Make me cheese, please!

"You can't make good cheese out of bad milk," says Collette at the "Brie and Bubbly" seminar at the Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma last weekend. We knew this already, since the day before, we were on a farm tour of Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese near Tomales Bay. Their herd manager explained how the flavor and quality of feed creates flavor and quality in the milk. The best feed for cows is grass pasture; Point Reyes Farmstead is nestled among acres of lush verdant fields which are organically and sustainably farmed. The fresh pure milk comes right from the milk barn into the creamery where it is made into award-winning Point Reyes Blue cheese and Toma, a buttery semi hard table cheese with a texture like Havarti.

"Farmstead" means one farm raises the dairy cows, milks them and makes the cheese. In this way, the cheesemaker can be assured that the cows and milk are are handled properly. Point Reyes Farmstead's 300 cows munch happily on the rolling emerald hills most of the time, but were in the barn while we were there due to rain. Each cow has a name, a tag, and a detailed computer record of every facet of her life, from the carefully mixed supplemental feed formulated by a nutritionist, to her milk production and health history. One can see that Point Reyes takes extra care in their procedures as all the facilities are immaculate. I was impressed with their commitment to organics and sustainability. For example, manure creates methane that is captured and burned in a generator to supply 60% of the creamery's electricity needs. Also, the Giacomini family signed over development rights to the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, which will ensure the land will remain farmland in perpetuity.
 

We were fortunate to taste the result of their attention to detail with a seven course cheese dinner created by chef and author John Ash (named "Father of Wine Country Cuisine") assisted by three of the Giacomini family's four daughters. We had meaty fried green olives stuffed with Point Reyes blue cheese, fluffy potato croquettes with Point Reyes Toma and Romesco sauce, bitter and sweet radicchio soup with a melty spoonful of Point Reyes Mozzarella, a salad with grilled beef, fried capers and sliced garlic with shaved Point Reyes Toma, a delectable cheese plate with all their selections--including a taste of a yet-to-be released blue cheese and ice cream made with their top quality milk.

Saturday was seminar day with choices like "California's Rare Beauties", "The Wonderful World Of Mold" and "A Day In The Life Of A Cheesemaker". Among other opportunities, we were able to taste some cheese normally not available to the public--like Andante Dairy's Tim's Cheese, a ripe semi-soft cheese made only for the exclusive (and out of my price range) French Laundry, recipient of a coveted 3 star rating from the Michelin Guide.

Compiled from information from the the Artisan Cheese Festival and all the speakers, especially the lively and knowledgable Colette Hatch (named "Madame de Fromage"), below is a guide explaining the different types of cheese. Cheese can be grouped by texture: fresh, soft ripened, semi-soft and hard or how they are made: with penicillium roqueforti, by stretching the curd, by washing the rind or by adding other ingredients. Cheeses in the last five categories of method or ingredients could also be categorized under the first four texture categories. Click the name of any artisanal cheese that interests you for the website--you can order most cheeses online from the producer.

TYPES OF CHEESE:
Fresh, Farmer Or Pot Cheese:
Milk is curdled through acidification and/or addition of rennet or bacteria and usually aged to develop flavor. If it is not aged, it has a soft texture and a fresh cream flavor. Fresh cheese is highly perishable, so it should be eaten with in two to three days.  If you have never tried cottage cheese fresh from a creamery, rather than packaged and from your grocery store you are in for a big treat! The difference is like the difference between a juicy, flavorful homegrown tomato and a hard, unripe one from a chain produce store. This category includes cottage cheese, mascarpone, ricotta (once again a completely different taste experience when it is direct from creamery), chevre, feta, paneer and cream cheese. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included the light and fluffy Foggy Morning from Nicasio Valley.

Soft-Ripened Cheese:
This cheese is ripened from the outside in and usually has an edible, bumpy exterior that is created by spraying the surface of the cheese with penicillium candid, a type of mold. The "blooming rind" is usually white but can have red, brown or orange flecks. The interior is gooey at room temperature.  The most common soft-ripened cheeses have a white, bloomy rind that is sometimes flecked with red or brown.  This category includes brie, camembert, and triple crèmes (so called because they contain at least 72% butterfat. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included the fabulous Marin Rouge et Noir Brie which was the first American brie to win over the French in the 2005 World Cheese Awards, one of my all-time favorite cheeses Mt. Tam from Cowgirl Creamery, and the elegantly perfect Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre.

Semi-soft or Semi-hard Cheese:
Usually called “semi-soft”, this cheese is smooth and creamy with little or no rind. The texture is like pasta--both firm and soft--but the flavor can range from mild to strong. This category includes Monterey Jack (an American original), blue cheese, colby, fontina, havarti and tomme. Some have washed rinds (see below). Artisanal cheese at the Festival included Point Reyes Farmstead Toma and Pennyroyal Farm Tomme washed with Anderson Valley Boont Amber Ale which is not yet available to the public. The cheesemaker is working with Navarro Vineyards in establishing a creamery in conjunction with a new 7.5 acre vineyard and winery being built in Boonville.

Firm or Hard Cheese:
The largest number of cheeses are firm. Their flavor range is vast, from mild as fresh cheese to very stinky. In general, they can be grated and melted. This category of cheese includes the majority of cheddars, gouda, Swiss cheese, Gruyere, some tome and Parmesan. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included the unique Beehive Cheese Barely Buzzed which is rubbed with Turkish coffee and lavendar and Fiscalini's bandage-wrapped Cheddar.


Blue Cheeses
Penicillium roqueforti mold grows on cheese and creates blue/gray veins throughout.  Blue cheese can be mild or extremely pungent and/or salty. The texture can vary from soft to hard. In France, the original Roquefort is made from sheep's milk and the mold naturally occurs in the local caves where the cheese is aged. The strongly flavored English Stilton is made with cow's milk and the saltier Italian Gorgonzola from cow and/or goat milk. California's only blue cheese producer Point Reyes Farmstead makes their cheese from the milk of their Holstein cows. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included Point Reyes Farmstead Blue and the sweet and fruity Caveman Blue from Rogue Creamery.

Pasta Filata Cheese:
"Pasta filata”cheese is made from cooked and kneaded or stretched curd.  This category of cheese can range from very soft to hard and includes Mozzarella, Provolone, and Scamorza. There was a seminar on hand-pulling Mozzarella that we could not attend.

Natural Rind Cheese:
Often made from raw milk, natural rind cheese rind develops without molds, bacteria or washing (though bacteria and mold may attach to the outside air). This cheese category encompasses Tomme, the English blue cheese Stilton, and English Lancashire. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included the dreamy Pluvius from Willapa Hills Farmstead Cheese.

Washed Rind Cheeses
Washing a cheese with brine, wine, ale or local spirits breaks down the curd on the outside. The rind becomes thick and part of the cheese rather than a skin on the outside of it. The thick rind helps keep moisture and flavor inside. These cheeses often have a mild, smooth interior that contrasts with the pungent rind. This category includes some Tomme, Raclette, Taleggio and Manchester. Artisanal cheese at the Festival included the pungent crowd-pleasing Red Hawk from Cowgirl Creamery (all thier cheeses are outstanding) and Garden Variety Cheese's Basque-style Moonflower.

Processed Cheeses
Many American commercial cheeses are “processed” by adding stabilizers, emulsifiers, and flavors (sometimes chemical) to create inexpensive cheese that lasts a long time. Processed cheese includes American Cheese, the orange-colored gunk they pour on fast food nachos, and “cheese flavored” spreads. These are the antithesis of homestead, artisanal cheeses.

Read here about the Artisanal Cheese Festival 2009.