Visit to Everona Dairy, Virginia
March 5, 2013 - 7:45pm | by kate
Recently, Elaine and I took a trip to Rapidan in Virginia to visit Dr Pat Elliott at Everona Dairy, where she has been producing both raw and pasteurized sheep's milk cheeses for the last fourteen years.
Dr Elliott is now in her eighties and in addition to making some award winning cheeses, is still a practicing MD at her doctor's office adjacent to the farmhouse. Her adventures in the dairy world started after first buying a small number of sheep to keep her Border Collie occupied. Then, while researching ways for the sheep to earn their keep, she tried her hand at milking them with a view to making cheese on a commercial scale. In the late 1990's, after taking a cheesemaking course and traveling overseas to learn more about cheesemaking, Dr Elliott began cheese production in earnest at Everona.
A new name! Yeah!
March 1, 2013 - 3:07pm | by stephanie
I am stupendously pleased that NASFT has today announced they have changed their name to Specialty Food Association. It makes sense. I could never remember the acronym, or what it stood for. It's just simpler, sleeker, and more appropriate.
It also reflects the growing importance specialty food has in our diet and food conscience. "Sixty-six percent of US consumers purchase specialty foods {in 2012}, up from 59% in 2011." (Specialty Food Magazine, October 2012, Annual Report: Specialty Food Consumers, p.34.)
Give [DIY] Cottage Cheese a Chance!
March 1, 2013 - 12:12pm | by amanda
Of all things cheese-related, almost everyone loves to hate cottage cheese. I admit, I was a part of the cottage cheese-hating fan club—and why? What did cottage cheese ever do to me?
Was it the lunch snack mix-up in grade school, when I mistook cottage cheese for rice pudding?
Was it my arachnophobia and the Miss Muffet nursery rhyme convincing me cottage cheese (i.e. curds and whey) must be a spider sentinel?
Or is it because I just fell in with the same boat as everybody else, the “wrinkle your nose without giving ‘ol cottage cheese a chance” cruise line?
Whatever my qualms were, they disappeared once I gave cottage cheese the college try. (Really—it took me until college to try!) Since then, I haven’t gone back.
With the popularity of frozen yogurt, Green yogurt, kefir and anything else wonderfully tart, you should give cottage cheese another chance as well. Trust me on this.
And the Oscar Goes To …
February 27, 2013 - 10:58am | by lauren
As an indiscriminate media zealot and avid snack lover, nothing pleases me more than the mash-up of food and pop culture. For this week’s Tasting Tuesday at culture, I thought it would be fun to play director, imagining some of this year’s Oscar nominees in the role of a lifetime, as one of Point Reyes’ amazing cheeses. Here are a few of my picks to invite for a (snack) session on the casting couch.
Tasting Tuesday: Point Reyes Cheeses
February 27, 2013 - 10:17am | by AmyEach week we taste a sampling of cheeses in our Cambridge office and discuss their flavors, textures, and our general impressions of them. Yum!
Point Reyes Original Blue
Cow's Milk - California
Week Four of Our Winter Cheese Plate Winners: Name That Cheese!
February 26, 2013 - 3:44pm | by lauren
We've arrived at the fourth installment of our Winter Cheese Plate Winners! Here's where you'll find five weeks of our winning foodie bloggers, sharing their personal spins on our Winter 2012 Cheese Plate! This next post in our series comes from Caitlin Harvey, the Bay Area blogger behind Milk's Leap, a chronicling of her hands-on adventures in home cheesemaking and DIY kitchen culture. Be sure to check back next Wednesday for our fifth and final post in this series, from Caroline Kaufman, RD, of Sweet Foodie!
This... is... JeoparCHEESE!
Snowed-In? Let’s Make Cream Cheese!
February 22, 2013 - 12:53pm | by amanda
Two thoughts have crossed my mind since our recent New England blizzard passed through:
- I undeniably, unquestionably, irrevocably detest snow (my years in Florida have spoiled me).
- In its purest state—before time takes its toll—snow reminds me of cream cheese.
Curling up with hot cocoa and some crackers or a toasted bagel with a tart, creamy spread by a warm fire (or apartment radiator) and a good book—or movie*—is the perfect way to spend your time if you’re snowed-in. At least, that was my weekend.
And for DIY cream cheese all you need are three ingredients—THREE ingredients! Are you sold on this idea yet? And imagine the possibilities for other recipes: carrot cake frosting; a cheesecake base; cheesecake ice cream…In case you haven’t guessed I’m a sugar-holic.
DIY CREAM CHEESE
Meeting the Staff: Stephanie Skinner
February 21, 2013 - 4:00pm | by kate e.When Stephanie Skinner, the publisher and co-founder of culture, first envisioned the magazine, it was “a nice little magazine nestled in the woods of the Berkshires. We’d dabble a bit in digital, but we’d never stress ourselves out.” And the world of cheese is thankful that she was wrong. culture has grown beyond its humble origins, bringing the word on cheese to thousands. And all of this has happened with Stephanie in the background, finding ever-new and innovative directions for the magazine. “I always try to foresee what trends are coming and prepare us on capitalize on them...
Week Three of Our Cheese Plate Party Winners: Cheese Pairings to Please a Crowd
February 20, 2013 - 12:14pm | by lauren
Welcome to the third installment of our Winter Cheese Plate Winners! Here’s where you’ll find five weeks of our winning foodie bloggers, sharing their personal spins on our Winter 2012 Cheese Plate! This next post in our series comes from Leah McFadden, the ACS-Certified Cheese Professional and blogger behind Shootin’ The Bries, where she recounts her many adventures in cheese tasting! Be sure to check back next Wednesday for the fourth post in this series, from Caitlin Harvey, of Milk’s Leap!
Distant Cheeses, Local Farmers: Bringing Raclette Home
February 19, 2013 - 10:35am | by mollyIn this blog series our intrepid intern Molly will find and interview American cheesemakers attempting to re-create traditional European cheeses. Learn about the difficulties as well as the benefits of this type of cheese making, as well as how terroir and the idea of a cheese tied to a location so distant changes when that cheese is made in a new location. Also, each week you'll have a chance to win an issue of culture: the word on cheese. The winner of last week's prize was Patrick Farrington!
