Miss Cheesemonger ™

***this post has been updated to include the Giacomini sisters’ official titles.***

To reach the Fork on this beautiful spring day in April, the new educational and event building at Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company, my cheese photographer Gavin and I had to first leave San Francisco, drive past miles of fields punctuated by knobby, massive boulders, and climb a single-lane road flanked by roaming cattle. Actually, the drive was only an hour long. I still can’t get over how suddenly the scenery shifts once I leave San Francisco and its somewhat precious bedroom communities.


The sun was shining through the Fork’s many windows and skylights as we were greeted by Karen and Lynn, two of the four Giacomini sisters who run the business. Jill, our guide, was on a conference call. What started off as a minor delay turned into a great opportunity to see (most of) the family together. Bob Giacomini walked in, Jill finished her meeting, and then we all got hear about Bob’s visit to a local San Francisco restaurant and evening out at the theatre (the show was a dud, unfortunately). Family businesses often go through family drama, but this one seems to be doing things well. Each person is allowed to shine in his or her own capacity. Karen assists at the Fork. Jill is Chief Marketing Officer and also oversees the Fork business unit. Diana is the Chief Financial Officer. Lynn is Chief Operating Officer, and also oversees national sales. Bob, who was one of the founding members of the Bank of Petaluma, and his wife Dean oversee everything. The one person I didn’t get to meet was Jennifer Luttrell, the Fork’s executive chef and culinary program director.


To begin our visit, Karen led us to the Fork’s teaching area. There, this soaring space with slate floors was set up for the next day’s event, a cooking demonstration with Sandra Bernstein, owner of the Girl + the Fig, and author of the Girl + the Fig cookbook. One word about the Fork’s space–it is gorgeous! These women have got themselves an incredibly quaint, yet refined, setting. If I could host an event, I would totally check out this venue as an option. The space is equipped with a moveable cooking demonstration island, blackboard, and plenty of ledges to lay down plates and glasses around the room. The high, sloping ceiling allows in plenty of light. The ambiance is that of a subtle and sophisticated farmhouse.


On the other side of the event space lays the teaching kitchen, with blackboard, and space for up to 16 people. Here, the sisters like to hold hands-on educational events, industry tastings, and public cheese tastings and courses, sometimes with wine/beer pairings. Currently, they have renowned homemade cheese class instructor and author Mary Karlins booked to teach her day-long courses once or twice a month through November. Check the Fork’s website for more info if you’re interested in that. This pristine kitchen would be the site of our cheese tasting later on.


Jill took over the tour from there, and led us to the other side of the new building, to the storage and packaging areas. I quickly saw how efficient and thorough the Giacominis are, for instance how they centralized all of their storage in this one space. Jill described how they slowly (over years) came to realize that their old sprawling storage situation was imperfect and needed to be centralized to allow the workers to be more productive. At that moment, several workers were deftly packaging full wheels of Toma for shipment, and cutting smaller pieces for farmers markets. They moved quickly and easily. We couldn’t go into to any of the packaging areas, but enormous plate glass windows offered us a great view. From my vantage point, it seemed like the Giacominis have really thought through how to make every detail of their creamery and farm efficient and pleasant–for their employees and for us visitors.


Check out my Culture blog post on this for more photos.


Next post: How is the cheese at Point Reyes Farmstead Creamery made?

I had to save the best post (for me) for last. I don’t know what it is about cuddly animals, but I cannot resist them, especially goats. If you like what you see here, feel free to also check out Miss Cheesemonger’s Facebook page and Miss Cheesemonger’s Twitter page.

After a whirl around Achadinha Cheese Company’s creamery, Donna led us around to the “teenager” area of the farm. Here, adolescent goats can frolic in their own space before joining the rest of the herd in their enormous barn and pastures. From this vantage point, we had a superb view of Donna’s nearly 300 acres, vast emerald green fields with rolling hills. Larry Peter of Petaluma Creamery is a neighbor, and across the way, we saw McEvoy Ranch (think olive oil). All we heard were goats, birds of prey, and the wind. It was awesome. The farm cat, adopted from Peter, immediately came to inspect us newcomers as we held out our hands for the goats to sniff/nibble.


The next stop was the milking parlor. Twenty-two machines are at work, milking the goats twice a day. The goats have come to enjoy their milking time, and really show their different personalities here. Some goats fight to be among the first milked goats, and some fight to not be milked. I did not witness this, but apparently they are always the same ones. As Donna explained, she uses gravity as often as possible to transport this milk next door to the creamery. Just outside the parlor, a large trough of whey was available to passing goats. Apparently, they love drinking it. It may have looked kind of slimy to me, but what do I know? I’m not a goat.


The final stop on our visit was the barn, where a good number of mothers and their young ones were hanging out. There, we could see the variety of goats that Donna keeps—she has Alpines, Saanens, Toggenburgs, la Manchas, Oberhaslis, floppy-eared Nubians, and a mix of anything in between. The interesting part for Donna and for myself was that having so many goats together reveals their social behaviors and personalities perfectly. As we approached the barn, some mischievous young kids were jumping about outside their enclosure. When they saw us coming, they immediately knew to duck back in. Goats were everywhere—there are several tiers where they can live, and Donna explained that the most aggressive ones tend to stay on the taller tiers. We saw some scuffles between the higher-ups and the floor dwellers, but nothing minor. I thought it was great to see that other goats almost always watched these struggles with interest, and made the decision to stay out, or join a side.


A separate pen held newly-born kids and their mothers—one had just been born that morning, and still looked a bit wet. Another pen in the back was occupied by a mother in labor. The rearmost pen held the infamous billy goat Pete, who had rammed Donna’s truck after escaping once. He was noisily munching on alfalfa, but did find us worthy of snorting at us once.


The goats spend at least the night in the barns, because coyotes do prowl the area. However, during the day, they are free to roam the fields and graze where they’d like. Their diet consists of grass, but Donna regularly supplements that with brewers’ grain, reducing waste in the area, and providing extra nutrition for her goats.


Definitely the highlight of my day was when Donna reached into the goat pen, plucked out a tiny kid, and let me hold it! I love goats! This one looked like some mix between a Saanen and Nubian because it was white like a Saanen, but had big floppy ears. Cute goaty cuddliness. That made my day.


By the time we had finished our visit, Donna had lost track of the time and didn’t realize the time had passed to pick up her own kids from school. Oops! She spoke with such sincerity and such warmth, we had completely lost track of the time as well.


If I learned one thing from this visit, it’s that Donna is a superwoman. She handles the farm and her family so gracefully! Thank you, Donna for showing us around, and for sharing your story.

I applied to be a tasted for Jasper Hill Farm‘s new cheese last week. When I applied, I was pretty chill about the whole application, but now, I am feeling extremely anxious about it! What gives? This may just be my competitive side coming out. In any case, I know the Jasper Hill and Culture Magazine folks will choose an awesome panel. Their Facebook page says they will inform the chosen tasters next week.


If you are on the panel, I am excited to read about your tasting experiences! Please drop me a line to let me know who’s in on Miss Cheesemonger’s Facebook page!

Here is part 2 of a series of 3 posts about visiting Achadinha Cheese Company in Petaluma, CA.

Just before we left the Achadinha creamery, where owner Donna Pacheco’s full-time employee Fernando and another helper were packaging cheese for market, Donna invited my photographer Gavin and myself to taste some. We started with curds made the week before. They were almost bright yellow, wonderfully full-flavored, slightly tangy, and slightly springy. (I don’t think they were squeaky, for those who are asking.) It’s not surprising that a good amount of Achadinha’s sales are in curds. We tasted some fresh curd as well, made that morning, originally destined for Broncha. This mixed-milk curd tasted almost like sweet butter, but with a fluffy marshmallowy consistency (squeak!). I could have easily eaten just curds, but we moved on to the cheeses.


First up was the feta, which Donna makes herself early on Friday mornings. It was very heavily brined, which is why she normally suggests that customers fill the remainder of the container with water to draw out some of the salt. The texture was ultra-crumbly. It almost pops in the mouth before breaking down.


The broncha, her mixed cow/goat milk, was up next. I tasted a subdued cow milk flavor, which gradually gave way to the goat milk. It started off in the mouth with a bang, but quickly mellowed out with a slightly lingering aftertaste. As far as cheeses go, it was not sweet, which was maybe what I was expecting. The rind was fabulously fine, like paper.


Last up was the Capricious. Aged as long as it is, it has a kind of flinty, dry texture that would make for great grating. It had a sweetness that I was surprised to taste, along with a grassy quality. This one took a bit of time for the flavor to develop. It started of mellow, so all I felt was the texture, then exploded with flavor, then faded back down to mellow again. Pretty extraordinary, and very complex. I had to get two pieces of that one just to make sure of what I had tasted.








Next post: visiting the animals!


If you want to read my ramblings all day, every day, check out Miss Cheesemonger’s Facebook page and Miss Cheesemonger’s Twitter account.

Psst . . . did you know that if you click on the thumbnail photos in my articles, you’ll see their full-sized versions? Did you also know that I write several times a day on my Miss Cheesemonger Facebook page and my Miss Cheesemonger Twitter Account? If you feel like reading my daily musings, check them out.

Farm visits are always exciting to me. After a certain point, cheese alone doesn’t satisfy me, and I really begin to hunger for the history behind the plate. My recent visit to Achadinha Cheese Company/Pacheco Family Dairy in Petaluma, California, was richly rewarding. Joined today by my friend Gavin (wedding photographer by day, cheese photographer 1-2 times a year), we wound our way along Chileno Valley Road, past rolling green hills, up to the wagon wheels gracing the Pacheco Dairy entrance. Along the driveway, we could see grazing goats, but nearly 30 cows, some chickens, a dog, and a cat. There are also pigs on the property, but I think they kept out of sight that day.


We stepped into the front entrance of the creamery, where freshly-made curds were being shoveled by two workers into a variety of large molds. Any artisanal cheesemaker who says it’s not hard, physical labor is joking. You probably develop great back and arm muscles from lifting and shoveling at this job! Donna Pacheco, Achadinha’s owner, cheesemaker, mother, and farmer extraordinaire, floated out of the back of the creamery and greeted us warmly. I wonder how she’s kept her good humor, seeing that she’s making cheese at 6:30-7am on most mornings! We walked past their cheese press—essentially consisting of plastic planks and buckets (this is truly handmade cheese!), to the aging room. There, we saw stacks of the popular goat-milk cheese Capricious and mixed-milk Broncha at different stages of aging.


As we walked among different batches of aging cheeses, Donna described her philosophy on working with her 1,000+ goats. To sum it up, you could say she is highly attuned to the seasonal nature of food—not just her cheese, but all food. She is very careful to work with her goats’ natural cycles, so when milk supplies are low, during winter, she simply reduces production. The characteristics of her goats’ milk are affected by a number of elements (food, weather, health, etc.), and she accounts for these changes by modifying her recipes as needed. Her “textbook” for accommodating these fluctuations is in the form of copious notes written by Donna herself, detailing everything about the goats and their living conditions. She knows them all, and loves sharing stories of their personalities with the curious.


Donna educated us a bit about the process of making her renowned Capricious cheese, an aged goat’s milk formed by bundling the curd into cheese cloth. She handles her milk delicately, using gravity to transfer it as much as possible, because small goat milk molecules are more fragile than the larger cow milk molecules. When it ages, the cheese first sits flat atop cypress planks for one month. Donna then transfers the wheels to slots where they stand upright, and washes them in olive oil once a month for 14-15 months.


When the cheese wheels are aged and ready to go, Donna takes great pride that Achadinha sell to customers itself. Apart from making and selling cheese, Donna sees one of her principle roles is that of educator. It is vitally important for her that her customers understand how her cheese is made, how the animals are raised, and what their personalities are. Moreover, she hopes that her customers will come away with the understanding of the seasonal characteristics of her product, and seasonal food in general. Her team of 12 salespeople attend approximately 50 farmers markets a week, and that number is growing consistently. Donna herself attends about 4 markets each week.


As Donna shared this information with us, standing amidst her cheeses, it was easy to see why she feel so strongly about the seasons, food education, and her product. She wakes up every morning bright and early to make cheese and care for her animals. Her house is in the center of the property, so she hears the goats, cows, and other animals when she goes to bed at night. Her children play an enormous role in caring for the animals and keeping the farm functional. Her husband, third generation dairy farmer Jim, plays a critical operational role in the farm. This cheese and these animals are her way of life; why shouldn’t she want to share more with her customers than a simple piece of cheese? Her cheese company is much more than that. It is literally her home.


Donna referred to her eldest son, whom all of the cows on the property regard as a mother cow, with nearly as much affection as the boisterous billy goat, Pete, who once escaped and rammed a farm truck. Cheese and home life merge seamlessly into one. She is extremely careful about food safety because any threat to her company is a very real threat to her family. That said, she does enjoy making cheese—she has been doing this professionally for over 12 years now—and her work allows her to finish cheesemaking in time to pick up her children from school every day and spend time with them. Many city dwellers I know don’t have that luxury.


If you want to see more photos, check out my version of this visit on the Culture Magazine Blog.


Next post: Tasting cheese!

Hello readers! This week, my SF wedding photographer buddy Gavin and I are going to visit some cheese makers. There will be new material and some gorgeous photos! I’ve been eating a ton of cheese lately, thanks to the CA Artisan Cheese Festival, but haven’t quite gotten down to really tasting them. I guess I need to do that before I finish them off, right?


In the meantime, here is a link to my first meme. It’s relevant, I promise.


See you all soon!

Last weekend, I had the chance to volunteer at the California Artisan Cheese Guild booth at the California Artisan Cheese Festival’s Sunday Marketplace! This was actually my first. I had only been to the Oregon Artisan Cheese Festival before that. Cheese events had been going on throughout the week, such as facility visits and seminars, but I could only pull myself away from work on Sunday. My shift began bright and early that morning. It had been pouring rain for the past few days, and fellow festivalgoers were wary about the weather. The marketplace was, after all, taking place under a massive tent on the Petaluma Sheraton’s parking lot. Luckily, the weather cleared up.


I love festivals, even though they get crowded and people get pushy—this one was no exception! It’s energizing to meet new people, discover new products, and catch up on old acquaintances. This time, I had the chance to meet up with my dear friend Kim from the old cheese shop in Southern California, David and Jennifer Bice from Redwood Hill Farm, Kit from Petaluma Creamery, Lenny Moonsammy from Bellwether Farms (and their heavenly ricotta!!) and Melissa and Burt Teaff of Napa Cookie Co. The Cheese Guild table was snuggled very nicely between those of Marin French Cheese Co. and the Cheese School of San Francisco. Just down the aisle of the tent, Tim Welch and his wife Carrie were there to represent Beehive Cheese Company. I was so glad to meet both of them, as I have only met co-owner Pat Ford. Plus, this was the perfect opportunity to sample their new cheese, Teahive, which is a cheddar coated with ground black tea leaves and bergamot. It was as heavenly as it sounds.


The cheese that completely won me over was not even represented there by its maker. The Cheese Shop in Healdsburg was sampling Bent River, a camembert-inspired cheese from Alemar Cheese Company in Minnesota. Tasting it, though, was nothing like tasting camembert (I like to think I know this, after a year living in Normandy, France). This was something completely different—velvety, rich, milky and only mildly salty—it reminded more of a triple-crème like Explorateur than camembert. I don’t know why on earth I didn’t just buy half a wheel. Maybe it was the weight of the knowledge and in my bag of the other 5 cheeses I had already purchased. Long story short—if you come across this cheese, you MUST at least try it.


There were so many delicious products and wonderful makers, I know I am missing the names of some on this list. Here’s a summary of who and what struck my taste buds in particular. Over all, it was a tasty day.


**Seascape by Central Coast Creamery owned by Reggie Jones. They’re based in Paso Robles. The Seascape completely blew many festivalgoers away. It’s not surprising this cheese won best in its class at the last World Cheese Competition!


**Bleating Heart Creamery owned by Seana Doherty had some lovely fresh cheeses and an asiago style ewe’s milk cheese. Plus, how can you not love their logo?


**The McLelland dairy in Petaluma had fabulous butter vibes going on in their booth. I wasn’t the only one to sense it; my cheesemonger buddy Kim bought a gorgeous crock of it to take home to SoCal.


**Achadinha Cheese Company, owned by Jim and Donna Pacheco, had one of the more impressive cheese displays of the festival. Square-ish wheels of their well-known Capricious showed of the elegant Old Worldliness of this aged goat cheese. Because they tied wrapped and tied in cloth during the formation and pressing stages, each wheel bears the imprint of a large knot across the top. The end result is a wheel that almost looks like a wrapped gift.


**Shamrock Artisan Goat Cheese, owned by Gilbert Cox, offers a pretty large array of cheeses. They were sampling primarily their fresh chèvres at the festival, infused with flavors like basil, garlic, and dill. Gilbert was very keen on showing my photos of his eight Anatolian Shepherds.


**Les Vignobles from Roseville, CA, owned by chef Jonathan Ashmore, was sampling and selling its magnificent wine- and champagne-based jellies. I tasted their champagne-ginger-peach, merlot, and champagne-rose jellies, and ended up purchasing a champagne-rose one. I am a sucker for anything rose-flavored.


**Kidding Around with Chocolate, owned by the celebrated author of the Goat Cheese cookbook Maggie Foard, offered some extraordinary bittersweet goat milk fudge.


**Delk Bees in Santa Cruz, CA, owned by Scott Delk, was sampling infused honeys. There were some pretty wild flavors, like coffee-infused honey (if I had this, I would drizzle it over ANYTHING), and jalapeno-infused honey. I don’t know how they do it, but it tastes pretty amazing.


**Joel Weirauch, of Weirauch Farms in Petaluma, CA, sampled his Tomme Fraîche, Rumpel (slightly longer aged tomme), Carabiner (a raw tomme), and the Peau de Pêche, his washed rind. Weirauch Farms also has a large following for their soaps, but Joel didn’t bring them to the Festival that day.


**Grace & I offered some truly exquisite pressed fruit and nut cakes. Their Maui press cakes, featuring pineapple, mango, papaya, and passion fruit, is so gorgeous, I would almost be afraid to cut it up and eat it.


**At the Clover Stornetta booth, cheese sculptor Sarah Kaufmann was working her magic. She had sculpted a reclining Clo the cow holding a glass of milk, and was working on a car when I saw her.


One other highlight of the day was watching the cheese wrapping competition, sponsored by Culture Cheese Magazine, the Cheese Shop in Healdsburg, and Formaticum cheese paper. I felt I should sign up, but my shyness got the better of me, and I ducked out. That’s not happening again, though, trust me. Someone who’s out there reading, hold me to that next time you see me! I think I was intimidated from seeing amongst the competitors Steve Jones from the Cheese Bar in Portland, Oregon, who actually won the last Cheesemonger Invitational competition in New York last year. I did take video of all three heats of the professional wrapping portion. They had to contend with a half-wheel of Mt. Tam (video), a full Redwood Hill Farm crottin (video), and a slab of Beehive Cheese Teahive (video). Sorry they are shaky! Competitors were graded on time and neatness. The competition was pretty intense, but in the end, radiant Cowgirl Creamery cheesemonger and Cheese School of SF intern Devon Foster was crowned the winner! Ms. Foster will soon be headed for an internship at Pholia Farms in Oregon, so maybe this was a nice sendoff for her. Will Fertman of Culture MC’ed the event with great flourish.


If you would like to see more of the photos I took that day, check my post on the festival at Culture Cheese Magazine’s blog. Their blog is much better equipped at handling photos than mine!

Before leaving for my recent trip to Vietnam and Hong Kong, I was able to squeeze in one last business lunch. With who? Will Fertman, of course. Why? Because we’re going to try posting Miss Cheesemonger articles to the Culture blog on a regular basis. Are you excited? I sure am!


I told him about my upcoming Asia trip, and so, as we parted ways, the last words I heard floating back to me on the wind were, “If you do find cheese in Vietnam and Hong Kong, that would be amazing.”


Well, I didn’t dig around enough in Hong Kong to find cheese (I was too busy digging around Hong Kong for handbags), but I did find it in Vietnam. Thanks to a Saigon-based friend, I found a very respectable cheese counter at Annam Gourmet Market. Clearly, this two-story shop selling foods ranging from Ritz crackers to wine caters to the Western crowd. I made a beeline for the vast cheese case at the back of the 2nd story, where a selection of (mainly) French cheeses was remarkably well kept by their Vietnamese cheesemongers. The prices ranged from about 80,000-200,000 Vietnamese dong per 100 grams, or about $17.50-$43.50 per pound. In a country where there is nearly no historical dairy consumption and the average monthly income is maybe around $400, that’s no small amount for a food item. I identified cheeses such as: St. Nectaire, Ossau-Iraty, Tomme Milledome, Monta Ewe Tomme, Feta, a couple of Goudas, Reblochon, Pecorino Romano, and Mozzarella Galbani. In a neighboring case, there was a sizable selection of charcuterie.


Not only can you find cheese in Ho Chi Minh City, you can find cheese made in Ho Chi Minh City. One Japanese-owned pizzeria, called Pizza 4P’s, makes its own cheese from local cows’ milk for its renowned Naples-style and Japanese-influenced pizzas. The website says the restaurant engages in “Edutainment,” since patrons can watch the entire pizza-making magic take place in an open kitchen. The only catch? I found out about it in time to try booking a reservation for a Monday night, only to learn that the restaurant is closed on Mondays. This will have to be a taste adventure for another trip.


Actually, I was very surprised at how many restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City and elsewhere served up Italian and American fare. In Hue, located in the central part of Vietnam, Mr. Cheesemonger and I visited a popular bar called the “DMZ.” There, an all English-speaking staff serve mainly pool-playing foreigners to the beats of the Cure, Led Zeppelin, or whatever other music matches their rock/rebel aesthetic. The walls are covered with notes written by visitors past. If it wasn’t for the sight of motos roaring past outside, I would have thought I was in the Mission district of San Francisco. I saw that they had a large pizza selection, so I decided to try a vegetable calzone. It was a near perfect experience. The tomato sauce, maybe a little small in quantity, was perfectly flavored and delicately textured. The vegetables were fresh, and the crust was light and flaky. The cheese, on the other hand, nearly spelled my demise. It was so rubbery, no amount of chewing seemed to break it down, and Mr. Cheesemonger watched bemused as I choked on it twice. I can’t say I blame the restaurant, though, for that failing. Cheese is a foreign ingredient, consumed by foreigners, and I am sure, costly to keep. Plus, there are so many Hue dishes competing for attention, such as Banh beo, small rice flour galettes topped with fried onion and served with fish sauce, that cheese becomes practically insignificant.


I loved my time in Vietnam, my motherland, and I cannot wait to return. Maybe next time, I will find cheese becoming more accessible, but even if I don’t, the local culinary tradition is so rich and delicious, it doesn’t matter.


P.S.: So, since this is my blog, I get to put what I want on it, right? I think I’ll post something about Vietnamese food, since it was such a delicious part of our trip, even if there’s no cheese.

As Josepha cheerfully cut and wrapped cheeses at the Oxbow Cheese Merchant, I sneaked a glance around the shop again. Oxbow has a formidable condiment selection, all perfect for pairing with cheeses. They favor local honeys, jams, crackers, and their customers love them for it. As we were chatting, a woman at the counter said she had driven up from the Peninsula (south of San Francisco) to spend a day in Napa and visit Oxbow. That’s about a 90 minute drive!


We pushed on with the tasting. Cheese 5 was called Ottavio, and it hailed from northern Italy. A slight rarity in the cheese field, it is made with thistle rennet, so it is vegetarian. It is also a washed-rind cheese, washed in barley beer. You can even see barley in the paste itself. I was surprised when I smelled it because there is hardly any of that pungent aroma characteristic of most washed-rind cheeses. For this reason, it could be a great introductory washed rind. Just don’t tell the person before she tastes it, and see what happens. I thought Ottavio’s rind was beautiful, mottled and natural, dark and earthy. Its flavor was mild, yet earthy. This is the kind of cheese that needs a beer, not wine! If you can find a barley beer, it would complement the barley wash nicely. I couldn’t find any information about this one other than what Josepha relayed, so if anyone has anything to forward to me, I’d love to take a look.


Cheese 6 was an American take on the traditional French Raclette. This one hails from Spring Brook Farm in Vermont, and is called Reading Raclette. You can, of course, make a raclette with it, which is always tasty and filling. You could also just eat it as it is, and munch on it amongst friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon. I’d drink a white ale with it; others might choose a red wine. If you are looking for it in the cheese case, seek out a kind of spongy-looking cheese with a bright orange rind and bony-colored paste with eyes. The original wheels are 14-20 lbs., but are likely to be cut into large wedges.


We finished our tasting on a gentle note. Cheese 7 was the Tomme Brûlée, a sheep’s milk Pyrenees-style cheese from France. What sets this apart from, say, a P’tit Basque or Ossau Iraty is its charred rind, torched just after the aging period, hence the “brûlée” in the title. The result is a richly marbled rind with streaks of black, white, and all shades in between. I loved the mouthfeel here-it was deliciously soft and creamy, deserving of a smooth, delicate red wine. The flavor was delicate as well, hardly showing any of the woolly aggressiveness of other well-known Basque cheeses, like the Abbeye de Belloc. I’d put this one early on the cheese plate, and definitely show off that gorgeous charred rind.


Thank you to Lassa Skinner for welcoming me into her shop, and cheesemonger Josepha Bertolini for showing me around the cheese case! I can’t wait to return.


If you would like to visit the Oxbow Cheese Merchant, here is their address and telephone number:
610 First Street (in the Oxbow Public Market)
Napa CA 94559
707.257.5200

Despite living in San Francisco for a year, my track record for visits to Napa is pretty dismal. As part of my New Year’s push, I decided to go beyond San Rafael and visit a cheese shop. Not just any cheese shop, the Oxbow Cheese Merchant, managed by none other than Lassa Skinner. I wanted to meet her and her crew, check out the locale, and get away from the office.

I’ll be honest, I probably don’t go to cheese shops as often as I should. I find myself more at cheese or gourmet food events. I sure was glad to go to Oxbow, though, and this visit confirmed that I do need to get out more. As soon as I arrived there, cheesemonger Josepha Bertolini greeted me with the type of open smile that comes from true enthusiasm. She guided me through the shop, and I could only marvel at what I saw around me. Everything is neatly organized and carefully curated. The cheeses are all in pristine condition–their faces are perfectly clean, everything is cut at right angles, the plastic wrap is tightly folded to showcase the cheeses beneath. Lassa sure trains her cheesemongers well. Plus, they are mostly women, with the exception of the buyer Ricardo.


Because Valentine’s Day was around the corner, there was a large stock of soft, creamy French cheeses out on the shelves or in the walk-in all perfect for tasting with sparkling wine. As Josepha pulled out one large chunk of cheese after another, I found myself turning a bit nostalgic for my cheesemonger days. Cabot clothbound cheddar, chunks of Parmesan, Langres, Munster, and others all sat ripening on the shelves, waiting for their moment of glory on someone’s cheese plate.


At Lassa’s suggestion, Josepha then flew off to find some cheeses for us to taste. What follows is a bit of a speed tasting session! I’m going to break it into two posts. We ate seven cheeses in about 20 minutes.


We started with the Casatica di bufala. I just loved how Josepha effortlessly sliced off a piece for me, then expertly re-wrapped everything so perfectly! The Casatica was remarkably clean tasting, like freshly-pressed linens. There was a bit of a lemony tang, and I imagined it would go well with strawberries and some bubbly. The mouthfeel was decadently lush and full, thanks to the high fat content of buffalo milk. If you want to look for it in the shop, keep an eye out for a bloomy-rind cheese that weighs about 2 lbs. It’s got a bone-colored paste that looks like someone might have sat on it for a bit (i.e., it is flattened). The cheese paste has small eyes throughout.


Cheese 2 was the strongest of the seven cheeses–a perfectly ripe and runny Brie de Nangis. This is one of the classics of fine cheese, and seeing it in such a perfect incarnation at Oxbow was a treat! It was luscious and full of umami, with an earthy, barnyard, mushroom flavor. This is the kind of diva cheese that needs a big white wine to pair–try a buttery, oaky Napa chardonnay.


Cheese 3 was a cheddar called Mount Mazama hailing from Rogue Creamery in Oregon, one which, surprisingly, I had not yet tasted (I harbor much love for all their cheeses, especially Caveman Blue!). The mix of goat and cow milk produced a laid-back tasting experience. It was nutty and fruity, yet mild. Texturewise, it was a bit crumbly, a little bit flinty. If you’re looking for a good snacking cheese, or one to add to your mac n’ cheese recipe, I’d vouch for Mount Mazama. It comes in blocky rectangles, and the Oxbow cheesemongers cut it to order. In keeping with Rogue Creamery’s tradition of naming cheeses after local landmarks, Mount Mazama is named after a destroyed volcano in Oregon. Josepha suggested a delicate red wine to pair with this cheese–syrah or a pinot noir.


Cheese 4 was decidedly local. There is a vibrant Basque community in Northern California (Thank you, Basque brother-in-law for sharing your culture with me!) that actively herds sheep and makes Basque-style sheep cheese. This particular one, Txiki, which means “little” in the Basque language, is made in Marshall, California, by Marcia Barinaga of Barinaga Ranch. It is made with raw milk and aged for sixty days. Is it actually little, weighing about 1.5 lbs. I guess the meaning of “little” depends on much you eat at one time. Josepha also showed me a wheel of its big brother, Baserri. The flavor of Txiki was nutty, fruity and only slightly sheepy. It was all in all quite delicate, with a smooth and velvety mouthfeel. Like the Mount Mazama, I would choose a delicate red to go with this one, a pinot noir most likely. I tend to pair Basque -style cheeses with blueberry or boysenberry jam, following the traditional Basque pairing.


To be continued . . .