Ursula Heinzelmann, Wein- & Essenschreiberin
The Heinzelcheese cheese of the month in November is Friesisch Blue from the good folks at Backensholz, since 1991 pioneers of farmhouse cheeses made from raw milk, all the way up in the north, where Germany meets Denmark speaking plattdeutsch, low German. Because November is Cheese month in Berlin, literally so, with the Cheese Berlin happening on November 6th at Markthalle Neun! » Weiterlesen…
The holy trinity of the small valley one hours drive west of Lausanne are wood (that forest), cheese (that milk transformed into wares for less remote, lucrative markets), and watches (a combination of long winter days without cheesemaking, iron ore deposits and Huguenot immigrants’ skills). Yes, they are all here, the big brands you know from ads, James Bond movies and City bankers’ wrists. Fortunately the valley’s signature cheeses (depending on the season, the milk is either made into Vacherin or, during the summer, transformed into large wheels of Gruyère) are a little more affordable. And Vacherin in particular is a model of regionality. » Weiterlesen…
Even if the sun still has a real burn, September sounds like autumn to me, sounds like a certain golden glow, a quietness in the air… and it sounds like squash! And such a bright orange squash calls out for risotto. Which finally brings us to cheese: Castelmagno, that cave ripened, ancient original from the Piemontese Alps. » Weiterlesen…
July was a wonderfully full month in Heinzelcheese land, and it’s spilling into August. That’s why I’d like to present you one of the great finds from my travels as cheese of the month for this August: Shana Miller’s Grey Baby from Naramata in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in Canada. » Weiterlesen…
„We couldn’t buy good food back then“ Norman Steele explains when I ask him why his wife Veronica started making cheese back in the early 1970s, long before anybody was talking about farmhouse cheese. Like many other townfolks turned farmers (Norman had previously studied and lectured philosophy in Dublin) they quickly discovered that one cow has more milk to offer than a young family can consume as such.
» Weiterlesen…
The Blue Cornflower is my cheese of the month in May, this wonderful month between (finally!) winter and summer, with the sun shining from a blue sky, birds chirping happily, flowers flowering… Because again and again, it achieves that small wonder to convince even declared blue cheese haters to look beyond their perceived horizon.
» Weiterlesen…
Location: the Cheese Festival in Sand/Taufers in the Valle Aurina in Alto Adige (a very inspiring event – go, if you can). Recommendation from: Dominik Flammer, Swiss food scout and enthusiastic fan of all good things from the Alps. Therefore: top priority, first tasting stop, the Eggemoa table. From Mühlwald, a small village a few minutes drive from Sand in the direction of Lappach. On that table, a small selection of small cheeses, most of them soft. Love at first sight (and taste): Silva!
» Weiterlesen…
Regular Bergkäse, mountain cheese, is a more or less mature hard cheese from more or less happy cows. But there are alternatives, even in the Allgäu, like this not so hard goat cheese from a small creamery in Wertach with the sweet name „’s Molkefässle“ (the small whey barrel). For this Robert Maul turns untreated, raw goat’s milk into smallish round wheels. » Weiterlesen…
I just returned from a short week in the north of Sicily. Fabrizia Lanza invited me to experience her „Cook The Farm“ project in situ, and I chose to join her nine (fabulous) students for the week dedicated to cheese – obviously. Now I am full of gorgeous pictures, sounds, light, smells, and my fridge is bursting with cheese. » Weiterlesen…
This cheese of the month comes from Vietnam. Those who follow my whereabouts on Twitter might have had in inkling this would happen… To quote the wonderful Chet Baker: I fall in love too easily, I fall in love too fast. With cheese, that is. Except that I’d like to change that into I fall in love soo easily, I fall in love so fast, so terribly hard that it always lasts. At least with cheese. » Weiterlesen…