Cutting the Curd

On this week’s episode of Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are talking with Sandor Katz, author of the book The Art of Fermentation. Tune in to hear about how bacterial cultures are reflections of our cultural identity! Anne, Sophie, and Sandor also discuss the war on bacteria, and how it is completely antithetical to boosting one’s immune system and can be seen as harmful to on...

On this episode of Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are on the phone with Rynn Caputo of the Caputo Brothers Creamery in Spring Grove, Pennsylvania. Recently, Rynn came into Saxelby Cheesemongers in the Essex Street Market and showed Anne her mozzarella-making process! Tune in to hear about how Rynn and her husband set out with the intention of becoming chefs, and became makers...

On today’s episode of Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are talking with Chris Vamos, president of Milkman Cheese Services. Tune in to hear about cheese in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California. Chris believes that younger cheesemakers are so eager to please all palettes, that they make several types of cheese without having a focus. Hear about Chris’s role in advisi...

Leave all of your stereotypes about “diets” and “dieting” behind! On this episode of Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are talking with Elizabeth Fassberg, Registered Dietician and president of Eatfood (and her son, Jack) about nutrition and healthy dietary habits. Tune in to hear about Elizabeth’s start in the food world making cakes at age fourteen. Hear about how her experienc...

This week is Cutting the Curd’s 100th episode! Congratulations to Anne Saxelby, Sophie Slesinger, and everyone else who has either been a guest or supported Cutting the Curd thus far! For this very special episode, Brian Keyser, Dimitri Saad, and Leigh Friend of Casellula Cheese & Wine Café are in the studio for a seven-course cheese tasting! More specifically, Anne and Sophie are taking a les...

This week on Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are in the studio with two cheese professionals Marwen Amor of Fromagerie Catin in Paris and Sue Sturman of the American Cheese Society’s Cheese Professional Certification Program. Tune in to hear about Marwen’s beginnings in the cheese business, studying dairy sciences, the state of cheesemongering amongst the French youth, and his...

On this week’s Cutting the Curd, Anne and Sophie are talking about cooking with cheese! Joining them in the studio today is Sarah A. Maine of Saxelby Cheesemongers and the website RecipeRelay . Hear about Sarah’s unique website that encourages readers to alter recipes and spread them across the globe. Also joining Anne and Sophie is Lizz Spano, winner of Artisanal Bistro’s Grilled Cheese Competiti...

Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesginer are joined by Michele Buster of Forever Cheese and Mitica on this week’s Cutting the Curd. Forever Cheese and Mitica are importers of European cheeses, almonds, and other goods. Tune in to hear Michele’s start with distributing cheese, how language has helped her importing cheeses, and the differences between different Manchego cheeses. Listen to how FDA regulatio...

It’s time for more urban cheese making on Cutting the Curd! This week, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger talk with Matt Spiegler- web developer by day, and cheese maker by night. Tune in to hear Matt’s first memories of cheese, his initial interest in making his own cheese, and what types of cheeses he prefers to make. Hear about how Matt translated a French cheese documentary into English, and hi...

This week’s Cutting the Curd is all about Mexican Cheese! Our hosts Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are joined in the studio by Carlos Yescas of the Guild Du Fromage and Lactography . Carlos is currently working with the government of Chiapas to help grant a collective trademark to cheese makers of queso de cuadro. Joining via phone is Catalina Rivera, an award winner for sheep’s milk cheese in...

This Week on Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are continuing their discussion about goats. But they’re not just talking about goat cheese, but also goat meat. Tune in to hear Anne and Sophie talk to Jonny Hunter of the Underground Food Collective, and Heritage’s own Erin Fairbanks! Topics range from goat charcuterie to selling and eating dairy animals. Hear about Johnny’s famous...

On this episode of Cutting the Curd, Anne and Sophie are joined in the studio by Patrick Martins of Heritage Foods USA, and Joe Dinoto of the Red Hook Criterium running and bicycle race. Tune into hear about the history of the race and some of the amazing athletes that participated in this year’s Red Hook Criterium on March 24th. Joe also discusses his own running group, the Orchard Street Runners...

Today’s episode of Cutting the Curd is all about goats! Tune in as Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slessinger chat with Louisa Conrad of Big Picture Farm in Vermont about all things goat. Learn how she fell in love with goat cheese and what makes kidding season such a crazy time of year. Find out about how the seasons affect the milk and cheese and what makes goats such unique creatures! Later on, they ca...

This week on Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger sit and chat with Gabrielle Langholtz & Rachel Wharton, editor and deputy editor of Edible Manhattan , about “The Dairy Issue.” Hear their thoughts on the recent cheese revolution in the dining world and find out why everybody’s got dairy on their minds these days. Find out why they love Steve Jenkins so much and what they have p...

Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are joined by author Paul Kindstedt, who’s latest book “Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its place in Western Civilization”, explores the 11,000 year old history of cheese! Tune in to learn about everything from maritime trade, ancient pottery and religion as they relate to cheese on an especially historical episode of the best Cheese radio show in the...

This week Cutting The Curd sees another installment of its State of Cheese series and this time hosts Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger are off to the Sooner State, a.k.a. Oklahoma. First they chat with Suzy Thompson and Steve Reynolds of Forward Foods about how they are bringing the gospel of good cheese and local dairy to the communities of Norman and Oklahoma City and how social media fits into...

Do you love butter? Then this is the show for you. Tune in to this week’s episode of Cutting the Curd as Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger chat with three incredible guests about the different sides of this dairy delight. First, hear from artist Jim Victor who’s incredible butter sculptures have been featured recently at the Pennsylvania Farm Show. Next, food science expert Harold McGee chats abou...

Upstate New York has become a hot bed for young farmers, organic dairy and delicious products. Tune in to this weeks episode of Cutting the Curd with Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger as they sit down with Dean Sparks of NYFoods. NYFoods offers consumers quality organic dairy products with the goal of saving as many New York family farms as possible. They partner with both milk cooperatives and sm...

Ever want to learn about cheese? Here’s your chance! Tune into an educational episode of Cutting the Curd with Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger as they chat with Max McCalman, Sasha Anderson & Daphne Zepos. Learn more about the various ways you can educate yourself and learn how to become a better taster such as cheese classes, seminars and plain old tastings. This program was sponsored by Wh...

The cheese community is one of the strongest in the food world and this week on Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slesinger chat with ‘matchmaker’ Robert Aguilera, US Account Manager of Fromagex (Cheese Making Products and Packaging Supplies). Robert talks about how his company helps provide milk producers and cheesemakers the tools necessary to create the delicious dairy products we depen...

This week on Cutting the Curd, Anne Saxelby looks back on show highlights from 2011. Tune in to hear about how Small Cheese Occupied Big Food, the intersections between art and cheese, Blue Heron Farm’s heroic efforts in helping out dairy farmers in need after Texas wildfire and more. Later in the show, previous guests Kathleen Cotter of The Bloomy Rind and Lisa Seger of Blue Heron Farm call-in to...

Sarah Kaufmann, aka “The Cheese Lady”, is this week’s guest on Cutting the Curd with Anne Saxelby & Sophie Slesinger. Learn about her massive cheese sculptures and the tradition of cheese carving. Sarah has contributed to the largest cheese sculpture in the world according to Guiness, and has also created dairy versions of everybody from Peyton Manning to James Beard! If you’ve ever wondered h...

This week’s episode of Cutting the Curd focuses on a single seasonal cheese: Rush Creek Reserve. First hear from cheesemaker Andy Hatch of Upland’s Cheese Company , who explains how soft cheese can be aged and why it’s not as easy to do as you’d think. Find out what a bark rind is and what makes Rush Creek Reserve’s flavor profile so unique. Later in the show, “ Cheese Impresario ” Barrie Lynn Kir...

This week Cutting the Curd gets gets cut down to size, or rather gets shrunk, with the help of microbiologist Rachel Dutton who is a fellow at FAS Center of Systems Biology. There she is putting cheese under the microscope and using the simplified, experimentally tractable microbial ecosystems found growing on the surface of cheeses as models for the behavior of microbes in complex communities. Th...

The State of Cheese Series continues! Tune in as Anne Saxelby and Sophie Slessinger explore cheese in the great state of North Dakota. First, they speak with Gary Hoffman, Executive Director of the North Dakota Dairy Coalition. Gary talks about some incentives the state offers such as interest reduction and tax breaks for dairy farmers, and discusses the history of dairy in his state. Later on the...