"Hands in the Curds": More about Artisanal Cheesemaking

Yesterday was filled with coincidences that tied right into the discussion of what constitutes "artisanal" cheese.

Bob and I went with some friends out to Crystal Bay Farm, where CAFF was sponsoring a farm dinner with a roasted pig from TLC Ranch. I have worked with CAFF before—most of the photographs in their Eat Local Guide are mine. I love the organization.

Sitting at our table happened to be Anya Ferald, one of the program directors for CAFF. She is headed today to the Terra Madre consortium with ten Hmong refugee farmers from California.

Discussion at our table was lively: Anya's parents and her husband, Renato, were knowledgeable about agricultural issues in a very personal way. We talked about ethanol, biodiesel, the Omnivore's Dilemma, and so much more. Then Anya told me she had worked for five years with Slow Food, and had lived in Italy and France. (Um, I think. We'd all had a lot of wine at that point.) Her work had included learning how to make cheeses at various farmsteads.

I leaped at the chance to ask Anya: "What, in your experience, constitutes 'artisanal cheesemaking'?"

"Hands in the curds."

It was that simple. She elaborated beautifully, but I am going to have to wait for her return to the country to ask her to write what she had told me. Essentially, Americans have a linear and scientific approach to cheesemaking that is to our detriment. The French and Italians have hundreds and hundreds of years of making cheese, and each village is steeped in this tradition. The collective knowledge of Europeans, when it comes to cheesemaking, means that it's easier to produce a high volume of artisanal cheeses, because less can go wrong. Shorthand: "many hands, light work," as the Shakers say. Anya used some technical terms that, as a non-cheesemaker, kind of went over my (admittedly wine-soaked) head.

And because I don't know how to automate the process of cheesemaking, I cannot address whether or not Cedar Grove cheesemakers, for example, get their hands in the curds.

I very much look forward to another visit with Anya and her husband. They were fabulous company, and I enjoyed the dinner so much.

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From the signature on John Fiscalini's e-mail, my THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Fame is vapor, popularity an accident, riches take wings. Only one thing endures, and that is character.” — Horace Greeley

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