Stories Archives | culture: the word on cheese
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This Is How Cheesemaking Influenced Folklore & Daily Life


Few foods inspire as much ceremony as cheese. In recent years, couples have even eschewed traditional wedding cakes in favor of multi-tiered towers of beribboned, stacked wheels adorned with roses and greenery like their sweeter counterparts. Or take the modern cheese board. A glass or two of wine with a friend is just a well-spent Friday night, but add a cheese board, and it’s a spread worthy of a toast to welcome news like a promotion or an engagement.

Young Cheesemonger of the Year Hanna Lee on Patience, Persistence, and Pairings


We caught up with the New Mexico-based monger following her wins on the international stage and in New York as the latest winner of the Cheesemonger Invitational.  Hanna Lee has had an enviable career in cheese, as well as a geographically diverse one.  Originally from Washington, Lee’s first foray into cheese was at Asgaard Farm—a […]

What Happens When a Cheese Expert Loses Their Sense of Smell?


A cheese professional’s sense of smell is their superpower. What happens when it disappears?

An Interview With Aussie Cheese Legend Will Studd


The host of Cheese: Searching for a Taste of Place shares why cheese is worthy of the quest. For more than 25 years, Will Studd has been asking questions about cheese that extend far beyond how it tastes. Where does it come from? What traditions shaped it? What happens when those traditions collide with regulation, […]

Everything You Should Know About Brie de Meaux


A short trip from Paris lands you in the realm of France’s King of Cheeses. When you ask folks to rattle off the types of cheeses they know, brie is usually top of the list. It’s perceived as an upgrade that feels indulgent without trying too hard. Its luxe-yet-approachable flavor profile makes it an easy […]

Why Aren’t There Points for Cheese Like There Are for Wine?


I have never felt more confident shopping for wine than when staring at a shelf tag advertising “94 points.” I don’t know who gave it the 94. I don’t know what happened to the missing six. I just know that 94 feels safe, and it looks close to 100.

SAVEUR’s Kat Craddock on Cheesemongering and Staying Curious


There’s a certain kind of confidence that comes from knowing a system inside and out, then choosing to remake it on your own terms. After slinging cheese behind a counter in Massachusetts, working her way through professional kitchens in New York, and climbing the editorial ranks at SAVEUR, Kat Craddock now owns the magazine she grew up reading—reshaping it as an independent, print-forward, multi-platform brand in a media landscape that’s constantly shifting. In some ways, SAVEUR exists to push back against the fast-paced world of TikTok and doomscrolling, and Craddock’s mission is to maintain the brand’s legacy of immersive storytelling via food and travel while tightrope walking through the digital noise.

Mexico’s Most Popular Cheese You’ve Likely Never Heard Of


Meet queso Menonita: A superb melting cheese made by Mennonites in Mexico.

Cheesemaking in the Driftless


In Wisconsin’s Driftless area, a landscape untouched by glaciers has shaped not only the flavor of its cheeses, but the lives, traditions, and global influence of the people who make them. The Driftless Area of Wisconsin is a robust landscape of rolling hills, spring- fed streams, and limestone bluffs that has become a quiet epicenter […]

The Goat Ladies Who Built American Chèvre


4-H teen Jennifer Bice receives a champion award for her Nubian kid. We are living in that tech-fueled world and we know the names of those industry makers by heart. But running quietly alongside the tech boom, another revolution has been unfolding; one that receives far less attention but has transformed the way Americans eat—the […]

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