Is Imitation the Sincerest Form of Flattery?

European Cheesemakers don’t think so… at best, they consider it being a “copycat” and at worst, the theft of centuries of recipes and traditions.

In the mid-19th Century, a factory in Upstate New York began making “commercial” cheddar and it was “game” on… Europe began scoffing cheeses made in the United States. And perhaps they were right… after all, it was The US that gave the world Velveeta and “American Cheese”. And despite all the awards and accolades to the contrary, the Europeans continue to scoff.

Their disdain for American Artisan Cheeses even found its way into trade talks. The European Union is attempting blackmail to “take back” the names of cheeses they consider their own: Cheddar, Parmesan, Feta, Gruyere, Gorgonzola, Romano, Fontina and many others.

This is not a new fight; it raises its head every time trade talks become a topic of international conversation. This fight often comes up when a European walks into a cheese shop anywhere in the US.

However, if you could “get it in their mouth”, more times than not, that attitude changed. Which made my work behind the cheese counter in the American Pavilion at the Slow Food Cheese Festival all the more rewarding. The most prestigious Cheese Festival in the world draws tens of thousand of Europeans (mostly Italians) to taste cheese in endless tents and stands that cover most of this little Italian town where the Slow Food Movement began in 1986.

The American Pavilion housed the Creme de la Creme of American Artisan Cheesemakers. For a young cheesemonger, it was the red carpet of the Oscars of Cheese: David Gremmels and Cary Bryant from Rogue Creamery, Allison Hooper from Vermont Creamery, Andy Hatch from Uplands Cheese, The Cowgirls from Cowgirl Creamery, Mary Keehn from Cypress Grove and Mateo Kehler from Jasper Hill Farm. It was delightful to see skeptical faces turn to smiles when they tasted our cheeses for the first time… changing minds one taste at a time…

In Italy in October 2019 Rogue Creamery’s Rogue River Blue edged out a previous three-time winning Parmigiano Reggiano to take the top award at the World’s Cheese Award… The Americans had finally made it to the top of the cheese world… but the French were not happy… not a single French cheese made the top sixteen at that awards’ show… Quel dommage…

I have no dog in this fight and I think the “cheese name” ship has sailed. The US has plenty of its own amazing original cheeses and our cheesemakers make Award-Winning Cheddars, Parmesans, Fetas, etc.

But as for imitation being the “sincerest” form of flattery… sometimes people are being “copycats”; nothing more; nothing less… but sometimes they are making the best cheeses in the world.

Hope to see you soon at Sweet Combs. I stocked my Grab n Go fridges recently with several new cheeses to join my “standards”: Rogue Creamery Organic Oregon Blue, Tennessee Whiskey BellaVitano, Rembrandt Extra Aged Dutch Gouda, McCall’s Irish Cheddar laced with Porter Ale, Belle Chevre’s Sweet Home Alabama Chevre Logs, French Feta. Standards include Purple Haze, Mimolette, Merlot BellaVitano, Sarvecchio Parmesan, Le Gruyere AOP and Tillamook Cape Meares.

In addition to being a member of the Internationale Guilde des Fromagers (Jura and Garde) and an American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional, I am a Certified ServSafe Food Production Manager with certifications that also include ServSafe Certified Instructor and Proctor. I am available for cheese events, cheese program development, cheese training, food safety training and 3rd party food safety auditing. See my About Me and Resume pages for more details or call me at 360 921 9908 to discuss availability. 

This post may contain affiliate links from which I receive a small commission from any purchases you make through those links. I thank you for patronizing my amazon infuencer store front. 

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