Bass Lake Cheese Factory

A recent excursion brought us to the Bass Lake Cheese Factory near Somerset, WI. Master cheesemaker Scott Erickson was a hell of a good host, gamely answering questions for 45 minutes, tolerating the attention of a video crew that was tagging along with us, and demonstrating a session of chevre salting and curd tasting.

I’m happy to report that chevre curds, after hanging for a few days in nylon bags to build up the proper level of acidity, are as distinctive as the cheese itself — different, but quite delicious. The curds had a pure, clean flavor and a cloud-like texture… each tiny mouthful was spiked by a note of tangy acid.

Erickson salted the chevre curds after transferring them (by hand, of course) from their bags to stainless steel forms. We tried both salted and unsalted curds; I slightly preferred the latter, as they were a perfect chance to taste what goat cheese’s distinct, gently acidic note tastes like before the rest of the cheese develops a more assertive body.

Bass Lake has a back room with a variety of different cheses stockpiled in what turns out to be a photogenic manner:

It occurred to us recently that we hadn’t posted a photo of what a master cheesemaker’s medal actually looks like. Erickson did an excellent job of displaying his, so here’s a snapshot:

If you’re reading this blog post and you’re within an hour or two of Hudson, WI (about 35 minutes East of St. Paul), check out Bass Lake. They have a running series of wine tastings on alternate Saturdays that sound pretty delightful.

A Brief Technical Note

We’ve conducted (and in large part transcribed) more than 25 straight hours of interviews in order to research this book, and we’ve got another 4-6 to go, at least. This would not have been possible — in the slightest — without our Olympus VN-3100PC Digital Voice Recorder. It’s never failed us, runs for hours without needing new batteries, stores up to 72 hours of sound in however many folders you want, picks up sound in hostile conditions (i.e. pasteurizers), and converts all our interviews into easy-to-use digital files so that we can transcribe from iTunes instead of rewinding and fast-forwarding a physical tape. I have come to love this thing. As far as inanimate objects go, it is my best friend. As a journalist, I’ve used a lot of recorders in the past (eight? ten?) and this is the first one I’d go out of my way to praise.

Northwestern Wisconsin: Stanley and Jim Falls

We got our first big multigenerational cheesemaking photo at LaGrander’s Hillside Dairy, courtesy of master cheesemaker Randy LaGrander. The shot depicts Randy (center), his father Dan (who’s still active around the factory), and his sons Joe and Ryan.

We also got a chance to try (and buy) some of LaGrander’s aged cheddar, which we quite enjoyed. A chunk of it ended up shredded into the delicious, bubbly, golden brown potato quiche that we made for dinner last night.

On this same trip, we met Richard “Whitie” Wold, who presides over the sprawling Jim Falls cheesemaking operation run by Associated Milk Producers, Inc. Wold was as generous a host as we could have hoped for, and he gave us the straight dope on the challenges and rewards of making a quality cheese at a huge (260,000 pounds of cheese a day) volume.

We’ve got a block of AMPI’s jalapeno jack in our fridge that I’m looking forward to trying. Also, a gallon of AMPI chocolate pudding. It was only four bucks!

A Sentimental Thought…

…from the shop at LaGrander’s Hillside Dairy.

It’s Spring in Wisconsin

Taken near Jim Falls, Wisconsin.

Also outstanding / out standing in their field:

On Wisconsin…

Cheese Underground has put up a tremendously encouraging post (which you should go read) detailing Wisconsin’s booming specialty cheese industry. Here’s one key section:

The National Agricultural Statistics Service today announced that Wisconsin cheesemakers continue to lead the nation in crafting innovative cheeses. Specialty cheese production in 2007 rose 3 percent above the previous year, setting a new record. … In addition, there are more cheese plants here than there were a year ago, and more of them are producing specialty cheese. According to the report, 83 of Wisconsin’s 124 cheese plants manufacture at least one type of specialty cheese. Last year, 80 of the state’s 122 cheese plants did so.

The whole post has some fascinating data on Wisconsin cheesemaking (if you’re into that kind of thing), so it’s worth a read.

Green County, One Final Time

It’s official: We’ve interviewed all the masters that Green County has to offer. It took three visits, but we’ve wrapped up the south-central part of Wisconsin. All (?) that are left are visits to another eight or nine cheesemakers in the northwest and central-western parts of the state.

We kicked off our trip by visiting the charming and historic Maple Leaf Cheese plant, headed up by masters Jeff Wideman and Paul Reigle . Reigle’s (unusual) master specialty is yogurt cheese, and Wideman was a walking encyclopedia of state dairy lore. I’d planned to write some of the book’s introduction by synthesizing the contents of various dairy history books, but at least some of that will (I think) be replaced by Wideman’s recollections and information, which duplicates the factual content of the history books in a much more lively voice.

Here’s a shot of Reigle with Maple Leaf’s English Hollow cheese:

And here’s a classic-looking one of Wideman:

Not far from the plant, we discovered a sign touting farm-fresh eggs. Try your best to resist this charming countryside shot… what’s that? No luck? Not surprising.

Jake Niffenegger of the Lactalis plant graciously showed us the skillful mold-cultivation that goes into each and every brie and camambert cheese that his plant puts out under the President name. Look for brie tasting notes coming out soon. We can’t get enough of this mellow, mild, creamy stuff.

We also spoke with Doug Peterson, the independent dairy consultant who heads Dairymasters, LLC. Peterson seems likely to play the role of “gruff-but-lovable truthteller” in our book — he wasn’t afraid to speak plainly about some of the challenges facing the Wisconsin cheese industry, which made for an engaging interview. We met up with Peterson at Rookies, a sports bar in Black Earth, Wisconsin, which gave the interview a decidedly more relaxed air than many of the ones we’ve done in corporate boardroom-style settings.

Last but certainly not least, we chatted with Gary Grossen, Babcock Hall’s cheesemaker in residence. Grossen, whose Gouda-style cheeses have been finding a great deal of success on the national level in recent years, plays a special role as a hands-on collaborator with the brains at the Center for Dairy Research, and as a mentor to those seeking their Wisconsin cheesemaker licenses.

Here’s a shot of the man and his cheese (Dutch Kase, if memory serves):

And an interesting shot Becca took from the observation deck overlooking the Babcock plant:

Of course we stopped at the Babcock Hall dairy store on our way out for some cheese curds, chocolate milk and Blue Moon ice cream…

What is the deal with Limburger? - Tasting Menu

Limburger is a complicated cheese, and much more challenging than most American cheeses. Before you try Limburger, you should think about why you want to try it. Every joke that could be made about Limburger has already been made, and it doesn’t need another person trying it for the sake of making fun of it. Limburger needs some serious-minded testers willing to give it an honest chance.

If you are ready, here are some suggestions for your first Limburger experience.

1. Find a Limburger that is as about 2-3 months old. The labels should tell you when it was made, and like all smear-ripened cheese, the smear bacteria continues to age the cheese even as it is in the grocery store waiting for you. 2-3 months is a great time for Limburger; combining a great texture with a more mild flavor. The smell is still strong, but by the time Limburger reaches 4-6 months, all you can smell is ammonia, so avoid old Limburger.

2. When you get the Limburger, go ahead and take it out of its packaging, which you should then discard. Take a paper towel and wipe down the surface of the cheese — this removes some of the smear bacteria and thus slows down ripening and removes some smell. The idea here is to get the Limburger to a place where you can put it on a plate with other cheeses and not have it overpower other things.

3. Choose some other cheeses that will showcase the Limburger.

Suggestions:
A traditional smear-ripened Brick cheese (also called German Style Brick or Foil Wrapped Brick). This is very similar in make to Limburger, but is a semi-hard cheese like cheddar and will give you some notes of Limburger while remaining mild. It is sometimes called “the married man’s Limburger” because the smell is less offensive.

A flavorful French-style soft cheese like Saint Andre or even a brie. Some of these cheeses are also “stinky” in their own way, and also share a similar texture to Limburger.

A Colby or other mild semi-soft cheese as a palate cleanser. Choose a nice textured cheese that you can pair with the Limburger on a cracker to lessen the flavor to your liking.

Plate everything along with some rye bread, crackers, strong mustard and onions. Add other accompaniments as you wish — pickles might be nice, or anything with vinegar. Avoid wine and stick to beer. Enjoy!

Jim adds:

Becca is very tough on 5-6 month Limburger, but I think it’s a cheese that can and should be enjoyed (in moderation). If you’ve got the right stuff (rye bread, onions, mustard) to stand up to the flavor and you apply the cheese judiciously, there’s a depth of flavor that can’t be beat.

Transcription Hell

Some of you may be wondering why the flow of posts seems to have slowed to a crawl. The answer, in a nutshell, is that we’re now tackling the job of transcribing the 20-30 hours of interviews we’ve done so far. By the time we’re done, I hope that we’ll have a nice little oral history of the Wisconsin cheese industry on our hands. In the meantime, my hands are absolutely killing me. I don’t recommend the experience of typing 10,000 words a day.

Tasting Notes: Sartori Bellavitano

The folks as Sartori told us that their Bellavitano cheese, an original creation, was difficult to explain. This is undoubtedly true on one hand (the texture is unique), but it is also has some familiar flavors that help a taster get a handle on its essence.

Bellavitano has some of the flavor of an aged cheddar, but the texture is much softer, like a young cheddar with a slight crumble to it. It also has notes of aged parmesan that meld perfectly with the aged cheddar taste. This is a great all-around table cheese; it would please cheese gourmets and casual snackers alike.