affineurs. For example, the government has strict rules regarding all raw milk cheeses. They must be aged 60 days prior to sale, regardless of whether they are made in the States or abroad. The logic here is that dangerous bacteria like listeria have a lifespan of two months. But as the F.D.A. knows, not all cheese is identical. With soft-ripened cheeses like Brie, their bloomy white rind is a moldy haven of sorts. The listeria count can often be higher at day 60 than at day 14.
Today U.S.A. cheese makers are holding their own in the manufacture of quality cheeses
Because of all these—and other factors–being a quality gourmet cheese maker is no walk in the park. Yet the dairy craftsmen attending the conference are uniformly older, nicer and humbler than most of their customers.
When I was at 2016 The American Cheese Society conference in Iowa, I attended a lecture by Ari Weinwerg of Zingerman’s Deli. Ari is famous both for his retail empire, and for his tireless work to educate everyone about good food. He is the Jewish Johnny Cash of gourmet. Ari always wears black and is a rebellious anarchist who started off back in the day in what was the food equivalent of Folsom prison – Michigan.
Ari’s lecture focuses on his new business book, The Power of Belief. I am not looking forward to this topic because i.t sounds like another B.S. motivational talk about how believing in something suddenly makes it true. But I hold onto a minor hope that he’s incorporated Al Qaeda-style religious fundamentalist principles into his business model (train your worst employees to go work for your competitors and impact their sales like a suicide bomb). Sadly, he does not. He actually gives a moving and cogent lecture in keeping with the humanitarian that he is.
In The End It’s All Just Chemistry
At the conference I also attended a lecture by a food scientist regarding the chemistry and biology of cheese. To try and give this some context, there are two different perspectives among dairy connoisseurs. On the one hand, you have people like Maître Fromager Max McCalman who says “I realized dramatically that cheese is a precious, living organism.” Max is one of the most respected and beloved people among American cheese experts. His passion and focus on cheese is intense. So intensely focused on cheese versus people that I have met him on five separate occasions and he still has no idea who I am (although to be fair there were either far more interesting people or cheeses present each time.)
And on the other hand, you have slightly less romantic food legends like Harold McGee who describe bread, cheese, yogurt, beer and wine as “the result of controlled spoilage.”
Yum.
Both perspectives are powerful. In particular I love the use of “dramatically” by Max. (With one word he turned cheese from a stodgy food into an organism that can dramatically fuck you up!) But this schizophrenic duality is also the problem with gourmet food – it looks romantic and pure from a distance, but up close is messy, farty, and a bit like your eighth grade chemistry class.