The American Cheese Society annual meeting in Seattle is a time to taste the best of what the artisanal cheese makers of America have to offer. And what is that, pray tell? Well, it is quite a lot. It comes at a price, and it can be hard to find--the production for many of them is small and the cheese is delicate, so travel is not one of the things this kind of cheese does well--but do not be fooled. This cheese is worth looking for and it is certainly worth learning to appreciate.
I have always loved cheese. My first love was cheddar. A classic cheese that is widely available in the United States and has been for decades. It comes in some wonderful aged variations, crumbly to creamy, moderately sharp to eye watering sharpness, and you can get it in wedges that have been cut off of wonderful wheels, or in small blocks of one to two pounds that are waxed and available at the local grocery store. They hold great promise for excellent cheese because this cheese can travel and not knuckle under to the strains transportation puts on cheese. Cheddar is not exotic, but it is not a bad place to start a love affair with cheese.
So off to Seatlle I go, ready and eager to learn, to expand on what I have learned since the last American Cheese Society meeting I attended. This time around I am prepared to get sick of cheese--no matter how much you love it, this meeting offers more than you can stand in a few days time--but the best part is the day after the meeting there is a cheese sell-off, and last time we came home with a hundred pounds of cheese--enough to last for months to come.
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