The Financial Times has a great profile of William Oglethorpe of Kappacassein Dairy, one of the first true modern urban cheesemakers in London (and probably any city, for that matter). This man is my role model! : 

Twice a week at 4.30am Bill Oglethorpe leaves his flat in Streatham, London and drives for 50 minutes to an organic farm outside Sevenoaks in Kent. When he arrives the cows have just finished milking. He unloads his squat 20l aluminium churns and pours a little of his fermented milk starter into the bottom of each one. The milk comes straight out of a tank in the milking parlour, through a pipe and into the churn at the temperature it leaves the cow’s body: 30C. Bill fastens on the lids, heaves the churns into the back of the van and heads off to his Kappacasein Dairy in Bermondsey. In just a few hours the milk in the churns will have been transformed into five fat wheels of cheese. Bermondsey Hard Pressed cheese goes from udder to a recognisable cheese in a little over seven hours.

Cheese makers perform a daily alchemy, turning a perishable ingredient – milk – into something durable, storable and dense with protein: cheese. But to be a cheese maker you must rise, like Bill, before dawn to fetch your milk – and not just any milk. The French cheesemonger, Pierre Androuët talks about cheese having a cru, or growth, just like wine. Instead of the quality of the grape, it is the milk that is the first (and possibly the most fundamental) thing a cheese maker must get right.

William Oglethorpe sounds like a very English name, but this cheese maker is a Frenchman raised in Tanzania and Switzerland, where he learnt his craft in the Swiss Alps. The simple way cheese was made there (by heating raw milk) appealed to him, as did the relatively small amount of equipment needed. I join him as he starts work on the first cheese of the day, similar to an Alpine Tomme de Montagne.

Read the full story. You can also listen to an interview with Oglethorpe on Episode 75 of the Cutting the Curd podcast.

(Photos ©2013 Financial Times)

Best. Business Card. Ever. (via Gizmodo)

Of Course a Cheese Store Has a Tiny Grater Business Card

Since printing its address and contact details on a slice of muenster cheese would probably do more harm than good for Bon Vivant, the Brazilian-based cheese shop hired ad agency JWT to come up with something better. And in every way possible, this miniature cheese grater business card is a much better idea.

So as not to also turn your wallet into a pile of shredded leather, the grater comes in a protective sleeve, which probably also helps to minimize the inevitable cheese smell from permeating your pocket. And that’s also why the garlic growers of the world should just forget about trying a similar gimmick to promote their product.

You can even see some video of the grater in action.

The Salt: Tiny Mites Spark Big Battle Over Imports Of French Cheese

NPR’s The Salt blog delves into the FDA’s current efforts to make a mountain of a mite hill in their patently ridiculous ban on Mimolette: 

The Food and Drug Administration is currently embroiled in a surprisingly heated culinary standoff — pitting French cheese-makers (and American cheese-lovers) against regulators, all because of one very small problem: cheese mites.

Cheese mites are microscopic little bugs that live on the surfaces of aged cheeses, munching the microscopic molds that grow there. For many aged cheeses, they’re something of an industry nuisance, gently brushed off the cheeses. But for Mimolette, a bright orange French cheese, they’re actually encouraged.

The mites munch on the rind for a few years and then are removed — usually with a blast of compressed air and a bit of hand-brushing — before Mimolette is sold. But there are always a few hiding behind. And now the FDA is cracking down.

According to the FDA’s Patricia El-Hinnawy, there’s no official limit, but the target is no more than six mites per square inch. For Mimolette, that’s a near impossible standard.

But in the 21st century, do we need a cheese ban? Microbiologist Rachel Dutton runs a cheese lab at Harvard University, and we checked in with her about the dangers of mites. Dutton notes that there have been some reports of mite allergies, but they seem to be restricted to people who have come into contact with large numbers of mites.

“Cheese is absolutely alive,” Dutton laughs. And all of that life — the molds, bacteria, yeasts and mites — help make cheese what it is. Dutton says that the mites on Mimolette can contribute flavors of their own (they have a somewhat earthy smell), and by eating into the rind, they can also increase aeration — and the surface area in which the other microbes can do their work.

Dutton understands that this doesn’t sound appealing, but implores people to realize the good work of these bugs. “There definitely are microbes that can spoil food and make either it bad for you to eat or just sort of gross. But any time you eat a piece of cheese or a bite of yogurt, have a piece of bread or a glass of wine — these are all examples of foods fermented by different types of microbes.”

Read the full story or listen to the broadcast here. 

(Photo ©2013 NPR.org)

NYT: A Cheese Shop in a Slim Crown Heights Space

Wedge, the newest cheese shop in Brooklyn, gets a visit from the New York Times Diners Journal, who also include a shout-out to our friends at Edgwick Farm (see my Edgwick visit here):

The new cheese shop in Crown Heights may be called Wedge, but Sliver would be more like it. The owners of the narrow but well-equipped storefront, Kate Blumm and Michael de Zayas, have done their homework. And with the expertise of Lilith Spencer, who had been at Bklyn Larder, the cheese and provisions shop, they are stocking their bright little place with some real finds. Among them are a goat’s milk ricotta from Edgwick Farm in Cornwall, N.Y.; a couple of tommes from the Kokoborrego Cheese Company in Mount Gilead, Ohio; and an organic Parmigiano-Reggiano from Italy. They also carry pistachios and almonds from Sicily, a mead vinegar from Italy, breads from Bien Cuit in Brooklyn, and a sweet white miso made in Conway, Mass. Charcuterie is sliced on what Ms. Spencer says is the Rolls-Royce of slicing machines;

Wedge,
728 Franklin Avenue (Sterling Place),
Crown Heights, Brooklyn
wedgeonfranklin@gmail.com, facebook.com/wedgeonfranklin.

(Photo ©2013 New York Times)