October 4, 2024 – Amid a swirl of gourmet cheese items—cheese hats, cheese buffets, cheese-friendly wines, cheese bandanas, cheese tastings, cheese selfie backdrops, cheese tools, cheese-whey whiskeys, and cheese literature like Erika’s Kubrick’s Cheese/Sex/Death: A Bible for the Cheese Obsessed—I recognized someone I’d never met in person.
The feeling was part déjà vu, part how-do-I know-her, part happy-dizzy cheese overload management.
As I waited for her to wrap a bespoke cheese tasting tour through last month’s San Francisco Cheese Festival, it dawned on me: We had talked on the phone at length and she had shared pics of her and sister Boo, her best pal and business partner-in-cheese, for the purposes of a piece called “Lady & Larder Brings Twins’ Love of Cheese Back Home.” (And the follow up, “Lady & Larder to Debut Weekend Wine Bar Marmee’s.”
Another reveal was to come.
Sarah Simms isn’t just an enthusiastic member of the California Artisan Cheese Guild, she’s president, completing a second two-year term.
“I started eating cheese, shopping for cheese, opening a cheese business, getting to know cheese makers!” she says. “And my favorite part about being in the cheese business is the people. If I wanted to be able to support this community, I wanted to have a seat at the table.”
So she joined as a member, was nominated as a candidate for the board, oversaw the guild’s education program (for cheese makers and members) and then, as she puts it, “Things escalated.”
“There’s no greater camaraderie than people in the cheese community—there isn’t!” she says. “I think that’s because these cheesemakers involve generations of people in dairy and farming, and we all know it’s a hard business to succeed in, and you tend to be surrounded by genuine, hard-working people, and that’s a great group to be in.”
This all absolved her of a cheese crime I wanted to prosecute: Last month I had Lady & Larder slotted as part of a three-stop Carmel Valley cheese tour, for my mama’s birthday. (HBD to my original editor!)
First stop: Carmel Valley Creamery, which delivered with ingenuity and design, reflecting what EMB contributor Michelle Magdalena dove into in detail with her piece “Artisanal Cheesemaker Gets Ready To Open in Carmel Valley.”
The place has both limited hours (Friday-Sunday for now) and unlimited potential for a rural spot hungry for a homespun cheese-coffee-snack spot (the hyper-fresh range of cheeses were elevating).
Second stop: Jerome’s Carmel Valley Market, where the curated cheese cooler reflects the palate of a gifted chef and native of France—and my mama and I know the delish deli presents required eats for a picnic in the park (including The Brittany with ham, brie, mayo, tomato, lettuce on a baguette, which nods to Jerome Viel’s home region).
Third stop: Lady & Larder, only they were closed for the season. The good news there is manifold. And goes like this:
• L&L has a food-focused residency coming up at Scribe Winery in Sonoma Nov. 14-17. “We’ll be throwing down Marmee’s menu with the Scribe culinary team,” Simms says. Booking through Scribe’s website is the way to get a jump there.
• A focaccia baking class with Ron Mendoza at Ad Astra Bread Co. also appears on the horizon, Dec. 5, with a small number of students lucky enough to get in, and additional info coming by way of Ad Astra’s and Lady and Larder’s Instagram accounts.
• An Other Brother Beer Co. pop-up, where Edible just hosted a memorable fall issue release party.
• Another welcoming shindig, namely a holiday shopping ditch with Olivia and Daisy Bookstore on Dec. 7, with cookbook specials paired with L&L’s roster of natural wines.
Simms doesn’t miss an opportunity to plug EMB readers in. Guild membership awaits anyone with a cheese predilection at the organization’s website. I just applied myself.
Meanwhile, Found Treasures couldn’t pass on an opportunity for a little cheese wisdom from La Presidente.
When asked for a handful of strategies when navigating the wondrous world of cheese, here’s what she suggests, followed by a bonus recipe I picked up at the festival from Cypress Grove, to give their legendary Humboldt Fog additional oomph, in an easy and fiery way.
Simms Tips • Five Notes on Maximizing Cheese Enjoyment
1. Make friends with your local cheesemonger.
If you can find a cut-to-order cheese counter or shop directly with a cheesemaker at a farmers market—shop there and often. Ask the monger what they are excited about. You will end up something super rad, maybe something that is not even in the case.
2. Buy domestic artisan cheese whenever possible.
Yes, it’s more expensive than massively produced imported cheese (Brie! Camembert!) BUT buying local cheese supports the local economy, farmers and small-scale producers.
3. Buy seasonally!
In the spring, when animals are on grass, buy all the fresh cheeses like chèvre! Fromage blanc! You can taste the grassiness and glory of spring in the milk. In the winter, go after firmer Alpine-style cheese and winter cult releases like Uplands Rush Creek Reserve, Jasper Hill Winnimere and Rogue River Blue.
4. Know how much you need.
If you are shopping for a dinner party with a cheese course or want to make a cheese board, you need 2-3 oz of cheese per person. (Remember the golden rule: Serve all cheese at room temperature)
5. Store it properly once you buy it.
Cheese is a living breathing thing. It loves to have room to breathe—parchment paper or cheese paper is ideal. One of my cheese mentors, the very missed Anne Saxelby once told me something that was brilliant. She said, “Always remember, cheese doesn’t go bad. It’s already fermented milk. It’s on a life trajectory and will be delicious in many stages of its life.” Get to know the stages and how you can best enjoy your cheese in each phase of its life. For example, a brie-style cheese will be firm and squishy when young with notes of raw white mushroom and butter then as it ages, the cream line starts to give and ooze—glorious!!—and you will start to see aging on the bloomy rind, smells of ammonia (a natural off gas from the ripening process) and richer, meatier flavor notes.
This year Cypress Grove spotlighted Humboldt Fog in earnest, developing new recipes, pairing suggestions, fun contests, and audience education on “the secret life” of their flagship crowd fave.
Humboldt Fog Brûlée • A Recipe From Cypress Grove Cheese
“Sweet dreams are made of sugar, fire, and cheese,” reads the opening salvo on this revelation.
Continuing from there the recipe card adds, “Here’s your next ridiculously delicious party trick! We used a Humboldt Fog Mini here, but you can brulée any Cypress Grove soft-ripened cheese—wheel or slice.”
Per Simms’ note, this serves 8-10 taste buddies.
The instructions go element by element (and yes, if you’ve read this far, you understand cheese is a force of nature):
1. Cheese
Start by slicing off the top rind of the wheel, or cut a piece of whichever cheese you’re using. You want some exposed paste.
2. Sugar
Sprinkle a thin layer of sugar over the paste. (Raw sugar works best, but use what you have on hand!)
3. Fire
Now torch it. Using a culinary blow torch, heat the sugar until you have a golden brown, crunchy crust. Keep that torch moving so the sugar doesn’t scorch.
(For those without home torches, Cypress Grove’s Christy Khattab has you covered: “Using the good ol’ broiler is a back up option. Keep the cheese in the refrigerator—so the cheese is cold—until it is time to broil, and then use the broiler until the sugar is browned. Remove from the oven, let sit a few minutes and it should be amazing. Another hack in itself is to find a tuile cookie that works, add your Humboldt Fog and you are good to go!”)
4. Serve
Bust out the crackers, bread, fruit, spoons—whatever your heart desires. Prepare to be treated like a rockstar.
More at cacheeseguild.org.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
