Raise your hand if some of your best cheese moments came in the form of a sandwich.
Laura Werlin is an expert hand at melting, slicing, flavoring a simple or not so simple sandwich and shares some of her finds in Grilled Cheese Please (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011).
A couple of weeks ago, Laura and I managed to sync our schedules for a one hour conversation.
Q: Laura: What was your first cheese encounter?
Like many American kids, it was white American cheese on white bread.
Q: Did cheese run in the family?
Not really, my mother used cheese for pasta, hamburgers and the like. Cheese was something used as an ingredient, associated with pizza as well. Going to college (Berkeley) is when I encountered wheels of brie. On frequent visits to California wine country, cheese always was included in picnic basket.
Q: Raw milk or pasteurized?
There is no 'one size fits all'. Flavors are determined by quality of the milk, where animals graze and the cheesemaker skills of course.On the health, food safety issue, little things can create big problem, post-production on ageing shelves for example.
Q: In your opinion, are there underrated regional American cheeses?
Not underrated but unknown, Wisconsin cheeses. It is good to point to small producers found at farmers markets. I hate snobbery so I like to expose people to cheese you can get everyday. Some great mainstream cheddars come from Cabot (2 yr aged) and Tillamook (Oregon). Taste and make cheese part of everyday meal.
Q: Some favorites abroad?
In Italy, I have to vote for La Tur, a 3 milk cheese with delicate rind, creamy, tangy (from Piedmont) and Quadrello di Bufala made with water buffalo milk, similar to Taleggio. France has seens a revival of Comte.
Q: What about chefs and cheese?
If anything, in that department, chefs are not as imaginative as they could be. One creative use is Hamburger at Heirloom Cafe with Epoisses mixed with ground beef.
Q: In one of the Grilled Cheese Please recipes besides Emmentaler, Gruyere and Comte, you use Pheasant Ridge Reserve. Can you tell us a bit about it?
Pheasant Ridge (inspired by Beaufort) makes on of the best cheeses in the U.S. It's not for nothing that they won Best in Show three times at American Cheese Society of America event (best out of 1400). The Reserve is made with milk from grass fed cows so only from May through October. They rotate cows around the pasture to not wear it out and have made only one cheese, the Reserve, for 10 years. It is nutty and savory.
Q: Would another recipe from the book, Arepas with Monterey Jack, work with jalapeno pepper Monterey Jack?
With this new book, I wanted to get people into trying new things, experimenting, changing some of the cheeses in the recipes is part of the experimentation.
Q: Around the country, name some favorite Cheese Shops?
I would start in my area (San Francisco) with Cowgirl Creamery. Back to Wisconsin, Madison has Fromagination and Milwaukee is home to Larry's Market. In New York area, Saxelby Cheese Mongers at Essex Street Market.
Q: Best food trucks or other eateries for cheese sandwiches?
To name two, Grilled Cheese Truck in Los Angeles and Grilled Cheese Grill in Portland (Oregon).
Q: Last, what food events would you return to even if you were not paid to speak?
Food and wine classic in Aspen, Santa Fe wine and chili fiesta and the bi-annual Slow Food event in Bra, Italy.
Thanks Laura for this quiet walk through the cheese landscape.
(* Photo of Wisconsinite sandwich from Grilled Cheese Please courtesy of Andrews McMeel, Quadrello di Bufala image courtesy of Ideal Cheese)