For all of you who wonder if I ever return to my desk in Berlin: yes, I will! But at the moment I’m still on the American east coast, proudly showing my new book around while giving talks at Hamilton, Ithaca, Cornell, NYU… It is an immense pleasure and honor to meet so many students willing to listen and learn when I tell them about German cheese, history, national identity, and we then taste some of those Alpine beauties together.
I do realize that a student’s life is packed with things to do and greatly appreciate your time and attention. I’ll go home with the distinct feeling that many of you from now on will look at cheese very differently, will think about the people and animals behind it, the political, social, economical implications and connections… In case you’d like to have another go at those aromas and flavors (remember: connect senses and brain!), here’s what I tasted with most of you, in varying order.
Comté, from France, 9 and 30 months old
Gruyère, from Switzerland, 9 months old
Pleasant Ridge Reserve, from Uplands in Wisconsin, 8 months old
Pawlet, from Consider Bartwell in Vermont, 5 months old
Sternschnuppe („shooting star“), from Käsküche Isny in Allgäu/Germany, 3 months old
Adelegger, from Käsküche Isny in Allgäu/Germany, 18 Months old
Alpe Loch, from a real Alpine dairy in the Bregenzerwald in Austria, 22 months old
Thanks are due to the Bedford Cheese Shop, cheesemongers extraordinaire in Manhattan and Brooklyn (and your go-to place to get hold of these cheeses and many more), all my contacts at the various institutions, as well as my friends at Kaeskuche in Bavaria who all generously helped me to let you discover this new world. I hope to be back soon, and in the meantime don’t hesitate to get in touch with any question on cheese and beyond.
