This story is part of culture’s 2025 Hot List. Click here to learn more about the selection process and to see the entire list of recipients.
Anne-Marie Pietersma, CCP
Educator at Murray’s Cheese
Sensory Storyteller and Founder of Trust Your Taste
Brooklyn, New York
Anne-Marie Pietersma is a seasoned educator with over a decade of experience at Murray’s Cheese in New York. A self-described “sensory storyteller,” Pietersma blends her background in theater with her passion for cheese to create unforgettable, emotionally resonant tasting experiences. She teaches people to trust their palates and find personal meaning through food. From dairy advocacy to bridging the gap between agriculture and urban life, Pietersma is on a mission to make cheese approachable, inclusive, and joyful. Her debut book, I’ll Have What Cheese Having: A Book of Cheese Pairings Inspired by Romantic Comedies, released in spring 2025.
Who is your biggest inspiration in the cheese world?
Honestly, it’s the people who take my classes and workshops. Watching them connect sensory experiences with memory is amazing. Dairy has had a rough decade, but that’s changing. Not many folks in Brooklyn grew up near dairies, despite dressing like it, and those of us who did are in a unique spot to bridge agriculture and food culture. Getting someone to try blue cheese with something sweet, love a washed rind they thought they’d hate, or realize they’re not lactose intolerant but instead A2 sensitive—those moments light me up. Helping people experience dairy in a new way feels like Christmas morning, every time.
What was your big “aha” moment?
Cheese became my way of staying connected to agriculture amid the chaos of NYC auditions. Once I started learning (and tasting), I couldn’t stop. My real “aha” moment was realizing my favorite part wasn’t just cheese—it was validating others’ experiences. Tasting rooms can feel intimidating, especially when you’re unsure or feel like you’re “wrong.” I know that feeling. I love being the teacher who cheers when someone says, “I don’t like this,” or “It reminds me of …” That’s why I started Trust Your Taste—because if we can trust our literal sense of taste, we can start trusting ourselves more deeply, too.
What’s Next?
My first book, I’ll Have What Cheese Having, is coming out this year! It’s been a four-year project, and it’s really the combination of so many things that make me happy. I’m judging a few things this year, and I would love to be a judge at the World Cheese Awards at some point. And I’m such a sensory nerd, I know I’ll probably go for the American Cheese Society Cheese Sensory Evaluator certification at some point.
Pair a song with cheese: Listen to the entire cheese pairing playlist on Spotify!
Milton Creamery Prairie Breeze + “Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan
What’s the cheese you’re raving to your friends about right now?
Hornbacher. After its recent awards, it’s much more available again, and I just never want to stop eating it. And I wish I could live in the illustration on the label.
If you weren’t in the cheese industry, what would your career be?
I’m grateful I get to live in both the theater and cheese worlds, but in another life (or later in this one), I’d be in fragrance—or maybe a therapist with a flower shop who illustrated children’s books. I love honoring fleeting beauty, craft, and helping people connect to emotion through sensory experience.
culture: the word on cheese
Culture is America's first and best magazine devoted to the love of cheese. Explore our website for stunning photos, cheesemaker profiles, recipes, wine, beer, and a community of readers always willing to help and chat.
