Tasting Tuesdays have become a regular feature over at the Boston office, and when they asked me to pitch in, of course I said yes. It didn't hurt that they were sending me Beemster's XO Gouda, which is one of my avowedly favorite cheeses. XO is aged 26 months, and has a wonderful grainy texture because of it, along with a sharp-sweet-savory flavor like that reminds me of a liquor-filled, salted caramel bonbon.

In this blog series intern Kate E. interviews the staff here at culture: the word on cheese to give you an inside look at a day in the life of this goofy group of cheese-lovers and their work on the magazine you've come to love. Have specific questions for or about our staff? Be sure to send them to staff@culturecheesemag with the subject line, "Meet the Staff".

Yesterday our Love with Food box arrived. I love getting them every month. It's a surprise and a present every month. And with each one I think about Lassa, who gave it to us as a Christmas gift.

Love with Food is a subscription service in the form of a box of unique and mostly new specialty food products (no perishables) - giving producers trying to break into distribution a chance to catch on virally, and hungry consumers the chance to discover them. Then, (and here's the Love with Food part) they turn around and donate a meal to a hungry child for every box sold.

Each week we taste a sampling of cheeses in our Cambridge office and discuss their flavors, textures, and our general impressions of them. Yum!

Bonne Bouche
Goat's Milk - Vermont

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.)

Each 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

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...

Each week we taste a sampling of cheeses in our Cambridge office and discuss their flavors, textures, and our general impressions of them. Yum!

Aged Goat
Goat's Milk - Wisconsin

In this blog series intern Kate E. interviews the staff here at culture: the word on cheese to give you an inside look at a day in the life of this goofy group of cheese-lovers and their work on the magazine you've come to love. Have specific questions for or about our staff? Be sure to send them to staff@culturecheesemag with the subject line, "Meet the Staff".

Hey, we had a little snow last night...and today.