I was just looking at a transcript from my latest round of cheesemaker interviews and this was the warning issued by a cheesemaker who saw early parallels in our careers -- we had both been affiliated with the University of Chicago, then gone to the University of Wisconsin.

You could have a worse fate than becoming a cheesemaker, that's for sure.

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Just for fun, three cheese videos ...

Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling

The Cheese Trap

Cheese And Onions

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[UPDATED] In our continuing effort to keep you apprised of developments on the frontiers of law and cheese, I note today's decision of the European Court of Justice holding that ["Parmesan" is not a generic product name.] "Parmigiano Reggiano" is a protected designation of origin [and only authentic "Parmigiano Reggiano" can be sold under the name "Parmesan."] According to the BBC story, authentic Parmesan is "made by fewer than 450 cheese-makers close to the Po River in northern Italy." In honor of the decision, take a look at this promotional video with a catchy jingle ...

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Gordon is in Wisconsin, conducting a survey of cheeseries, and I think it's fair to say that some people associated with this blog are pretty envious.  My family happily received an airmailed wheel of Christmas Stilton from the UK, long before cheese was cool, but also long before I could reconcile myself to the idea of mold in my food.

Now I love the stuff.  Should I move to the country and start producing my own?  One Hudson Valley cheesemaker made his fortune first:

For Tom and Nancy Clark, an investment banker and an interior designer, the transition from weekenders to owners of the largest dairy sheep farm in the country began in 1979, when they bought property in Old Chatham, N.Y. ...[I]n 1993, the couple bought 600 acres nearby and began building barns for what is now the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company, a storybook complex of a creamery and 1,200 crossbred Friesian dairy sheep, which produce sheep's-milk yogurt and 10 cheeses that are sold nationwide in cheese shops and whole foods markets.

Mr. Clark still commutes a few days a week to his investment firm in Greenwich, Conn., but "the rest of the time I'm here haying and driving tractors."

While another West Coast cheesemaker embraced the very concept of fortune reluctantly:

''I didn't believe in capitalism,'' [Stephen] Schack said, ''but my ideals have changed over 20 years.'' After studying cheese-making in France, the two came back to their Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol, on a hidden road overlooking Iron Horse Vineyards. Although they have been making goat's cheese for only three years, their Camembert-style Camellia is a standout.

And here's how some Texas A&M economists estimated the impact of a potential Texas panhandle cheese factory:

• Operation of the cheese plant creates 857 jobs in Lubbock county, 125 directly in the plant.
• County population increases by 935.
• School children increase by 210.
• Labor force increases by 614, net in-commuting increases by 116, and 127 unemployed take jobs.
• The county property tax base increases by $109.5 million.
• Tax revenues for all jurisdictions in the county increase by $2.28 million annually (nominal dollars).
• Inter-governmental revenues increase by $.45 million annually for all jurisdictions in the county (nominal dollars).

UPDATE: And here's the Times on the market niches for micro-dairies serving up everything but cheese: yogurt, butter, custard, ice cream ... yum!

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A few years ago, while I was still at the University of Wisconsin, I started investigating the business of cheesemaking. Wisconsin has long been the leading producer of cheese in the United States, but as California has increased production, Wisconsin cheesemakers have turned increasingly to the production of specialty cheeses. I noticed that some of these specialty cheesemakers were organized as corporations or limited liability companies, while others were organized as cooperatives.

At roughly the same time that I was looking into cheesemaking, I had a couple of students who were interested in the law governing cooperatives. I did a bit of reading and started asking around in the local legal community. We never discuss cooperatives in Business Organizations, and very few legal scholars write about cooperatives (Henry Hansmann being the notable exception). I became fascinated by this lost corner of our law, which obviously still has some traction in the U.S.

So last year I recruited Brayden King and Marc Schneiberg, two organizational sociologists, as co-authors. We applied for and received a grant from the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives. And I took the occasion of the Wisconsin Contracts Conference to visit some cheesemakers in southwest Wisconsin. This is my first time using interviews as a research methodology, and it's a lot more fun than sitting in my office hatching theories of fiduciary duty. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The only problem is the weather. A storm on Sunday -- rain followed by snow -- left the roads icy, and most of these cheesemakers reside in very small towns ... or in no town at all. They are accessible only by country roads, which are beautiful in the summer, but treacherous this week. Yesterday, I ended up in a snowbank on an unmarked curve. Fortunately, a cheesemaker named Ole (I am not making this up) had a truck and a chain and was able to pull me out.

My discussions with the cheesemakers are fascinating. I am constantly reminded of Stewart Macaulay's famous study of non-contractual relations because the smaller cheesemakers simply can't be bothered with formal contracts. If they come crosswise with a farmer who supplies them with milk or a distributor who sells their cheese, they just stop dealing with them. Simple.

UPDATE: If you want to get a feel for some disturbing local culture, this is one of the towns I visited yesterday.

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While my co-bloggers are busy offering insights about business law and related matters, I am still trying to find my way around Utah County. This morning, cheese junkie that I am, I had a craving for some good cheese. As longtime readers of the blog know, Madison's Whole Foods Market was one of my favorite hangouts, but when I searched for a Whole Foods Market near my Utah home, this was the result:

Hmm. I have never shopped at a Wild Oats store, but I know that Whole Foods has been trying to merge with Wild Oats. Perhaps they are in Utah and have some good cheese?

Well, 24 miles sure beats 339, but it's a long way to drive when I am not even sure about the payoff.

Plan B: Google. Google Maps is great on business searches, but "cheese" brings up Chuck E. Cheese, PJ Cheese (which I take it is related to Papa John's?), and Who Moved My Cheese (which seems to be a business consultancy based on that silly management book).

"Gourmet chesse" is not much better, returning among other things, Papa Murphy's Take N Bake Pizza and a business called "Pioneer Gourmet Food Provisions." (I think we can safely say that this is the sort of business you would only find in Utah!)

"Imported cheese"? More pizza or other Italian restaurants.

Based on my prior conversations with BYU professors, I am pretty sure that people here eat good cheese, but it looks like I am going to have to use old-fashioned methods to find it. Like blogging for help! (Of course, I will also ask around in my neighborhood and at the office, but if one of our readers happens to know of a good cheese shop in Utah County, I would be grateful to hear about it.)

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In real time!

Thanks to Eric Goldman for the pointer.

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At dinner with several of the bloggership participants tonight, I ordered a selection of three "farmhouse" cheeses (two French and one Italian). What is a "farmhouse" cheese? Though I have heard the term often, I had never actually tracked down its meaning. Here's a definition from Hormel food glossary:

A term commonly applied to European cheeses referring to any of the different types of cheeses that are made by traditional cheese making methods and produced from the raw milk of animals such as cows, goats or sheep raised on a small regional farm, a mountain chalet farm or mountain hut. The quantities produced from these methods are small in volume. When approved for production by the Eurpoean AOC (Appellation d'Origine Controlee) the cheese is categorized as a fermier or farmhouse variety. Although this term was derived in Europe, it is also often used to classify domestic varieties of cheese.

Now we both know.

UPDATE: Here is a photo of the farmhouse cheeses, courtesy of Ann Althouse:

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Christine reminded me the other day that we haven't had a cheese post in awhile, so I stopped at Whole Foods on the way to work today. Among other things, Whole Foods was featuring Cheshire cheese from Neal's Yard Dairy. This is a crumbly, tangy cheese produced by Appleby's Farm. The name of the cheese dervies from the county of Cheshire in England. It's flavor is similar to a sharp cheddar, but Cheshire is typically aged only six weeks to six months.

According to the Appleby's website, "Cheshire is considered to be the oldest British cheese, it is mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) and probably dates back even further to Roman times." Some people are taken by the saltiness of the cheese. Appleby's attributes the saltiness to the Cheshire land, but assures us that they have happy cows:

Our herd of cows graze the salty summer pastures at the edge of the Cheshire Plain. In the winter they are housed indoors on straw beds. Our cows are milked every day at 5am and 3pm using a floating rotary parlour. The modern technology we use helps to ensure our milk is of the highest quality and our cows are happy and relaxed.

In the U.S., the most distinctive feature of the cheese is its crumbly texture, which gives it the appearance of a much older cheese. In the U.K., however, the most distinctive feature is its color. Though Cheshire comes in three varieties -- white, red (actually, we Americans would call this "orange," the result of annatto dye), and bue-veined (also called Shropshire cheese) -- the orange version is the one usually associated with the name Cheshire. Teddington Cheesemongers offers this anecdote about the orange color:

Although Cheshire is naturally a light golden colour, it is more often dyed to a rich orange using annatto. Legend has it that because its reputation was so good, some Welsh farmers labelled their own cheese as Cheshire and sold it to coach travellers on the Hollyhead to London route. The Londoners were unhappy when they tasted the inferior cheese back at home and thus the name of Cheshire cheese began to fall into disrepute. The Welsh farmers were told to dye their cheese in order to distinguish it from real Cheshire. However, the new coloured cheese quickly became fashionable and the Cheshire makers soon found themselves having to follow suit. Thus, red Cheshire was born.

Of course, the orange color is most distinctive in a cheese display without the orange cheddars that tend to dominate American groceries.

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This is a Swiss-type cheese, but it is produced in the Loire Valley of France. I am told that "Fol Epi" means "wild wheat stalk" or "crazy wheat," and this cheese is made in a mold to create the distinctive wheat markings on the side. The rind is brown, having been dusted with toasted wheat flour. It feels and tastes like Emmenthaler, and it is sometimes referred to as an "emmenthaler imitation." Our wedge didn't last very long, and I just skipped the crackers.

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A friend who had lived in Italy introduced me to Taleggio cheese, and it now makes regular appearances in my home. Yesterday, I opened a slice for my family's customary Sunday afternoon cheese munching, and it was gone within minutes.

This cow's-milk cheese originates from Val Taleggio in Bergamo, and it is listed on the EU's Protected Designations of Origin. Taleggio cheese is formed in squares. The rind is rose-orange colored, and it usually has spots of greenish mold. The paste is yellow and creamy, but not runny. As the cheese ages, the paste gets darker and the smell becomes more pungent. It is a slightly salty cheese, but generally mild. If you enjoy brie or camembert, you will love this cheese.

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As a guest here, I know to be respectful of my hosts. And I mean to be – I am. So I don’t want you to think I’m being cheeky with this post. I’m not. I’m being quite serious.

Fine cheese. Like Gordon, I have a penchant for it. Why just the other day at the Portland Farmer’s Market I bought a delectable artisan lavender farmer’s cheese. It’s the sort of cheese Gordon would blog about. It’s a little like this one.

But should the highbrow cheeses really get all the attention? Some may be loath to admit it, but there’s some real quality in the lowbrow stuff, too. And, as it turns out, I can be quite lowbrow.

Take, for instance, port wine cold pack cheese food.

It’s delicious stuff. Really. Spread it on a Wheat Thin (a low-brow cracker, of course) and savor the piquant, creamy flavor. Or slather it on a crusty baguette and pretend it’s cheap-wine-soaked camembert. Whatever gets you over that initial revulsion.  Sure, it may come in a plastic tub. It may merit its own CFR entry distinguishing it from actual “cheese.” It may be Day-glo orange and pink. But it’s delicious nonetheless.

And there’s some incredible, lowbrow cheese-related foods that shouldn’t be neglected. We all know about Philly cheesesteaks and other lowbrow cheese-related sandwiches, but have you tried poutine? It’s – now stick with me here – french fries, covered with cheese curds, and topped with gravy. It’s a Quebecois delicacy, and, perhaps, "Canada’s most pervasive contribution to world cuisine" (whatever that means). It's so good, it's easily worth the 3 months each order takes off your life. Even without the fries and gravy (but with the addition of a little beer batter and oil) deep fried cheese curds may be the very apotheosis—the eidos, if you will—of low-brow, cheese-related cuisine.

(On a related note, this seems like a good time to mention that Montreal may be home to the most wonderful collection of junk food in the world.  In addition to poutine, there's smoked meat sandwiches, May Wests, and the Wilensky's special, each a stand-out in it's class).

I could go on. Suffice it to say fine cuisine is not necessarily haute cuisine.

UPDATE:  My friend Dave points out that I neglected to pair the appropriate wine with my recommendation.  He corrects the oversight.

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That was Hans Bender of the Danish Dairy Board after the European Court of Justice upheld the name "feta" as a protected designation of origin for Greece. Bender wonders, "What will be next? Will the Italians demand that pizza become a protected product that no one can make?" (W$J)

So what will happen? Non-Greek producers of feta will continue to produce the cheese, but they will use other names. What would you call your feta if you couldn't call it "feta"?

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Do you know quark? Not the subatomic particle, but the German cheese (which appears to have been the indirect inspiration for the name of the particle). I first encountered it in Austria, where it is called topfen. It looks like cream cheese, but it is a bit drier (almost chalky) and not as flavorful. Still, it is one of my favorite treats on my trips to central Europe. I spread it on toasted bread, then top it off with strawberry jam, but quark is also used as an ingredient in many German desserts.

The W$J mentions quark in an article on German cuisine, "Another typically German product, quark, a soft white cheese often made in the U.S., is appearing in chefs' recipes in place of cream cheese." The article quotes Chef Marcel Biró, who has an upscale German restaurant called Biró in Sheboygan.

I feel the sudden need for a road trip!

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How do you store your cheese? Like most people, I use that little drawer in the middle of my refrigerator. As of next year, we will have other refrigeration options (via the W$J):

At least two companies are developing cheese refrigeration units for the home. Next year, food and kitchenware retailer NapaStyle will offer a countertop cheese refrigerator with four compartments for different cheeses, each with its own temperature and humidity controls. The appliance, roughly the size of a toaster oven, will cost about $300, says the company's owner, Michael Chiarello. Kitchen-appliance manufacturer Viking Range Corp. also says it is developing a cheese refrigerator.

But why stop there? Steve Bainbridge has his wine cellar. Why not a cheese room? 

In Atherton, Calif., home builder Sam Benzacar recently started construction on a 16,000-square-foot house that will have a 300-square-foot cheese room adjacent to the wine cellar. The room -- which has multiple refrigeration units and is designed to hold hundreds of pounds of cheese -- is likely to add $50,000 to the cost of the home, which doesn't yet have a buyer, Mr. Benzacar says. Meanwhile, Daphne Zepos, director of cheese maturing at the Artisanal Cheese Center, a New York importer and retailer, says she recently reviewed plans for a country house in northern California's Lake County that will have a subterranean stone cave for aging and storage, built around a natural artesian well that will provide cheese-friendly humidity levels. The room, she says, will be reminiscent of giant cheese-aging caves in France.

The problem here is that cheese is picky about how it should be stored. Different cheeses thrive in different temperatures and at different humidity levels. If you don't have $50,000 for a cheese room, therefore, take heart.

While home cheese-aging has long been popular in Europe and is becoming more popular in America, some cheese experts say it isn't worth the trouble. Steven Jenkins, author of "Cheese Primer" and a cheese specialist at Manhattan's Fairway Market, calls the idea "really silly." People who bring home cheese to store "are simply drying out their cheeses," he says. He recommends buying cheese in small amounts from cheese-mongers who know when it's ready to eat.

Thanks to John Surdyk for the tip.

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