Cutting The Curd

Glenn Hills joins new addition to our host team Aaron Foster in studio to talk about supply chain and how cheese gets from the farm to your face. We'll touch on importing rules, what it's like in the crazy halls of Rungis, the miracle of container shipping, the nightmare of FDA / Customs, what a bonded warehouse is and more! We'll learn all about the litany of things that has to go right, just so you can get that perfectly aged, hand made goat cheese from Switzerland in your local cheese shop for a reasonable price. Cutting The Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tia Keenan is back in studio with Diane for this month's book review. Melt, Stretch, & Sizzle: The Art of Cooking Cheese – the book just landed and it is fierce! With a captivating style the photos take the idea of 'hot cheese' to new places and Tia tells all about her inspiration for the book and her path to pub date. Powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week's episode host Diane Stemple takes a break from book reviews! Diane chats with 2018 DZTA Scholarship winner Eric Meredith about his project vision and how it's coming along so far. Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elena's fascination with cooperative approaches to business turns to cheesemaking as she looks at unique partnerships among Wisconsin cheesemakers. Today's show features Ann Bates of Landmark Creamery and Chris Gentine of The Artisan Cheese Exchange. Find out how friendly neighbors can be the difference between success and failure in cheese distribution, and Chris offers a surprise comparison between hot rodding cars and making cheese

Elena continues to explore the cheese retail landscape! Today's guests are Laura Downey and Chris Palumbo, owners and cheesemongers of Fairfield and Greenwich Cheese Companies in Connecticut and Cheesemonger Box. Elena, Laura and Chris tackle big questions: how can stand-alone independent 'family-sized' cheese retail compete in today's bifurcated marketplace? What is 'the market' for specialty cheese retail in the United States anyway, and how can a small neighborhood shop cultivate the kind of customer interest needed for success? Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Aaron Foster's cheese and specialty food shop, Foster Sundry, has made major Bushwick waves since it landed in 2015. A hospitality haven with a serious cheese selection, go now if you haven't yet been! On this week's show Elena chats with Aaron about what led him to open Foster Sundry and how small business ownership is all shaking out. Plus, surprise, Aaron will be joining the Cutting the Curd host team!

Merryl Winstein is the author of Successful Cheesemaking, a book eight years in the making – a true tome to tommes! (Gotta love a cheese pun.) Diane chats with Merryl on this week's show about her experience making her own cheeses and teaching cheesemaking to students over the years. Listeners will get a sneak peek at this extremely detailed collection of cheesemaking recipes and instructions! Check out Merryl's Facebook page for more info: facebook@successfulcheesemaking Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Cheese Board Collective is a fifty-year-old worker-owned cooperative business located in Berkeley, California. On this week's episode Elena chats with worker-owners and cheese buyers Omri Avraham and Linh Nguyen about the collective's unique operational approach. Some highlights: full-time employees get five and a half weeks vacation each year, everyone makes the same wage and every worker owner has the freedom to pursue creative endeavors within the business and outside of it. Elena sheds tears of joy at the mid-show break! Follow-up note: here's how to spell Linh's favorite cheese: Petit Cattenoz! Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elena takes us out to San Francisco for the 4th annual SF Cheese Fest, hosted by the California Artisan Cheese Guild. Meet the folks behind Achadinha Cheese, Folly Cheese Co., Stuyt Dairy Farmstead Cheese and the cracker folk at Rustic Bakery! Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Peter Gethers, author, screenwriter, playwright, book editor, and film and television producer (!!), chats with Diane about his new memoir – what Library Journal calls "a great primer on second acts and living (and dying) well." Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Rob Frie, Director of Operations for Roth Cheese calls in from the heart of America’s Dairyland. Elena and Rob chat about Roth Cheese’s unique cheese selection and their approach to the dairy business. Plus, we learn about Wisconsin’s cheesemaking–and ski destination!–‘Little‘Switzerland’. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This year the American Cheese Society competition received 1,954 entries! On today's show the competition's Best in Show winners–Jasper Hill Farm and Cows Creamery–will join Diane to talk about their winning cheeses and how they got to where they are today. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Amid the inspiring energy at this year's American Cheese Society conference, Elena chats with Gordon Edgar of Rainbow Grocery about the store's long-standing worker-owned business model and how it all works IRL. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Elena chats with Katie Fuhrmann in the studio during a break from Katie's Wisconsin-based cheesemaking. We learn how Katie and her team (many of whom are family members!) have built out their dairy and cheesemaking operations into a full-fledged Agri-tourism destination. Also, Katie reveals the algorithm behind how her family names their cheeses! Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Kathleen Shannon Finn, past president of the American Cheese Society, Garde et Jure and Maitre Fromager in the Guilde des Fromagers Confrérie de Saint-Uguzon joins Diane to talk about the cookbook she's launching in celebration of the 35th anniversary of the American Cheese Society Conference this month. Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Cheesemonger Invitational is an industry must-see at this point! On today's show Elena chats with 2018 winner Eric Schack about his journey to cheese and his triumph at this year's competition. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Clara Diez and Ruben Valbuena of Cultivo chat with Elena about Cultivo, their Neals Yard Dairy-inspired shop in Madrid. Born from an economic need to get their cheeses in front of more customers, we hear how Cultivo is evolving and developing into a full-blown cheese destination and way of life. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tenaya Darlington, wordsmith-of-fromage, joins Diane to chat about her latest penned project: Booze & Vinyl. Her latest book–co-authored with brother André Darlington–prepares readers to shake, stir, and just plain pour your way through some of the best wax ever pressed. Get ready to set the mood for 70 great records from the 1950s through the 2000s, with a Side A and Side B cocktail. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

An in depth look at the how’s and why’s behind the venerable Park Slope Food Coop. Ever wonder how much this trend-bucking store does in sales each week? Listen to find out! Elena chats with Yuri and Britt, who have worked at the coop for a collective 25 years. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Joe Salonia and Elena do a tasting on air (hint: the cheese is from Switzerland) and strategize on how to prevent one of the world’s oldest traditions from going extinct. Cutting the Curd is powered by SimplecastSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.