Alison Roman is the no-nonsense, anchovy-loving, red-nail-polish-wearing, cool New Yorker friend we all wish we had. In early 2018 she gave us #TheCookies (a.k.a. Salted Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookies), the “less chocolate chip cookie, more brown sugar shortbread with chocolate chunks” that went viral almost immediately. She’s crafted memorable cheesy dishes for Bon Appétit and The New York Times, like her Spicy Baked Pasta with Cheddar and Broccoli Rabe and the deliciously delicate Ricotta Dumplings with Buttered Peas and Asparagus. And if you’re a true Romantic (yes, it’s a thing), you probably own at least one of her two cookbooks, Dining In (Potter, October 2017) and Nothing Fancy (Potter, October 2019). There’s plenty of dairy in basically everything Roman touches—this isn’t an exact calculation, but we’d estimate at least 75 percent of her dishes get some sort of grated salty hard cheese treatment.
Roman is all about simplicity; When it comes to cooking with cheese, she prefers a brandless box grater and a clean wooden cutting board over artisan cheese knives and hand-crafted slates. We caught her in the midst of meal prep to ask the hard-hitting questions: Is American cheese good? Should we be making our own cheese? Crackers or baguette?
culture: What are the wedges in your fridge right now?
ALISON ROMAN: Let’s see… I have a Gouda, a white cheddar, a parmesan—although that’s probably pretty old. I’ve been traveling a lot so my cheese selection is less robust than usual, but in general I probably always have a parmesan regardless, and if it’s not parmesan it’s Pecorino [Romano]. I call that a seasoning cheese, but it’s also a cheese I could snack on. My favorite snacking cheese of all time is Gouda—I love a really aged, salty Gouda. And if I don’t have that, then I will do cheddar, and I need as alty-ass cheddar. I need a white, aged, tangy, salty cheddar, and sometimes I feel like orange cheddar just isn’t salty or tangy enough for me.
What about English cheddar?
AR: I love an English cheddar, that’s actually my favorite style of cheddar. I find a lot of places in the States do it well, like you can find a cool Vermont cheddar, but English-style cheddar, oreven like the Kerrygold cheddar—those cheddars to me are the best.
What are your thoughts on American Cheese?
AR: I fucking love. It. So. Much. I live for it. That’s honestly probably my favorite cheese.
It’s such a hot button issue!
AR: Oh my god, it’s delicious, there’s nothing hot button about it. If you say you don’t like it, you’re lying to yourself. Is it cheese? I don’t know. Is it delicious? Absolutely.
Where do you love to get your cheese in New York?
AR: Murray’s is the best, but I don’t get over there that often. I want to go to a cheese counter and I want to become best friends [with the monger]. I want you to be as excited about cheese as I am, and if you aren’t then what the hell are you doing working at a cheese counter? I find it’s a similar case with people at wine stores… To me, you have a responsibility to serve as an educator and also a cheerleader. You can’t assume everyone walking into a cheese store knows everything about cheese.
Right, they’re acting as the liaison between the maker and the customer, which is huge!
AR: Yeah! You know who I love? Sahadi’s. Not only is it one of my favorite grocery stores, but it’s one of my favorite places to buy cheese. The guy who works there is so dedicated to talking about the farmers—he visits with you, he wants you to taste the cheese, he’ll give you [the farmer’s] life story even if you didn’t ask for it. He’s so into the process and really cares holistically about the cheese.
You cook with cheese all the time, but do you ever make your own cheese?
AR: Yeah, I’ve tried. I’ve done ricotta pretty successfully. When I was a pastry chef I used to make my own ricotta for desserts. [After making my own cheese] I’ve never thought, “Wow! That’s better than anything I could ever buy!” I think it’s a cool experiment and it’s interesting to know the process, but for me, if I can buy really dope mozzarella and really dope ricotta, then why would I make something subpar just to say that I’ve made it myself? It doesn’t make it better because you’ve made it yourself.
FACT. I’ve made really bad paneer and can definitely speak to that.
AR: Yeah! And you’re like, “Well, I did make it from scratch,” and people think that’s cool but then you’re like, “…yeah and it’s not good.”
Okay, so you know the face filter things everyone’s doing on Instagram right now, like “What cheese are you”?
AR: That’s so funny, I knew you were going to ask that! It’s like astrology, right? So the cheese that I think I am is parmesan: all-purpose, goes on everything, salty, firm. But the cheese that I probably am is goat cheese, tangy and soft.
If you are making a cheese plate, what are you serving it on?
AR: I’m serving it on a cutting board. Any cutting board that’s not dirty. A wood cutting board, not plastic.
Cracker or baguette?
AR: Crackers, no baguette.
Store-bought or homemade?
AR: Oh no, I’m never making my own cracker. I love Mary’s [Gone Crackers], Wasa, Raincoast Crisps, water crackers. I’m an equal opportunist. I like anything that’s crunchy and I prefer something that’s salty to not.
Do you have a favorite pickled thing?
AR: Any pickle is my favorite pickle. I’m obsessed with pickles. I want pickles on everything, I love them forever. I tried Grillo’s dill pickles recently and to me, this is the perfect pickle you can buy. I’m very excited to now have this pickle in my life.
Madison Trapkin
Former Editor-in-Chief Madison Trapkin is an Atlanta-bred, Boston-based writer. She graduated from Boston University’s Gastronomy master’s Program in December 2018 and started at culture in March 2019. She is passionate about The Feminist Agenda, pizza, and regularly watering her houseplants.
