Cutting the Curd

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 ho...

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! Che...

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 own...

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-no...

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 Simplecast See 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 Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Priv...

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 Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/p...

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 Simplecast See 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 Simplecast See Priva...

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 a...

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 Simplecast See 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 Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Californi...

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...

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 Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c...

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 Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Show favorite Andy Hatch regales Elena in studio with tales of a recent sales trip to Australia. And, don't miss the buried lead: Andy sounds the alarm on the potential for a conglomerate-controlled cheese market in the not-too-distant American future. Fear not! We also discuss what those at each link in the supply chain can do to protect innovation and variety in artisan cheese, and the space for...

On today's show Diane interviews Tia Keenan, New York City–based cook, cheese specialist, writer and activist. She is the author of The Art of the Cheese Plate: Pairings, Recipes, Style, Attitude (Rizzoli, 2016) and the forth-coming cookbook Melt, Stretch & Sizzle: The Art of Cooking Cheese (Rizzoli, fall 2018). Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/...

Self-proclaimed "cheese legend collector" Peter Gross shares some of his curd-related myths with Greg. 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 .

Retailing ain't easy, especially in New York City. Agatha and Clair of Belle Cheese chat with us about staying sane and having fun on the eve of the shop’s one-year anniversary in the DeKalb Market. 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 .

Nora Weiser, Executive Director of the American Cheese Society (ACS) and Bill Stephenson, Chair of the ACS Certification Committee chat about the new sensory evaluation TASTE test debuting at the ACS Conference this summer. From big picture industry impact to how on earth the logistics will work, Elena gets a sneak peek of what’s in store for the inaugural exam takers. Cutting the Curd is powered...

Carlos Yescas of the Oldways Cheese Coalition loops us in on the budding Russian cheese movement, the David vs. Goliath war being waged in Normandy and how you can be a part of Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day! 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 chats with Tess McNamara about the twists and turns in her own cheese career. Tess and Elena talk about the specific challenges and financial realities women face in navigating careers in cheese and give a shoutout to Elena’s all-time shero, Madeleine Albright. Cutting the Curd is powered by Simplecast See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://a...

Newly published author Hannah Howard joins host Diane Stemple in the studio to talk about her just-released memoir Feast. From hostessing at Picholine to slinging cheese at Fairway, Hannah was already deep in the cheese scene as an undergrad at Columbia University. Her journey navigating NYC's often-brutal restaurant culture while also conquering her own food-related demons is a tale of bravery, p...

This week we go behind the curtain as Elena interviews Greg Blais himself. Greg takes us down his curd path and shares reflections on how the industry has changed over the years. 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 .

Seamus Sheridan chats with Greg about why nibbling on Irish cheese is the best way to celebrate St. Patty’s Day this year and shares tips on running a family cheese biz. 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 .