Podcast

Ep 15: Aging Like Fine Milk

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In this episode I talk to Perry Wakeman, Britain’s first Affineur of the Year, and Head of Cheese at Cambridge-based affinage house Rennet & Rind, to answer everyone’s first question: What the heck is an affineur?

Perry answers that and a whole lot more — from the wackiest happenings he’s encountered in a cheese cave to some of the most moving moments in his life in artisan cheese.

(Re)sources

Aging Gracefully – a brief overview of what affinage is and why it’s done, with some notes about the use of natural caves

Affinage 101 – another overview that complements both Aging Gracefully and Perry’s British take on affinage with comments from a US affineur

Photo of Perry Wakeman via Rennet & Rind

Ep 14: Modern British Cheeses

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Episode 13 talked a lot about Cheddar and its classic milled cousins. We left the story just hinting at the ongoing renaissance in British cheesemaking. In this episode, I interview passionate cheese nerd Mike Nistor (Instagram | Twitter) about how British cheeses are evolving–and some of his favorites and where to find them.

Cheeses Mentioned

Trethowen Brothers Pitchfork Cheddar and Caerphilly

Cheesemakers of Canterbury Ashmore Farmhouse and Dargate Dumpy

Baron Bigod

Cote Hill Blue

Hebridean Blue

Kingstone Dairy Rollright and Ashcombe

Gubbeen

Young Buck

Old Roan Wensleydale

Sinudun Hill

Berkswell

Ep 13: All About the Cheddah

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Cheddar is one of the most widely sold cheeses in the world. It’s made in every hemisphere, and is a central ingredient in countless casseroles and other cheesy dishes throughout the Anglosphere.

Its signature tang and unusual size and shape are all products of a quest for the perfect balance between a crowd-pleasing, snackable texture and durability.

Its history encompasses trade wars, conquest and empire, and the birth of industrial-scale food production, as well as international cooperation in the development of dairy science.

Dive in with the first episode of Season 2, and don’t miss the continuation of the story in Episode 14!

(Re) sources

Ep 2: A Leap Towards Immortality

What Is Bandage Wrapping?

Cheese and Culture

Government Cheddar Cheese

Essex Cheese

How a 3,930 Pound Cheese Helped Union Army Soldiers During the Civil War

Credits

Photo: Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar

Battle Hymn of the Republic – US Air Force Band

Ep 11: The Smearing of Washed Rinds

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Washed rind cheeses are popular across Northern and Eastern Europe, but their reputation for stinkiness had dire implications for their popularity in late-Victorian North America–and for North American cheesemaking as a whole!

(Re) Sources

The Science of Cheese, Ch. 8

German-American immigration

The Cheese That Stands Alone

Ep 2: A Leap Towards Immortality

Media

Photo: Frangelico-washed hazelnut cheese (Lisa Caywood)

Non-Curdverse music via Wikimedia:

Stars and Stripes

Manic Polka

Waltz of Treachery

Ep 9: Cheeses of the Season – The Girls of Summer

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Summer is prime cheesemaking season in much of the northern hemisphere! In this episode we talk about milk seasonality, transhumance–and pigs!

Sources and resources

Ep 5: Cheeses of the Season – Spring

Kingdom of Salt: 7000 Years of Hallstatt, Kern, Kowarik, Rausch and Reschreiter, eds; 2009

French Salers Production Halted Due to Drought

Read about modern transhumance practices in the Swiss Alps

Read about transhumance practices in the Caucasus

Image: Tête de Moine cheese with girolle, source Wikimedia

Ep 8 – Cruising the Blues

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Blue cheese is one of the more mysterious and divisive types of cheeses. There are many myths about it, and often people have had one unpleasant blue and are never tempted to try another. But blues can have a wide range of intensity, different textures, and secondary flavors ranging from apple and pear to nuts and cedar. In this episode we start exploring this very diverse group of cheeses.

Resources

Blue Cheese Flight – Tasting Notes

How Gorgonzola is made

Blue cheese consumption in Iron Age Hallstatt

More science of P. Roqueforti

List of blue cheeses

Image and blues music from Wikimedia. Austrian music from Internet Archive.

Ep 7: Beyond Brie – The Bloomies

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Goat crottin

Brie shows up on pretty much every catered cheese board because it’s usually mild and has a nice mouthfeel. But there’s more than Brie in the world of fuzzy-rinded cheeses! Start venturing off the beaten track–whether with a triple-cream Brillat-Savarin or a goaty Valençay. Learn how to choose a good one–not too young, not too old–and how to serve it.

(Re)sources

Enormous list of bloomy rind cheeses to explore

Annotated video of traditional Camembert production, showing you what to look for

Full text of Charlemagne story (in French)

Geotrichum: the yeast that acts like a mold

Image: Goat crottin, via Wikipedia. Sound effects from Zapsplat.com. Smooth jazz snippet is drawn from Night on the Docks via Wikimedia.