Black Radish Cheese??

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Black Radish Cheese??

Hello Fellow Cheese Travelers!

Today’s story easily could have been called “From Ohio, with Love”, but then you may not have read this far…

While I have seen many interviews with cheese makers over the last year, I wanted to take a different approach and write a story about cheesemongers and the important role they have in our cheese industry. They are the last set of hands that touch the piece of cheese before it makes its way into the customer’s basket.

Without further ado, please allow me to introduce John and Anne Reese of Black Radish Creamery.

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Exploring the Cheese Isle...

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Exploring the Cheese Isle...

Hello Fellow Cheese Traveler!

It feels good to “intro” with that again!...It has 15 months since I last traveled.

I just returned from a vacation on the island of Maui, which is the second largest of the eight Hawaiian Islands. At 727.2 square miles, it is the 17th largest island in the United States. Known as the “Valley Isle”, it used to be home to Sugar Cane and Pineapple crops, but that has since moved on to other parts of the world. Beef production (Maui Cattle Company) has taken over most of the spot where these fields once laid, some 20,000 acres to be exact.

But this Cheese Traveler didn’t travel 2,401 miles and just over 5 hours of flying time to talk about beef…We are here to talk cheese!!

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Holy Smokes!!…

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Holy Smokes!!…

Hello Cheese Enthusiasts!

The inspiration for this week’s blog came from the photo roll of my camera. I found a series of photos that I had taken last year of the smoky skies near my home in Northern California, due to the horrible fires that we had experienced. The day the photo was taken, the smoke was so thick that there was only about 1,000 feet of visibility and the local schools were closed due to the air quality.

Seeing this smoke, I commented to a neighbor that I had planned on hanging some cheddar on the clothesline outside to see if I could smoke it….Not too far from the truth, as cheesemakers have been doing just that same step for years.

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Editor-In-Cheese…

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Editor-In-Cheese…

Hello Cheese Enthusiasts!

A very special edition this week to help celebrate one very special person…My “Editor-In-Cheese”, also known as my Mom.

Every week I kick around some ideas to write about, take my final photos by Friday, and then finally finish up writing the story over the weekend. Most Sunday evenings you can find me on the phone with my Mom late into the night, so that she can help me edit my latest post. She was an English major in college, but that is not why I ask her…I enjoy letting her be the first person to read my post, as well as sharing the backstory of the post with her.

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Pull up a Tuffet and sit awhile…

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Pull up a Tuffet and sit awhile…

Hello Cheese Enthusiasts!

I must admit in life, there are many things that one takes for granted…meaning that they may have been important at one period in your life, but their luster faded over time, until one day you see them in a different light, or in today’s post, someone has taken something old and made it new again.

Ultimately, today’s post is about “Curds & Whey”, so pull up a Tuffet and sit back while I put a very old (and new) twist on today’s post.

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Mrs. Beeton's Book…

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Mrs. Beeton's Book…

Hello Fellow Cheese Enthusiasts!

In 1861, just as the “War between the States” (American Civil War) had begun, a book on “domestic civility” had just been released in London, England. Entitled “Beeton's Book of Household Management”, it sounded like an early version of Lemony Snicket's: A Series of Unfortunate Events, but it was so much more than that…

Behind this Victorian Era masterpiece was publisher, Samuel O. Beeton. Samuel had made his early money as the first British publisher of Uncle Tom's Cabin in 1852, securing the rights from the then-unknown Harriet Beecher Stowe.

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Denmark’s Dairy Queen…

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Denmark’s Dairy Queen…

Hello Fellow Cheese Enthusiasts!

A few weeks ago my friend Barry Zuroff called me to talk about Danish Havarti Cheese. He called because he had recently received word that Danish Havarti Cheese had been awarded PGI status (Protected Geographical Indication) and wanted to know more, so this Cheese Traveler decided to dig in and give you the full story about this Danish classic cheese.

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Counting Sheep...

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Counting Sheep...

Greeting Cheese Enthusiasts!

I have written much about Cow’s and Goat’s milk cheeses on Cheese Traveler, but it was brought to my attention that I did not have a lot of information regarding Sheep milk cheeses.

There is much to share, so let’s get started!

Much like Goats, Sheep have been domesticated for thousands of years…way before cows…about 6,000 years ago. This most likely happened due to their size and temperament, as well as their ability to provide dairy (fresh milk/cheese), wool (clothing), as well as fresh meat.

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Cheese Influencers and Inspiration…

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Cheese Influencers and Inspiration…

Hello fellow traveler! 

Inspiration for writing about my life in the cheese industry can come from many places, but today, it simply came from looking over my vast collection of cheese books that I amassed over the last 25+ years. Many of these were written by authors that I am happy call my part of my ‘cheese friends and family’ network. There are a few that I have never got a chance to meet, yet they still have a lasting impact on me, as well as the cheese industry. Pierre Androuet wrote an amazing book back in 1971, which started as a letter to his daughter. His book, Guide du Fromage helps the reader learn about the cheeses and the peak season to purchase them at.

One of the most influential books I own is

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