A blog dedicated to cheesemaking, cheese tasting and appreciation and all things cheese and dairy related, from a VIAC-certified urban cheesemaker.
McSweeney’s: Sarah Kaufmann, Cheese Sculptor
McSweeney’s Internet Tendency interviews Sarah Kaufmann, Professional Cheese Sculptor:
Q: You’ve done some huge cheese sculptures. Which one is your favorite?
A: My current favorite is from the Indiana State Fair this past August. It was SO cute. It was 2,200 pounds of cheese.
It’s a dairy cow sitting on her throne. I used one white 640-pound block and two yellow 640-pound blocks and had to cut and fashion them to make the 7-foot by 6-foot sculpture. It was very complicated, very beautiful, and very fun to do. It stretched me to the ‘nth degree of ability and stamina.
Q: How long have you been doing this?
A: I’ve been carving cheese for 17 years, full-time for eight years.
Q: Did you set out to be a cheese sculptor?
A: Cheese really found me. I drew a lot as a kid. My whole family is very artsy, talented and clever. We were always encouraged to try, our art was never criticized so we never failed. You should have seen our cookie decorating-–true works of art! I knew in high school that I had to do something with art, and I ended up going to technical school for commercial art.
Later, I became the art director for the American Dairy Association of Wisconsin. We had “foodies” I would hire to carve cheese for big events. Of course I had to dig in and help, but I never thought about carving cheese myself.
When I left that job in 1996, one of my cohorts called and asked me to carve for them. They sent me a 40 pound block, the tools, and the rest is history.
Read the full interview (and then get yourself a knife and 50Lbs of cheese and get carvin’!).
(Photo ©2013 Sarah Kaufmann)
“La plus belle meule du monde… Marché d’Aurillac, 1964”. Photo by renowned French photographer Albert Doisneau. (Translation: “the most beautiful wheels in the world, d’Aurillac Market, 1964”).
Via the Facebook page of Les Fromagers de France.
Cheese portrait painter Mike Geno, at the ACS Conference. You can read more about his unique eye for cheese in this New York Times profile.
Via Gourmet Library on Facebook:
“AWESOME stinky cheese street art Christina found while having a great time at the beach in Asbury Park!”
Making music with cheese, literally…
Cheese Kit Diptych is an installation by artist Walter Willems consisting of two drum kits. In one, full rounds of real (mainly Dutch) cheese sit atop drum stands; in the other, plastic cheese replicas usually found in store display windows are employed. In this absurd setting Willems reinforces the international stereotype of the Dutch by using a classic Dutch export product as its main ingredient.
Cheese Kit Diptych was created specifically to be played by world-renowned Dutch improvisational jazz drummer Han Bennink. Bennink, ambassador of the Dutch free jazz scene, is known for his ability to drum on any surface, teeming with humor, virtuosity, and creativity through his animated style. Willems considered his installation incomplete until Bennink played both of the drum kits.
Via summercellars, an interesting video of Jasper Hill’s Mateo Kehler, discussing the cheesemaking process at JH and in general. I was particularly interested by his take on cheesemaking as “Art” vs “Craft” (he thinks of it as the latter). I think this struck me because it parallels a debate that often occurs in Interactive Design (and probably all applied creative fields, whether it be graphic design, industrial design, woodworking, etc.) between those who think of the design process as artistic vs those who think of it more as a craft, more akin to architecture than to fine art, a process that, while creative and potentially experimental, must in the end occur within strictly defined parameters and with controlled outcomes.
Mateo explains how to make cheese - and in the beginning they are discussing the new digital chemical analyzation tools that both Mateo and Herve use to carefully monitor their milk. Watch all the way until the end to find out why Farmstead cheese tastes better!
