Cheese Is Headed Your Way

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There are no foods with a greater capacity to inspire passionate discourse, with a myriad of facets to consider: from animal welfare and sustainability, to nutrition and safety. This is part of the beauty of cheese study; it invites contemplation and it stimulates discussions around the globe and around the clock.

A former student emails me questions from her shop in Hong Kong; which triggers the memory of last summer’s young Provençale chèvres au lait cru – illegal for import here due to outdated and misinformed rationale; which reminds me of the upcoming FDA visit to the 31st American Cheese Society conference in Sacramento – a conference now being staged by the organization’s Denver-based administrators and a team of volunteer planning and judging committees’ members from around the country; while cheesemaker Mary Quicke readies for her full day traveling from Devon, England to be there too; while in the meantime: a cheese trolley is being set up for the evening service at a restaurant in Melbourne, who’s chef was inspired by a cheese talk given by Russell Smith – cheese expert of Down Under – also headed that way; as candidates for the Certified Cheese Professional exam are up all night cramming for the 29th of July; shepherds are releasing their flocks from their milking parlors in Portugal’s sunny Beira Baixa; while many millions of pounds of fermented milk cure on cool and damp wooden boards right here in the U.S. of A.; and young and old tummies alike are sated everywhere, including those of the crew of an international space station orbiting our planet.

It is good. Cheese is a food that is as greatly revered as it is reviled. Yet it is a food that has sustained our race for millennia and one that has been offered as a peace offering between warring parties.

Cheese is headed your way, starting now!

Max

18 thoughts on “Cheese Is Headed Your Way”

  1. Max, what a nice start! Refreshing news; exciting topics for conversation; and lively words that describe the cheese world. I look forward to seeing you in Sacramento in a few days. — So glad to hear/see you online again.

    1. Thank you, Babs! You were the first person to reply to my first post on my new blog! Just checked into the hotel, will be judging all day tomorrow and Monday. Looking forward to seeing you too! -Max

  2. Along with “safety” issues for topics you get political and big business strong arming tactics that reach globally and locally. They’ve reached into my kitchen to take away cheeses that until fairly recently had been a favorite delightful, nutritious and safe escape from the stresses of the day and problems of the world.
    GO MAX

  3. “….it is a food that has sustained our race for millennia and one that has been offered as a peace offering between warring parties.”

    Now, more than ever, we need cheese. As a connection to animal over profit, and for sustenance, not pretentiousness. For the delight of sharing and for all the senses, bring it on!

  4. Max,
    And it is the geek level love of cheese and passion for all aspects of cheese which now drives this monger to readdress the exam to be a CCP. This year its mine. And this blog and it’s words remind me of why I am proud to be a CHEESE GEEK!!!!!! Thanks Max.

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