Sustainable Fun at PASA!

On Thursday, February 4, I was lucky enough to attend a portion of the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture conference in State College, Pennsylvania. I was asked to attend so I could offer feedback to cheese makers about the quality, presentation, and price of their products. First, let me say that the cheese makers I had the pleasure of meeting were some of the most entrepreneurial, experimental, hard-working people I’ve ever come across. I was proud – and honored – to share a room with them. And to think – they were asking my opinion.

All in all, I and my co-judge Jenny Harris of Tria in Philadelphia, tasted about 30 cheeses. Arduous, huh? We tried new products from established and newbie cheese makers alike. Of all of the cheeses I tried, most would have a welcome spot on our shelves. In fact, you can watch for a number of them to be arriving soon. Of course, there were some cheeses that needed work. What amazed me was that these artists (and scientists) wanted honest feedback. They were incredibly eager to make their cheeses tastier, more attractive, and more approachable price-wise.

One of my favorite cheeses overall was from a young Pennsylvania Dutch couple from Nittany Valley Organics. They showed a wonderful Pepper Jack, Baby Swiss, and Smoked Cheddar. The best story, however, was the “experimental” cheese that they formed into a wheel and allowed to age (at an odd angle) in their cave. This cheese was one of the ugliest pieces of food I’ve ever seen and I say that with great admiration. He had aged this wheel sort of on its side so if you can picture a huge wheel of cheese (about 18 inches across) that was round except for one side. It looked like a flat tire. But my was it delicious! Just goes to show you – you can’t judge a cheese by its cover

Look for some new creations to head our way from Chapel’s Creamery, Yellow Springs Farm, Gootessa, Keswick Creamery…. the list goes on and on! I’ll let you know when they arrive.

Before the judging began, I sat through a lecture on various bacterial cultures. I knew there were myriad cultures to choose from when making cheese and that each one would have a different effect on the final product, but when I say I had no idea how intricate this science was, I mean I HAD NO IDEA! I will be writing about the two educational sessions (this one and another by Peter Dixon about food safety for the artisan cheese maker) separately because I learned so much that I must dedicate another entry to it.

Till then, signing off!