-By James Mellgren

Clean, lean and efficient, Cowgirl Creamery doesn’t try to compete with anyone in terms of the number of cheeses offered. While you won’t find 300 varieties there as you do in big cheese emporiums, what you do find has been selected for its taste, traditional methods of manufacturing, quality of the milk and perfect ripeness.

Recently, while in San Francisco for our annual Retail2020 conference, our creative director, Jed Royer and I went to shoot some video footage at the Ferry Building for TGR-TV, our new online video program. I live just across the bay in Berkeley but get over here infrequently, even though, embarrassingly, it is so easy to get to from there. For those who are not familiar with the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero, it is the old passenger ship terminal that has been gloriously restored and transformed into a market hall, full of some of the best and most exciting food and housewares artisans in the Bay Area. You won’t find any big national names there, nor are there any conventional fast food outlets, but the food, shops and restaurants are fantastic, and should be at the top of everyone’s list of places to visit while in San Francisco. One of the shops we visited, one that never fails to excite and entertain me, was Cowgirl Creamery, whose founders, Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, were off at the American Cheese Society conference where they were no doubt winning awards for their cheeses.

Cowgirl Creamery sets the standard, in my opinion, for cheese shops. They, in turn, have partly based their concept on legendary cheese retailer Neal’s Yard Dairy of London, owned by Randolph Hodgson. Clean, lean and efficient, Cowgirl Creamery doesn’t try to compete with anyone in terms of the number of cheeses offered. I didn’t count but I doubt you’ll ever find 300 varieties there as you do in big cheese emporiums. But what you do find has been selected for its taste, traditional methods of manufacturing, quality of the milk and perfect ripeness. That said, the cheese cases were full and brilliantly appealing. The cheeses were easy to see and, of course, everything is offered for tasting. The front main case is full of mostly aged cheeses, and another wall case off to the side contains selections of yogurts, milk, some soft-ripened cheeses (including their own), assorted other dairy products (mostly local), and charcuterie from Fra’Mani. At the rear of the wide-open shop is a case in which big bowls of fresh cheeses await, cheeses that, for the most part, are made by Cowgirl Creamery: cottage cheese (the first to be made by the then-fledgling cheesemakers several years ago), fromage blanc, Italian-style burrata, a couple of different versions of ricotta and goat cheese. Everything we tasted, and we tasted them all, was redolent of fresh milk; and they were all delicious. In addition to the Ferry Plaza Building in San Francisco, Cowgirl Creamery has shops in Pt. Reyes Station just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and in Penn Quarter in Washington, D.C. I encourage you to visit one of them at the earliest opportunity you get, or visit them online at www.cowgirlcreamery.com.

I have to add that in addition to Cowgirl Creamery, we stopped at Boccalone, maker of all kinds of cured pork products. My progress down the aisle was arrested by its sign, which read simply, “Tasty Salty Pig Parts.” Inside was a stunning array of product, most of which hung in a beautiful red reach-in refrigerator case along the wall. I could’ve been in Italy at that moment, and I’m sure nothing short of a traditional Italian salumeria would have done justice to the noble pig as Boccalone does. You can find out more at www.boccalone.com. How lucky I am to live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Cheers!

Industry News
Perfect Pairings at Cheese Cupid
The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board (WMMB) has launched a wonderful Web site that offers the perfect beverage pairings for any type of cheese. At www.cheesecupid.com, one can easily match the right wine, beer, spirit or cider to any variety of cheese with an easy click of the mouse. It’s a simple, straightforward site with very few bells and whistles, just the information you want quickly and clearly. The fact that WMMB includes spirits (brandy, Scotch) and fortified wines (Port, Madeira) in the pairing suggestions must surely make this site unique, as well as for the broad array of wines and beers. Additionally, WMMB has revamped its Web site, which is now www.eatwisconsincheese.com, making it an invaluable tool for anyone in the cheese business. It offers pairing ideas, too, only the pairings include other types of food as well as beverages. The site also offers a Cheesecyclopedia, Cheese 101 (tips for handling and storing), a glossary of cheese terms and a traveler’s guide to America’s Dairyland. The home page features videos such as one offering tips on cooking with cheese. These two sites should be bookmarked on every cheese professional’s computer. You could also have a computer available for your customers to look at the sites, too, as they are very consumer-oriented. Once again, the sites are www.cheesecupid.com and www.eatwisconsincheese.com.

FamilyEats.Net
While we’re at it, here’s another new Web site that everyone in the food business should look at. It’s called Family Eats, and the co-creator and editorial director is our own former editor, Laura Everage, who along with her husband Greg, has come up with a great site that is dedicated to re-establishing family traditions around the table. They should know because with four young children, they share many of the trials and tribulations of young families across the country who face the daily challenge of not just feeding their family, but maintaining a healthy relationship to food and dining. This is important to our industry whether the family in question is Mom, Dad and the kids, or an all-adult household, or however else you define a family unit. The Everages talk on their Web site about the four pillars of healthy eating habits: Planning, Purchasing, Preparing and Consuming. They readily admit that it isn’t always easy, but in the end, it is well worth the effort. Toward that end, they focus on traditions around the table, weekly menus with shopping lists, product reviews, weekly tips, charming and interesting videos, interviews with prominent food folks (including yours truly talking about the flavors of Spain), and much more. To see and read this great new site, go to www.familyeats.net.

DAIRY
New Mélodie From Laura Chenel’s Chevre
Laura Chenel’s Chevre, whose namesake is the mother of the modern American goat cheese industry, if not the entire artisan and farmhouse cheese business in this country, has done it again with a delicious soft-ripened goat cheese covered in ash called Mélodie. It’s mild and creamy, but full of the rich taste of goat’s milk with a floral flavor that is very appealing. It may remind one of a very good French morbier but with a tangier flavor. It comes packed in a beautiful and traditional wooden box with about a 90-day shelf life. The company has also introduced a unique line called Blossom, fresh goat cheese medallions surrounding a heart comprised of any one of the following: sun-dried tomato & red pepper, basil pesto, or fig & olive. The flavors taste very fresh, and they complement the cheese perfectly. For more information, call the company at 707-996-4477, or call Fromartharie at 800-899-6689 or visit www.fromartharie.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 401


Barely Buzzed From Beehive Cheese Company
Sitting at the mouth of Weber Canyon in a valley between the forested Wasatch Mountains in Utah, Beehive Cheese Company is making some great cheese. It uses rich Jersey cow’s milk from Wadeland Dairy near the Great Salt Lake and produces a lovely and interesting range of cheeses. I was particularly struck by its unique Barely Buzzed, a coffee and lavender rubbed cheese with a wonderful nutty, bold flavor that lets on to a hint of the coffee and lavender for a very satisfying result, and one that will get you, well, barely buzzed from the coffee. Tim Welsh and Pat Ford age the cheeses on Utah Blue Spruce racks that add their own unique flavor profile to the cheeses. Beehive also makes Seahive, an aged cheese that is rubbed with local honey and salt mined from nearby Real Salt Co. in central Utah. Promontory is a delicious Irish-style cheese that is full-bodied with a snappy fruity and citrus-like note to it. These are just a few of Beehive’s delicious cheeses that should make Utah proud. To find out about the rest of its cheeses, call 801-476-0900 or visit www.beehivecheese.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 403


Gabriella Pecorino From Lotito Foods
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Lotito Foods stand at the recent Summer Fancy Food Show to meet renowned Italian chef Anna Dente, colloquially known as the “Queen of Roman cooking” for her outstanding food at her family-owned Osteria di San Cesario just outside of Rome, and Chef Paolo Lafata, director of Olive Garden’s Culinary Institute in Tuscany, both of whom were there to promote Lotito’s Gabriella of Italy line of traditional cheeses. I was excited to taste the Pecorino Siciliano D.O.P., one of the world’s oldest cheeses, one that dates back 2,000 years and is clearly described in Homer’s “Odyssey.” Gabriella’s Pecorino is truly a farmstead cheese since the cheesemakers use only the milk from their own herd of sheep, and each cheese is made on the farm. After four months, the cheese is sent to a central controlled location where it is graded for D.O.P. approval. Only the top-quality cheeses are granted the coveted seal of approval that is hot-stamped onto every wheel. The approved cheeses are brought into the United States under the Gabriella of Italy brand by exclusive importers Lotito Foods, Inc. This Pecorino is available in 5-ounce deli wedges, 1.5-pound club size wedges, and 18-pound whole wheels. An extraordinary cheese by any measure. For more information, call 732-248-0222 or go to www.lotitofoods.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 405

Siggi’s Icelandic-Style Skyr Yogurt
I discovered a fabulous new yogurt at the Summer Fancy Food Show, Siggi’s Icelandic-Style Skyr strained nonfat yogurt. Skyr has been a traditional thick yogurt in Iceland for over 1,000 years. Siggi’s makes it in a traditional small-batch method (the company founder is a native of Iceland) in New York, using the milk from dairy cows raised on small family farms who grass-feed their cows and do not use growth hormones. Skyr has a high protein count because they use three times the amount of milk and then strain it down. Siggi’s is fat-free, and is sweetened with only organic raw agave nectar with a low-glycemic index. They never use high-fructose corn syrup or any artificial sweeteners. Best of all, it’s really delicious and thick and creamy. It comes in several flavors, including plain, pomegranate & passion fruit, blueberry, orange & ginger, grapefruit, açai, and vanilla. For more information, e-mail info@skyr.com or go to www.skyr.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 407


The Great American Cheeseboard From Roth Käse
Roth Käse has launched a wonderful new idea for the grab-and-go cheese business called The Great American Cheeseboard. The cheeseboards include a selection of award-winning Wisconsin cheeses along with condiments and a wooden pick for convenience. They come in three varieties: Italian Selection with Gorgonzola, Asiago, Fontina, water crackers and Kalamata olives; Artisan Selection with blue cheese, Gruyère, Gouda, water crackers and a fruit & nut mix; and the All-American Selection with Cheddar, Pepper Jack, Colby Jack, water crackers and dried apple chunks & cranberries. For more information, go to www.rothkase.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 402

DELI
“Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon”
I recall that somewhere in his book “Travels with Alice,” Calvin Trillin wrote (referring to a town in Provence whose newspaper is called Aioli) that any town that names its newspaper after garlic mayonnaise was his kind of people. That’s pretty much how I feel about bacon. It’s almost impossible to imagine a dish that would not be enhanced by the inclusion of bacon, and after seeing some rather surprising uses for it on TV’s “Iron Chef,” I no longer even rule out dessert. Ari Weinzweig, co-owner of Zingerman’s Delicatessen in Ann Arbor, Mich., and one with an encyclopedic knowledge of deli meats and other good foods, has given us all a gift in the form of his newest tome, “Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon” (Zingerman’s Press), with a subtitle that just about says it all: “Stories of Pork Bellies, Hush Puppies, Rock ‘n’ Roll Music and Bacon Fat Mayonnaise.” Weinzweig offers us a world of bacon between these pages, beginning with a trip to Camp Bacon, in which he shares his research on the history of bacon, definitions of bacon throughout the English-speaking and non-English-speaking worlds, a bacon glossary, explanations of how bacon is made, tales of hog drovers, and the 10 reasons why he believes bacon is the olive oil of North America. In “Meet the Bacons,” the author has written compelling profiles of some of our country’s finest commercial bacon producers, a chapter that alone is well worth the price of the book. There is great information on every page, including thoughts on Chairman Mao, baco-tarians and several pages devoted to another book about bacon that was so captivating that in the middle of the chapter, I went to amazon.com to order a copy (what’s the book? You’ll have to read Ari’s to find out) — all of which represents Weinzweig’s whimsy, complex mind, passion for his subject, and diligent research. The 42 bacon-themed recipes range from the familiar to the not-so-familiar (and I’m happy to report he includes two desserts with bacon). This is a must-read book for anyone who cares not just about bacon but about good food and the people who devote their lives to producing it; and it’s a must-have for every food store, whether you sell bacon or not. “Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon” can be ordered by going to www.zingermanspress.com or you can go to www.zingermans.com and order some really great food while you’re there.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 404


Curry Love Cooking Sauces
Are you in the mood for love? You may want to check out Curry Love from Chef Michael Buechi, a Swiss-born entrepreneur with 20 years of experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry. Curry Love sauces can be heated and served as is, or you can add vegetables, seafood or various meats like chicken or lamb, and serve them on a bed of rice or other grains. They are packaged in a charming kit that includes the three signature sauces, a scented candle and a box of matches for setting the mood. The sauce varieties include Blissful Banana Ginger Curry, Passion Red Thai Curry, and Luscious Yellow Thai Curry. Because they love the planet too, the box for the set is made of recycled and biodegradable packaging, and is printed with eco-friendly soy inks. Chef Buechi makes the sauces domestically, using only certified organic ingredients. For more information, call 888-635-8886 or visit www.mycurrylove.com.
CLICK VENDOR LINK NO. 406