Claudia Lucero of Portland’s Urban Cheesecraft was recently featured in this great short video by the folks at Etsy (where she sells home cheesemaking kits and products). Watch the video, then click here to shop!
Urban Cheesecraft from Etsy on Vimeo.
When I read Kurt Timmermeister’s new book Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live off the Land
On the surface, Timmermeister has the same general idea as Thoreau – he aims to get away from the ‘corruptions’ of modern food and live more essentially. For Timmermeister, the impetus for this move is embodied in the form of dreadful cases of frozen chicken breasts (“chicken popsicles”) and frozen pork loin that weeps pork fluid as it defrosts, that he finds himself bringing into his restaurant, the former Cafe Septieme in Seattle. He yearns to get back to what’s real – in this case, real food. And while he is not entirely certain what that is or what it will mean, he knows he wants to try. The rest of the book is that journey.
As Timmermeister leads us through his story, we begin to see that this project of growing, making and producing ‘real’ food on his small farm is complex, expensive, incredibly time and labor-intensive…and that’s not even the half of it. Timmermeister’s city-boy plunge headfirst into agriculture looks at times like a noble undertaking and at other times a quixotic quest. And he is as frank about his failures as he is about his successes, which is one of the things that makes this book so refreshing and compelling. His play-by-play of setting up and maintaining a beehive, slaughtering an animal, or even growing vegetables (for fun and profit!) is simultaneously a instructive primer and a stern warning….instead of reading this book and plunging headfirst into the idyllic life of a farmer, some readers may run screaming from the idea, never to return. And that’s kind of the point. That being said, Kurt Timmermeister has made farming work for him – he’s making and selling cheese. Probably he’s milking a cow while you’re reading this. So it CAN work, he seems to be saying. But can you handle it?
There’s a lot of Thoreau’s idealism in contemporary notions about farming and food: we celebrate all things rural and tend toward putting farmers on pedestals without always taking the time to really understand the complexities behind who and what makes our food. Growing a Farmer
In this day and age we’re way too jaded for the pastoral idealism of days gone by, but Timmermeister is deftly forging a new ideal in this book (and in real life). Best of all, the story’s not over yet. I loved the fact that there’s no real answer here. Growing a Farmer
—> Watch Kurt Timmermeister’s recent appearance on Martha Stewart’s show here.
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Growing a Farmer: How I Learned to Live off the Land
by Kurt Timmermeister
W. W. Norton, 335 pages, hardcover $24.95
Those of us who live on the West Coast are familiar with Sunset Magazine, “Your Guide to Living in the West.” It’s a lovely magazine that coveys a lifestyle through food, design and travel. A few years ago Margo True, formerly of Saveur and Gourmet, came on board as Food Editor and I think the food section really evolved into something interesting and noteworthy. More recently, they began a blog called One Block Diet and I started to take notice.
The blog’s project was and still is to develop a feast using products grown and raised on the magazine’s grounds in Menlo Park, California. They are doing and learning everything – and I do mean everything….from growing a whole variety of fruits and vegetables to raising chickens to making vinegar and salt and cheese and raising bees for honey. It’s a locavore’s fantasy come to life – raise the food you eat and in the process evolve a deep understanding of the time, effort and ingenuity it takes to achieve such a feat. Of course there are the inevitable twists, turns and failures…but regardless of the issues that come up, there’s always a meal – perhaps not the one that was planned, but a meal regardless – to be made in the end. The underlying imperative becomes to create nurturing sustenance with what you have. In the end, it’s all good.
The One-Block Feast
You may have noticed there’s been a number of these back to the land, how-to-do-it-all and grow-it-all books coming out lately, each with its own spin and its own message. Granted, Sunset comes from a bit of a different place than some of the other authors (i.e. Michael Pollan
—–> Follow the One Block Diet Blog here.
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The One-Block Feast: An Adventure in Food from Yard to Table
by Margo True & the staff at Sunset Magazine
Ten Speed Press 272 pages hardcover $24.99
When I moved to Portland in the mid-1990s, Portland was pretty much a backwater town. Property values were low, the farmers market had just barely gotten off the ground and there was not much in the way of good coffee to speak of. Contrast that sad state of affairs with today…now Portland is so trendy the New York Times can’t stop talking about us. (Sorry, Seattle).
So what happened? A lot of things, including the fact that many, many people from New York and the East Coast moved to Portland for its low property values and quality of life. But I digress. Things have changed considerably in 15+ years, and one of the many things that is putting Portland, Oregon on the map these days is its food scene. From restaurants like Castagna, Le Pigeon (don’t pronounce it as if it’s French) and Beast, to microbrewed beer to coffee, Portland is now known nationally and internationally as an epicenter of all things good food.
So along comes someone to put the various pieces together for all of us in on place, and – voila! – we have Food Lover’s Guide to Portland
So among its many virtues, what’s great about this book is this: if you’re new to Portland or curious about the scene, this is a fantastic resource. If you’ve lived here forever or are a Portland native, this book is for you too - because you’re gonna find out about things you’ve never heard of. The bottom line is that this book reflects the comprehensive knowledge and curiosity of its author, a Portland food writer who dabbles in such diverse pursuits as fermentation, canning and cooking on sailboats. Let Liz Crain take you along on her Portland food adventure! (You can also follow Liz on her blog here).
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Food Lover’s Guide to Portland
Sasquatch Press
256 pages, $17.95, paperback
@:::@
Liz Crain is selling autographed copies directly from her website: click here for details. Makes a great gift!
In the rapidly expanding genre known as ‘cheese books’, you’ve got a lot of choices these days, and the numbers are growing. Clearly cheese is something more and more people are interested in learning about and reading about.
But with so many choices, where to start? I’m recommending that you start here, with The Guide to West Coast Cheese
Davies is a veteran of the caves at Murray’s and Artisanal in New York as well as the mastermind, along with husband Michael Claypool, of Cheese By Hand, a grand cheese road trip across the US visiting and interviewing cheesemakers along the way, in their native habitats. They turned the interviews into podcasts (available on the Cheese by Hand website or on iTunes) which are invaluable snapshots of the artisan cheesemaking industry in the US.
That’s all a long way of saying that the author knows her stuff. So here’s the nuts and bolts of the book: organized alphabetically, Davies walks readers through each individual cheese made on the West Coast, starting at Acapella made by Soyoung Scanlan at Andante Dairy in Northern California all the way to Yaquina Bay Pavé made by Pat Morford of Rivers Edge Chévre in Oregon. Each entry describes a bit about the evolution of the particular cheese, explains the flavor profile in depth as well as providing other helpful information like potential wine pairings and similar cheeses for further exploration. Davies’ depth of experience and sharply honed palate bring these cheeses to life. If cheese is your candy, then this book is the key to the candy store.
Great guidebooks are fabulous companions; they explain the unexplained and put all of your unanswered questions to rest. If your questions tend to revolve around issues like rind development or goat’s milk gouda, or perhaps the ins and outs of West Coast cheddars – or if you just love great artisan-made cheese and want to learn more about it – then this, my friends, is the book for you.
*Note: Sasha is a friend and colleague in the cheese world so feel free to take my objectivity for what you feel it’s worth. Either way, I think this is a great book.
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The Guide to West Coast Cheese: More than 300 Cheeses Handcrafted in California, Oregon, and Washington
by Sasha Davies
Timber Press
224 pages $18.95 paperback
Gianaclis Caldwell’s recent book, The Farmstead Creamery Advisor, is a guide to starting and maintaining a cheesemaking business. It’s the missing manual that every aspiring cheesemaker has been looking for….a guide that literally walks you through the process of starting from square one. But it’s not only a how-to guide: one of the things I like most about this book is that she’s up front about the many challenges inherent in the startup process. Her “10 questions for Aspiring Cheesemakers” gives you some idea of her humorous but very realistic take on the artisan cheesemaking business. Because a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, right?!
Gianaclis took some time out of her busy schedule at Pholia Farm in Southern Oregon to answer a few questions about her book and about the business of making cheese.
You’ve got plenty going on between taking care of your goats and making cheese. What made you want to write a book about it?
Now that Pholia Farm is an established creamery, what are your biggest challenges going forward?
One of the challenges that I would not have foreseen is holding up physically to the job. It is demanding and for some reason, every year we keep getting a bit less capable in that regard! Plus you start realizing that you can’t push yourself to the physical limit as often and recover as quickly. So I guess the plan would be to have some help eventually, but being people who would rather do it all ourselves, that will be a personal/mental challenge to overcome.
photo of Roger Bass courtesy Madison Market
Madison Market is one of Seattle’s great food stores. Located at the crest of Capitol Hill, its shiny and well-stocked store represents a dramatic evolution from the co-op’s humble beginnings on 12th and Denny (where I was once a member!). I don’t recall Central Co-op having a great cheese selection back in the 1980s, but that’s all changed. Today at Madison Market you’ll find one of the best selections of local cheese in Seattle. Cheesemonger Roger Bass is the mastermind behind all of those lovely, carefully cared for dairy gems and in honor of Madison Market’s upcoming Cascadia Cheese Festival (see below) I took some time to chat with Roger about how and why he does what he does.
Cascadia Cheese Festival
July 24th 11am-3pm
Madison Market, 16th and Madison in Seattle
Free!
On July 24th from 11-4pm, Roger and the crew will welcome cheesemakers
from Willapa Hills Farmstead
Cheese, Larkhaven Farm, Kurtwood
Farms and others as well as sample cheeses from around the region. I
will be there as well signing copies of my book, Artisan
Cheese of the Pacific Northwest. Come sample, meet cheesemakers and
immerse yourself in local cheese! And it’s all free!
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Roger, you’re originally from Wisconsin…how did growing up in the Cheese Heartland of the US influence your later career choice?
I grew up in Wisconsin at a time when you were more likely to find Velveeta or government cheddar in one’s refrigerator. My dad would often take us ice fishing with a big thermos filled with a soup made from Velveeta, chicken stock and cauliflower. I remember loving it as a kid; I’m not sure how I’d react to such a concoction now. Oddly enough, my first experience selling cheese was for our yearly Boy Scout fund raiser. There were three choices; Brick, Colby or Cheddar. Colby was my favorite and best seller.
Tell us how you became a cheesemonger. You started at DeLaurenti’s in Seattle, is that right?
I stumbled upon cheese when I worked at DeLaurenti’s 9 years ago and I haven’t looked back. I loved working at DeLaurenti’s, the selection of cheese they have is amazing. Being a fledgling foodie it was a big challenge to learn all of the cheeses they carried. Learning their names, pronunciation, milk type, flavor profiles and what they would pair with was challenging. Connie Rizzo, the cheese buyer, was a wealth of information and I bugged her constantly. I filled my head with as much stuff that would fit; working at DeLaurenti’s was like a cheese university.
I’ve been at Central Co-op’s Madison Market for 6 years. Here at the Co-op I got a crash course in clean, sustainable and local foods. It’s pretty cool to work for a place that lets me follow my passions. For instance when I came up with the idea for the Cascadia Cheese Festival, the Co-op got behind me to make it a reality.
With so many great local cheeses out there, how do you choose which to feature and sell? What are some of your current favorites?
Right now one of my favorites is Dinah’s Cheese from Kurtwood Farms; Kurt drops off his cheese every Wednesday and it’s always in perfect shape. I have a huge crush on Pat Morford from Rivers Edge Chevre, her cheeses like Sunset Bay, Astraea and Cape Foulweather are great examples of how a talented she is. Not only do they taste amazing they are also gorgeous to look at. I just got Kelli Estrella’s Brewleggio the other day and it made my knees weak. At room temperature it almost melted in my mouth. We are really lucky to live in the Northwest, the cheese being made here is some of the best examples of American artisan cheeses.
What sorts of cheeses do people like to buy at Central Co-op? Do you find that their consumption tends towards certain styles or types of cheeses?
We are a grocery store so most of the time people stop in to get the basics. I try to have the best quality Parmagiano Reggiano, Pecorino Romano, Gruyere, Swiss and Feta at the lowest prices on Capitol Hill. More and more our customers are asking for local cheeses. I have fans of anything made from raw milk or from goat or sheep milk. There are the customers that are only looking for something new. Of course there are others that have their favorites that they pick up every week. It’s a mixed bag really.
Our customers shop at Central Co-op because they believe in supporting local and sustainable agriculture. I try not to disappoint them by carrying as many NW cheeses as I can find.
What are the hardest and most fun parts of being a cheesemonger?
I love to sell cheese. By far the best part of my job is getting someone excited about buying cheese. Buying cheese can be intimidating so I love to sample and tell the story. Also, it feels really good when a customer will pull me aside to thank me for helping them with a selection of cheese I had help pick out. I also love turning vegans to non-vegans, I only have two vegan co-workers left to convert.
The hardest part of my job is selling soy “cheese,” although I refuse it put it in the specialty cheese case. I still get customers asking about what soy “cheese” melts the best.
here’s a cheese book that’s also great summer reading material…
There’s lots of cheese books out there these days. You know which ones I mean – the exhaustive guides to this, that and the cheeses of the world. Like me, you may even have a few on your shelf. But when do we read these books? Don’t get me wrong, I love these books for what they are (especially the one I wrote, of course). But I’m excited to see the ‘cheese’ genre expanding in new ways… and toward that end, we now have the adventurous new Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese by Eric LeMay.
At its essence, the book chronicles LeMay and girlfriend/sidekick “Chuck” and their growing fascination with cheese, an obsession that leads the pair to try out a local cheese shop Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Mass.. From there they are taken in, and their world expands: soon enough they’re gallivanting to Twig Farm in Vermont, later traveling to the Comte caves in France and then climbing Mont d’Or (of course, after having eaten Vacherin Mont d’Or).
On the surface, Eric and Chuck are thrilled by cheese, plain and simple. What’s riveting about this book is that they take that enthusiasm to the next level by fully living the fantasy – traveling to the source of the cheese itself, be it Vermont or France or Italy to try – no, experience – cheese in its natural element. You’ve had Roquefort cheese, but have you had it in Roquefort? And what does it mean to do that?
LeMay chronicles this whole romp with expertly crafted observations and self deprecating humor. Geeks will appreciate his detours into such issues as the meaning of ‘cheesy’ (as in campy), or how you can compare the experience of eating cheese to reading a novel by Danielle Steele. And while he insists that he and Chuck are just cheese ‘enthusiasts’ its clear that by the end of the book, they have transported themselves by sheer force of will into experts. Follow along and you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll learn a lot about cheese.
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Immortal Milk: Adventures in Cheese
by Eric LeMay
Simon and Schuster
$22 256 pages hardcover
Find more on the Immortal Milk website here.
This past weekend I had a chance to visit Seattle’s newest cheese shop, Calf & Kid. It’s located in the shiny new Melrose Market space on Capitol Hill, around the corner from Bauhaus Coffee on Pine St.
Sheri LaVigne, proprietress and self described ‘cheese vixen’ has been open for business for just three weeks. While the road to opening a shop was not without its challenges (chronicled on her blog here), the realization of all of that hard work has been sweet. (See my prior interview with Sheri here). She’s got a great selection of international and domestic cheeses that are certain to please a wide range of palates from cheese novices to experts – and the customers are already streaming in. Her collection also includes a depth chart of Northwest locals like Black Sheep Creamery, Tumalo Farms, Golden Glen Creamery and an especially impressive range of cheeses from tiny Gothberg Farms in Bow, WA. In addition to cheese, she’s carrying marcona almonds, mustards, chocolates, bread from Macrina Bakery and other associated, equally tempting goodies.
Melrose Market is still in the construction phase, but look for more shops opening in the next few months. This space is exciting for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that it’s an open market space where shoppers can browse and mingle amongst all of the vendor offerings (think a smaller scale Ferry Plaza in San Francisco). In addition to Calf & Kid, there’s a few other shops already open, including Rain Shadow Meats and Marigold & Mint (a flower shop that’s associated with an organic farm outside Seattle). Others coming soon: a wine bar, a sandwich spot and the newest incarnation of Sitka & Spruce, Matt Dillon’s iconic restaurant, which will evolve here into a much bigger and splashier space than its previous spot on Eastlake.
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Calf & Kid
1531 Melrose Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122
Hours:
Tues – Sat 11am-7pm
Sunday 12-6
Every once in awhile a book comes along that is so timely, so needed, so… right… that you just have to pause in wonder and appreciation.
This is one of those books.
With the rapid growth of the artisan cheesemaking industry and the availability of really, really good local cheese, many are ready to take the step of making their own cheese. And while some people are content to play with making cheese in their kitchen or with their kids, or both, others are taking the cheesemaking idea a step farther – they want to make cheese their livelihood.
I get a lot of questions from enthusiastic folks who are looking to do this. Until now, there was not much I could tell them about how to get started except – talk to a lot of other cheesemakers, go to cheese conferences and educational events and so on. And while that stuff is still true, now we have a roadmap. The Farmstead Creamery Advisor
is a comprehensive guide to starting a farm-based cheesemaking business. Hallelujah!
Author Gianaclis Caldwell has been making cheese for years. She started Pholia Farm in Southern Oregon with husband Vern and daughter Amelia several years ago; now they’re known nationally for their great cheeses, crafted from the milk of their herd of Nigerian Dwarf goats. I mention this background to emphasize that she knows what she’s talking about; the Caldwells built their cheesemaking plant from the ground up and are very familiar with the ins and outs (not to mention the ups and downs) of the entire process.
Caldwell does not shy away from both the joys or the hardships of making cheese; her honesty about the entire process is engaging and refreshing. She covers everything – and I do mean everything – from the business end (financing and business plans) to permitting to equipment, sanitation and floor plans. The book is loaded with stories and anecdotes from cheesemakers across the country so in effect, it’s like having a conversation with all of them. You’ll learn about the million things you hadn’t thought of about the process as well as glean ideas for doing it your own way.
If you are thinking of starting a cheesemaking business – even if you are just fantasizing about it - you need this book. And while the book may serve as a catalyst to success or a much needed reality check, either way, I think this book will have served its purpose.
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The Farmstead Creamery Advisor: The Complete Guide to Building and Running a Small, Farm-Based Cheese Business
by Gianaclis Caldwell
Chelsea Green
$29.95 256 pages paperback
