Jeffrey DiMaio, CCP, CSW is the manager at Mazzaro’s Italian Market, in St. Petersburg, Florida, and among the first group of individuals to pass the inaugural Certified Cheese Professional Exam, given last August. DiMaio holds equivalent certifications in wine and beer.
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Anthea Stolz took a summer job at a cheese counter in 2004 and turned it into a career. She is now the cheese buyer at Bi-Rite Market in San Francisco.
Q: What (if anything) is lost in terms of quality, flavor, or texture when cheese is precut and sold wrapped in plastic at a supermarket versus cut to order? A:The level of...
Emiliano Lee is a veteran cheesemonger who recently moved to California to be the artisan market manager for Farmshop in Santa Monica; he is noted for championing an appreciation of domestic cheeses.
Q: I've noticed some cheeses are coated in ash. What is the ash, and why do producers do this?
A: The ash you see is a food-grade (sterile)...
Juliana Uruburu is the cheese program director at the Pasta Shop markets, with locations in Berkeley and Oakland, California
Q: I’m pregnant and wondering what the deal is with eating cheese—some people say to avoid it altogether, others say it depends on the cheese. Can you please clarify?
A: Cheese is an excellent source of vitamins, nutrients...
Tim Gaddis is the cheese & specialty buyer for Star Provisions in Atlanta, Georgia.
Q: What makes a cheese kosher? And are there any artisanal ones
A: There are only a handful of artisan kosher cheeses, mostly because the kosher certification is very costly. I recently learned, for instance, that Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery,...
As cheese master at one of Kroger’s markets in Cincinnati, Ohio, Melissa helped develop the working model for the Kroger/Murray’s cheese shop in each supermarket as well as its training program for cheese stewards
Q: What causes the “blue” in blue cheese?
A: To create a blue cheese, it’s necessary for blue mold spores to be present in...
Q: What are cheese mites? Can I eat them?
A: Mites are a common visitor to many a cool, damp cheese cave. Although the creatures themselves are barely visible to the naked eye, evidence of their presence is hard to miss, from the pitted and pock-marked surface of the cheese they inhabit to the thick tan dust and musky scent they leave behind on cellar surfaces. Mites are generally considered a...
Q:I’m going on a weeklong camping trip this summer and would like to take along some good cheese that does not require refrigeration. Got any recommendations?
A: Nothing is quite as lovely as dining al fresco, except of course dining al fresco underneath a sea of stars out in the wilderness. There are a few things to consider when selecting some provisional cheeses to accompany you on this getaway...
Q: What is the difference between Brie and Camembert?
A:To understand the true differences between Brie and Camembert—both flat, soft disks of white, mold-ripened cow’s milk cheese—one must look to the original recipes. In the case of Brie, these include Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun. In the case of Camembert, Camembert de Normandie. (The first records of Brie appear in 774; Camembert was created...
Q: What does AOC stand for and why does it matter?
A: Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, or AOC, is a French food-labeling term that protects the style, ingredients, and origin of a product. Many of Europe’s oldest food products are protected by similar designations, such as Italy’s DOC (Denominazione di Origine Controllata) and Spain’s DO (Denominación de Origen).
So you can appreciate the...
Q: I’m a lifelong cheese lover, but I’ve just been told by my doctor that I need to consume a low-sodium diet. Does this mean the end of interesting cheese for me?
A:Although a low-sodium diet might be good for your blood pressure, cutting out cheese sounds like torture. Fortunately, there are quite a few available options in the cheese aisle that I’m sure your doctor would approve of for a low-...
Q: As with fruit, a ripe cheese seems to be a good thing. But when can you tell that it’s at that peak stage and not gone over the edge?
A: Knowing what to look for when selecting cheese will help you pick out that perfectly ripe piece. When examining bloomy and washed-rind cheeses, look at the cream line. This translucent layer just below the rind signals where the bacteria on the surface have...
Q: I've just gone crazy at our local shop and brought home an incredible selection of cheeses. Now what? How should I store my cheeses at home?
A:The most foolproof method of keeping your cheese in great condition is to eat it as soon as possible!
Or you can try these tips for keeping your cheese happy at home – for as long as possible.
First of all, bear in mind that cheese is a...
Q: My cheese has gone moldy. Is there some kind of CPR I can perform on it or should I throw it away?
A: Not to worry, there’s no need to get out the defibrillator paddles just yet. Mold growing on cheese is a perfectly natural occurrence. The moisture content and pH that allow good molds to grow can enable the less desirable ones as well, but more often than not that freaky-looking fluff is...
Q: Are there any rules for choosing which jam to serve with a particular cheese?
A:First off, there are no rules when serving or eating cheese. Anyone who says there are lacks creativity and lives in France (just kidding!). There are, however, some great cheese-and-jam combinations I’d suggest. My favorites include:
Those are the standard combinations, but there are so many others that work...
Q: I’m having a dinner party, and I’d like to offer cheeses for guests to nibble on during the cocktail hour. How many kinds of cheese and how much of each should I serve?
A:Too many different flavors before a meal can overwhelm your guest’s palates, so, for a group of eight or fewer people, I recommend serving just one cheese before dinner. A small goat’s milk cheese paired with an effervescent...
Q: I recently bought a handmade aged goat cheese that was absolutely wonderful–although at $38 per pound, it ought to be! Can you tell me why these artisan cheeses are often so pricey?
A:Years ago, while I was working as a rookie cheesemonger at Neal's Yard Dairy in London, I asked a colleague to explain why the British and Irish farmhouse cheeses we worked with cost so much more than the commodity...
Q: I am lactose intolerant but love cheese. Are there any varieties that I can eat?
A: The good news is yes–as long as you proceed with care.
First off, it's important to clarify that lactose is a type of sugar that is present in milk, cheese, and other dairy products. In order to efficiently digest lactose without unpleasant gastric side effects, the enzyme lactase must be present within...
Q: When I buy cheese from my local cheesestore, it comes in special paper. Is this better than plastic wrap?
A: Every style of cheese has a different rind and moisture content, and because of that, each has different storage needs. For the small, soft cheeses, I often use plastic containers so that air will circulate around them and they will not be squeezed by the wrapping. For harder cheeses,...
Q: What makes a cheese “vegetarian”?
A: Many cheeses are traditionally made with animal rennet, a cocktail of enzymes harvested from the fourth stomach of a young, not-yet-weaned ruminant; usually it’s a calf, but sometimes the source is a lamb or kid. Animal rennet causes the coagulation of milk protein, turning the dairy liquid into a solid mass known as curd. When the curd is cut, a watery by-...
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