Last week a group of my fellow Cheese Swells (lucky to be included) gathered virtually to learn more about three American Artisan Cheese Producers and taste their cheeses. We gathered via Microsoft Teams with Nathan Aldridge ACS CCP and Cheese Educator at Gourmet Foods International. (BTW, CCPs, this class qualifies as continuing education when renewing your certification).
GFI’s Institut du Fromage is a robust educational program that is a win-win for the cheese industry. It gives producers a platform for showcasing their product and it gives cheese industry professionals the opportunity to expand their knowledge in order to better serve their customers. “Telling the story” is important. When I worked behind (and in front of) the cheese counter, my customers loved to know the details and “trivia” about the cheeses they were buying. More than one would express glee that they could wow their friends and family with their new knowledge of the cheese they would be serving at their next family dinner or gathering. ( I kept a white board above my counter with trivia about new arrivals. Once I posted all the cheeses we carried that had won at that year’s World Cheese Awards. Two customers came in to buy cheese for a party and were delighted to buy every cheese listed for their event. They asked for additional info – which they wrote down – to share at the party.)
The excitement for our virtual tasting began with the arrival of the “Goodie Box” aka “Care Package” of the products we would be tasting:
The event began with videos from the Caves of Faribault in Minnesota, Utah’s Beehive Cheese and California’s Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese.
The General Manager at Faribault, Rueben Nilsson, took us on a tour of the sandstone caves built in the 30s. The Caves of Faribault boasts itself as the producer of “America’s First Blue Cheese”. The original blues were made using Blue Cheese recipes and penicillium roqueforti to create the blue bloom. When restaurant chefs began requesting gorgonzola, their Master Cheesemaker asked a flight attendant friend to bring several wedges of gorgonzola from Italy for the team to sample and begin building a flavor profile. After a second set of samples from Europe, AmaGorg® profile was developed and born.
In addition to several Award-Winning Blues, the Caves are also known for Jeffs’ Select
Gouda. A gouda which is the collaboration of Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker, Jeff Wideman (Maple Leaf Cheese) and the Caves Master Cheesemaker, Jeff Jirik, also a licensed Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker. For a more detailed story Jeffs’ Select, check out my 2012 posting.
Facts about the Caves of Faribault and their cheeses:
- Despite the weather extremes in Minnesota, the caves’ temperature and humidity remain constant; perfect for aging cheese.
- Each individual wedge of cheese is cut and wrapped by a person and not a machine. Then waxed before packing and shipping.
A selection of cheeses from Caves of Faribault is available at my Amazon Influencer Storefront.
The second video was an overview of Utah’s Beehive Cheese. (As you know, I proudly offer three BeeHive cheeses in my Cheese Shop at Sweet Combs of Honey in Downtown Lavonia). The video also included an interview with the fourth-generation dairy farmer who provides the milk for the cheeses.
The two cheeses from Beehive that we tasted with Nathan were TeaHive and Pour Me A Slice. Pour Me a Slice is a collaboration with Basil Hayden Bourbon. TeaHive is the Promontory rubbed with Earl Grey Tea.
Interesting facts about BeeHive Cheese:
- During the pandemic, they donated more than 130,000 pounds of cheese to the Utah Food Bank.
- When the two owners started Beehive Cheese, they had eight hours of cheesemaking
experience between them. Within 2 years, they won their first American Cheese Society Cheese Award for Promontory, the Irish-style cheddar that is the basis of their creations. - The dairy herd providing the milk is a mix of Holstein and Jersey.
A selection of cheeses from Beehive is available at my Amazon Influencer Storefront.
The third video told us the story of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese. We met “Tina Turner”, the robot that turns, brushes and cleans each wheel during the aging process. Lynn Stray, Co-Owner and daughter of the dairy’s founder, Bob (“The Big Cheese”), walked us through various aspects of the cheesemaking and aging processes.
A bit of trivia from Point Reyes:
- Moving from human to Lely robotic milking and allowing the cows to be milked when they want (in 8-hour increments), the milk yield increased 10% from the herd.
- The size of the cut curd dictates the moisture level of Bay Blue. Their blue cheese is not pressed.
- Piercing the blue cheese to allow the oxygen in to cause the bloom is called “needling”.
Point Reyes provided wedges of their Toma and Bay Blue for our tasting portion of the class.
The second half of the class was a live tasting of six cheeses, two from each producer, led by Nathan.
The cheeses we sampled were Ama-Gor and Jeff’s Select Gouda from the Caves of Faribault; TeaHive and Pour Me a Slice from Beehive and Point Reyes Toma and Bay Blue from Point Reyes. I will review Point Reyes Toma, Ama-Gor and TeaHive in later postings.
In addition to the six cheeses, our GFI “care package” also included Speck and Hot Soppressata from Salumi Italiani, a Fig and Mandarin spread produced for GFI by Ponce de Leon; Citrus, Ginger and Thyme Artisan Crisps from Rustic Bakery, two mini bottles of Fireball Whisky and Apple Crown Royal, plus Bella Maria Marcona Almonds, selection of Italian olives, chips and New Bridge Pimento Cheese.
Most of these cheeses and accompaniments are available at my Amazon Influencer Store Front and I encourage you to visit my store for so many artisan products. Yes, I receive commissions from your purchases… but they will never make me rich…
You can follow Nathan at Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. His videos are educational and a hoot. Full disclosure, Nathan Aldridge, right behind The Man, is someone I have always loved from the moment we met in Dallas back, back in the day. That aside, Nathan also knows cheese better than most…
The IDF YouTube.com page has a plethora of videos to enjoy and increase your Cheese IQ. The first hour of this class is available here.
As much as The Man and I love cheese, we couldn’t possibly enjoy all of this and I rearranged it, added some of the curds that I recently won in the #wondersofWisconsin 180 Years of Wisconsin Cheese (sponsored by the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin) and took the new platter to an event at our church.
My personal thanks to Nathan, Kim, the entire cheese team at GFI and Brian Scott for including me in their cheese adventures.
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 influencer store front.
Mark your calendar: Every Friday night, you can find me slinging cheese plates at Sweet Combs of Honey from 5pm to 7pm while LaDonna is featuring flights of wine.
I sample specialty artisan cheeses most Saturdays at Sweet Combs of Honey: Check out my “Grab n Go” page at Facebook for more information.
The Man, aka Peter M. Wright, has written his first novel: Gold Fever, available at amazon.com as a kindle book for only $2.99.
Written in the flavor of one of our favorite movies, Romancing the Stone, Gold Fever is a romantic adventure that 
brings together an archeologist looking to establish his name in his field and a rock star on the verge of burn-out.
In GOLD FEVER an Archeologist motivated by a newly discovered clue, searches for a fabled Native American Legend – the long ago lost Seven Golden Cities of Cibola. While the Archeologist seeks to prove the legend is actually true, he is constantly under attack by a second group seeking the treasure.
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