk cheeses, and why Virginia makes delicious cheese. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of grass-fed beef from the California coast.

Photo 1: Grayson cheese from Meadow Creek Dairy, Photo 2: Virginia map

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State #2: This week on Cutting the Curd Anne continues her state-by-state breakdown of cheese in the US with a look at Georgia cheese and Sweet Grass Dairy. Georgia is not the most “traditional” place to make cheese, but as we learn from the folks at Sweet Grass its a great place to raise happy goats, fight for your right to age cheese appropriately, and generally create positive cheese culture. This episode was sponsored by Edwards of Surry Virginia.

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State #1: This week on Cutting the Curd, Anne starts her “State of Cheese” series: a 50 part show series highlighting each state in the US and it’s cheese culture. She begins with California, and is joined by guest Peggy Smith of Cowgirl Creamery. Peggy tells us how to make cottage cheese, and tells the story of the Straus Family Creamery, the first organic dairy west of the Mississippi. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish. For more information visit www.acmesmokedfish.com

Photo 1: Peggy Smith, Photo 2: Cowgirl Creamery

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Patricia Michelson, owner of the famous La Fromagerie in London, and author of Cheese: The World’s Best Artisan Cheeses. Patricia compares her humble beginings “in a shed” in her garden to HRN’s current shed-like status, and describes the defining moment when she fell in love with cheese during a skiing trip (she literally tripped while skiing) in the French Alps. Some delicious farmstead cheese was her pick-me-up after the tumble, and the rest is history. Tune in to find out why Patricia is bothered by Europe’s ignorance of America’s best cheeses, and how cheese lovers from both sides of the world would be better off investigating delicious cheeses at home AND abroad. This episode was sponsored by Tekserve.

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This week on Cutting the Curd Anne and special guest host Samia Khan spoke to Andy Hatch of Uplands Cheese, a seasonal grass-based dairy farm. Uplands is unique in a number of ways: it follows the “Alpine pattern” of milking, and its a place where cows harvest their own feed, spread their own manure, and give the farmer a bit of a break in the hard labor department. They’ve even crossbred nine different breeds of cows together to create their own breed of cow perfect for their style of farming. Tune in to hear the creator of Pleasant Ridge Reserve, easily one of the most famous farmstead cheeses, talk shop on HRN!

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This week on Cutting the Curd Anne spoke with Kate Arding. Kate runs Culture Magazine, one of the only cheese-exclusive monthly magazines in the world, and discusses how she went from the world of cheese mongering to the high-stress world of publishing, and her process for creating an issue of Culture. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of fine grass-fed beef.

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