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Redefining “American
Cheese”
Review from the A.C.S Conference 2008, Chicago, IL
With Gretchen Morfogen
Picture an event where cheese makers, cheese mongers,
cheese aficionados, merchants, dairy scientists, distributors,
buyers from all over the cheese making world converge
to compete, judge, taste, learn, network, share, teach
the virtues of American Cheese.
The 25th Anniversary American Cheese Society Conference
took place in the windy city this year to a near record
crowd of entries and attendees. There were many photographs
of past events rolling through an enormous screen in the
ballroom of the Hilton. Nostalgia, however, was only felt
by a few. This organization has grown significantly over
the past several years but the founders were a small group
of cheese makers and scientists determined to support
a grassroots movement supporting small American cheese
producers and their efforts to create a sustainable agribusiness
from nothing.
Back in 1997 I attended my first A.C.S. conference in
Seattle, WA. I was a complete cheese rookie and had very
little exposure to anything but European cheeses at the
time (I was working for Dean & Deluca in St. Helena
CA). The encounter launched me into a side of the food
business that I had never known. Eleven years later I
continue to learn and appreciate the momentum and evolution
the cheese business is undergoing.
The American Cheese maker is a passionate, extremely hardworking,
salt of the earth individual that is profoundly connected
to the animals, the milk and the earth. Many of the dairies
have the ability to work with modern equipment, state
of the art computer analysis for their cheese making processes
and some cheese makers are making handcrafted, small batch
cheeses and many are somewhere in between. All of them
have some alchemy in them to be able to take a substance
like milk and turn it into a thing of palatable beauty
like a creamy chevre, a tangy earthy cheddar, or pungent
raclette.
The conference is broken into several sessions targeting
either retailers or cheese makers and moderated by industry
professionals in respects to the subject being featured.
Since I have been in retailing for years I opted to attend
the more scientific sessions, learning about coagulants,
enzymes, rennet and fermentation temperatures, artful
affinage, and the creative nature of how cheese makers
do their magic. It was an overwhelming amount of information
but it peeled another layer off the mystery that intrigues
me about this prolific food.
At the end of the conferences the winners of the competition
are announced and there is a “Festival of Cheese”
which displays every entry and the winners by category.
Back in 1997 the Festival consisted of 250 cheeses that
were displayed on two picnic tables under a funeral tent.
This year there were 1149 cheeses from 181 producers and
3 Canadian provinces presented in the Hiltons Grand Ballroom!
The expanses of the displays were amazing. I limited myself
to trying the top winners and some other gems that have
yet to be discovered. The volunteers worked tirelessly
to cut and display 1100+ cheeses for this event and all
of the cheese leftover was sold the next day to benefit
scholarship opportunities for retailers and cheese makers
to attend future conferences.
Notable local cheese that you must look for is the up
incoming Baetje Farms fresh goat cheeses (MO), Marieke
Goudas (WI) or Hidden Springs fresh sheep’s milk
cheese (WI) and even Heartland Creamery (MO) is gaining
some recognition*. Many wonderful cheeses are still made
in such small quantities that you will never see them
outside the farmer’s market or small community in
which they are produced.
Many of the larger producers are making their way into
the mainstream market but that isn’t to say you
shouldn’t try them to support the efforts of a master
cheese maker either. They work very hard and have a tremendous
amount more milk to work with and can afford to age their
product to perfection. They haven’t sold out they
are sharing their craft with many more people, which we
all benefit.
Next time you’re in a rut as to what to snack on
or have for a meal, remember cheese is a perfect food
and combined with a sweet or savory condiment is a match
made in heaven! * Baetje can be found at Soulard Market
and the others at various retailers throughout St. Louis.
More information on the American Cheese Society can be
found at www.cheesesociety.org
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