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About the
Cheese
Mistress |
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What
is a Cheese Mistress exactly?
Before your imagination runs maître away with
you...my Cheese Mistress title derives from "fromager,"
or Cheese Master in French, one who selects and cures cheeses.
I
call myself Cheese Mistress for my lifelong
interest in the fantastic realm of cultured milk. I am the Mistress, the Keeper
of the Cheese, here to promote and protect! Cheese is something to be
revered - and even feared - for its unrivaled mystery.
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My Cheese History
My passion for cheese has led me to work at the cheese counter at Central
Market in Austin, Texas, and to teach cheese classes at
UT Informal Classes. Along the way,
I became enamored with wine as well, and have incorporated the "fruit of the
vine" into my tastings. What better way to enjoy cheese? For years I catered cheese/wine parties and
led
tastings for groups. I recently moved to the NYC area where I work in
the cheese department for an importer of specialty foods.
I keep casual notes of any cheese I eat
and any wine I drink along with it at the
Cheese Log and
Wine and Cheese.
For more formal writing, visit Cheese
of the Day, a link to my commercial writings for my job.
My main hobbies are cheese and languages. I have a Ph.D. in
Romance Linguistics with a focus on French and Italian. I also speak German and
have studied several Romance dialects along with medieval Romance languages. My knack for language matured right along
with the cheeses I encountered in Europe. I realized I was addicted to cheese in
1985 when I risked my U.S. passport to smuggle four putrid raw milk French
delicacies through customs in NYC. No one dared search me because of the smell!
"What is your favorite cheese?" I am often
asked. I adore any type of goat cheeses, aged or fresh. I am a huge fan of
northern
Italian cheeses. I have no favorite, but
one cheese that I buy on a regular basis is the Crottin de Chavignol from France
(translation: "horse droppings.") The name is hideous and the cheese
is not always pretty, but it tastes great at any age.
(actual size)
I love to hear from fellow
caseophiles.
Feel free to Write Me about any
cheeses you think I should try, wine/cheese pairings, beer/cheese pairings,
fruits, nuts, preserves, and anything else that involves my favorite food.
Remember...
Mi
Queso Es Su Queso!