A couple of weeks ago, I attended the 2nd Annual Artisan Cheese Festival in Petaluma. I’ve jumped into the world of cheese at Harvest Market, where my job descrption of Culinary Director recently grew to include cheese buyer. Lucky for me, this is a fascinating subject, so when I heard about the festival, I signed up.
It was well worth the weekend. Not only did I attend seminars with the engaging Laura Werlin, whose session “Cheese Essentials” provided a hand’s-on approach to her well-written and informative new book of the same name (a must-have for anyone with an interest in cheese), but I also sat in on sessions with noted cheese makers themselves. These included Mary Keehn, Cypress Grove; Jennifer Bice, Redwood Hill Farm; Liam Callahan, Bellwether Farms; Mariano Gonzalez, Fiscalini Cheese Co., passionate souls all.
The next day, I roamed in the large outside tent where many cheese producers offered samples of their wares. Meeting people who love what they do is something that means a lot to me. Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur….I can’t imagine a cheese maker feeling ho-hum about the job. It’s just too demanding to be blase. A couple of my favorite tastes were from Mt. Townsend Creamery (just now being distributed in California from Port Townsend WA) and Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Co. in Orland CA. I’ll certainly be ordering from both of these companies soon.
