Marcella the Cheesemonger sat down with Jim Sartori, cofounder of Sargento and current head of Sartori Cheeses for a brief interview. Worth noting: Sartori's BellaVitano Espresso, was just named 'Best Cheese in the World" at the Dairy Innovation Awards.

Spaulding Gray: Was cheese always a passion or did one specific event kindle your passion to follow the family tradition of cheesemaking?

There is a cheese oasis emerging in the deserts of the United Arab Emirates. Three Italian business parters have opened Italian Dairy Products, which produces Italian cheeses outside of Dubai using local milk products.

“It’s about time we had more local produce, even if it’s not 100 percent local,” said Alistair McCourtie, the managing partner of Admirals Trading, which distributes Italian Dairy Products’ cheeses in the local market. “The cheeses, for example, use local milk, but the local milk producers probably still use imported food for their cows.”

“The hardest customers are the Italian chefs,” Mr. McCourtie said. “They’re always comparing ingredients to their home towns and how their mothers used to do stuff, but the non-Italian chefs love the freshness of the products.” Mr, McCourtie represents about 40 food brands, 20 percent of which are from the Emirates.

Hanna Raskin at SF Weekly has the story on the meaning of the word "artisan." As has been noted several times in the past few months, the adjective "artisan" has been stretched to describe mass-produced foods, and has therefore morphed from its original meaning, sparking resentment and debate:

Congratulations to Daphne Zepos for her Lifetime Achievement Award, to be presented by the American Cheese Society at this year's ACS conference in Raleigh:

The American Cheese Society (ACS) is pleased to announce that Daphne Zepos, cheese importer, educator, and owner of Essex Street Cheese Company and The Cheese School of San Francisco, will be presented with its 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 29th Annual ACS Conference in Raleigh, NC.

Cheese crackers, straws, and chips are some of the most delicious snacks out there. Get the recipe for this garlicy, herby, version from
Bluebonnets + Brownies.

These may be my new favorite wine o’clock snack. For serious. Can anything make you feel more adult and grown up than a glass of crisp delicious wine and a few homemade nibbles to go with it?

I found this recipe for Cheese Herb Crisps on Sargento’s website and immediately knew I’d be making it just because. No special occasion, party or get-together. Just simply because when it comes to seven p.m. around here, I need a glass of Riesling and a few bites to hold me over until the mister walks through the door.

read the recipe

Photo by Bluebonnets + Brownies

Vermont culinary gurus, from Hen of the Wood and Jasper Hill Farm, make appearances in this fifth installment of Le Creuset Film Series. They are "agents of change," pioneers in the local food movement and dedicated to producing quality plates and products.

Watch on YouTube
Photo by See-ming Lee

Formaggio Kitchen's Cheese Blog brought us this post about the process of choosing a Cabot Clothbound Cheddar. Each cheese wheel develops different tastes as it ages, so testing the formaggio before picking one is important.

Every two months or so, Tripp, our domestic cheese buyer in Cambridge, and I, domestic cheese buyer for our South End location, drive up to Greensboro, Vermont and visit with our friends at the Cellars at Jasper Hill. The purpose of these trips is primarily to select new wheels of Cabot Clothbound Cheddar.

Sargento has discovered that Americans are fiercely loyal to their cheeseburgers. Most couldn't imagine a burger without the cheese, so Sargento challenged five burger joints across the country to create a regional sandwich using Sargento slices.

"The cheeseburger is an American classic—especially during grilling season—and Sargento Natural Sliced Cheese can take burgers to the next level," said Stephanie Meyer, core marketing manager at Sargento. "In fact, 82 percent of Americans believe cheese makes a burger taste better[1]. To spread the natural cheese love, we scoured cheeseburger restaurants nationwide to find the most mouthwatering bites, and we've left it to America's discerning palate to crown the victor."

Read More
Photo by Martin

This chicken burger from the KFC in the Philippines has been all over our cheese news radar. Who knew placing cheese on top of the bun would make such a splash..

New to the menu at KFC in the Philippines is the Cheese Top Burger (50 pesos, about $1.18) featuring an "Original Recipe" chicken patty* with garlic parmesan dressing on a bun topped with a slice of melted cheese. Why put the cheese on the outside of the bun? ...Ah...um...[tumbleweed rolls by]...so the Internet will feel compelled to write about it?

If anyone tries the burger, let us know if it deeply impacts your view of cheese placement in sandwiches.

read more

Blue Cheese? In biscuits? Who thought of such a crazy, wonderful idea? The same person who decided to make a bacon date jam to go along with them...

Anyhow, one of my finds at the market were some surprisingly plump dried dates from a friendly vendor who sold all-things-date: date cookies, date cake, date bread, date bars. She was like the Bubba Gump of dates. I love dates, so I purchased some and, per my new Barefoot Contessa mentality, decided that I would figure out what to do with them when I got home.

read the recipe

Photo by Peanut Butter and Julie