Dan Black's Top 10 Cheeses

Today, my interview with Dan Black is posted on the Di Bruno Bros. blog. Dan mongers at the store's Rittenhouse Square location, where he co-runs their affinage program. He keeps tabs on those little goat cheeses with the wrinkly coats.

Dan's a great talker, and he gets really animated when he describes working in the cheese cave and ripening his “little guys." My favorite part of the interview was when he revealed his Top 10 List. 

I’ve posted the list below (note the blue cheese selections), but you should check out the full interview for his thoughts on Iron Maiden, Arrogant Bastard, and the perfect blue cheese for topping a steak.  

Dan Black’s Top 10 Cheeses

1.    Crottin de Chavignol

2.   Bayley Hazen Blue

3.   Stichelton (blue)

4.   Montgomery’s Cheddar

5.    Pleasant Ridge Reserve

6.   Parmigiano Reggiano

7.   Cabot Clothbound Cheddar

8.   Piave

9.   Monte Enebro

10. Anything from Jasper Hill

(esp. Winnimere, Constant Bliss)

Full disclosure: I freelance for Di Bruno Bros. twice a month. They pay me handsomely to write about cheese for their blog, and I run a nugget of the post here.

Cheese O’clock: Breaking Dairy News

Yes, that’s a cheese Swatch. Imagine my delight upon seeing it in the window of the Swatch store in Washington D.C.’s Union Station. It makes staying on time a pleasure, but my stomach growls every time I look at it. If you need a cheesy toast watch of your own, you can check them out here.

Now, for some local updates:

Au Revoir, Amazing Acres

One of my favorite goat cheesemakers, Debbie Mikulak, is retiring to Maine with her partner, Fred. That means no more Sea Smoke, a bloomy gem that has garnered press and praise across Pennsylvania’s dairyland. Get your last fix before March 15 (try DiBruno Bros. and Fair Food Farmstand), and if you know anyone who wants to buy a Chester County goat dairy with a beautiful cheese room…

Yellow Springs CSA

Forty slots are open for 40 goat cheese lovers. Check out the Yellow Springs website if you want to sign up for award-winning cheese from one of Chester County’s most decorated cheesemakers. I wrote about my visit to Yellow Springs a few weeks ago and highlighted one of their cheeses, Nutcracker, in the current issue of Grid Magazine. If you live in Philly proper, you can pay extra for delivery through Panache, a company that delivers organic produce. Click here to register for the CSA.

Bobolink at the Farmstand

Cheesemonger Paul Lawler sends word of his new dairy case princess, Bobolink cheese. This is the first time that cheese from this much-lauded dairy will be retailed in Philly (woot, go Paul!).

Paul writes, “I don't mean to be all star-struck, but well, I kind of am. Jonathan [White] was one of the very first on the east coast to really put fully grass fed dairy on the map, - supplying...the Clinton White house (where he taught the kitchen to make mozzarella).” Stop by the Fair Food Farmstand this weekend for a wedge.

Secret Winnimere Stash at DiBruno’s

Hot scoop from the cave at DiBruno Bros.: the store has a secret supply of Winnimere that’s being washed in Root, a local liqeuer. It should be coming in from the Cellars at Jasper Hill in late February. Winnimere is a Vacherin-style cheese (read: oozy). Gorgeous. I want a Winnimere Swatch.

Clipped from: www.culturecheesemag.com (share this clip)

Three Winnimere tastings are scheduled in conjunction with the folks from Root:

Di Brun Bros. 9^th Street , March 5, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Di Bruno Bros. Center City, March 6, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Ardmore Farmers’ Market, April 9, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Cheesemonger+Restaurant 943

Ian Peacock, a.k.a. Mr. Fiore Sardo over at Di Bruno Bros. (9^th Street), is making morcilla and blood sausage at his new restaurant in the Italian Market, 943 South 9^th Street. He’s a partner in the city’s first Latin-Italian meat laboratory. Given that he’s a longtime DB’s monger, you can be sure he’s serving up some pretty wicked cheese, too. The restaurant opened last week and is slated to start serving brunch, in addition to lunch y dinner.

Brewer’s Plate

Last but not least, don't forget to mark Sunday, March 13 on your calendar for the city of Philadelphia's best craft ale and local foods dinner party. Tickets are still available, and Yours Truly is on board for some cheese cutting. Stop by, and I'll blow you a kiss.

Cheesemonger Interview: Ian Peacock

*This post is part of a series I write as a paid guest-blogger for Di Bruno Bros.

Years at Di Bruno Bros.: 4

Hometown: Metuchen, New Jersey

How he got into cheese: I’m a carpenter by trade, but I’ve always sidelined in food -- I’ve worked as a fishmonger, a bartender. In early 2007, I walked into Di Bruno Bros. one day, and I haven’t left since. I like that there’s a vast amount of knowledge to master, kind of like working in historic restoration.

Cheese of the Moment: I’m really digging Marco Polo. It’s hard to find really well-made, delicious cheeses that have stuff in them. Marco Polo has green and black Madagascar peppercorns in Beecher’s cheddar. Otherwise, Fiore Sardo, is my favorite. That’s the one I have tattooed on my chest.

To read on, please visit the Di Bruno blog.

Richard-Luis Morillo: Cheesemonger

Hometown: Bayside, Queens and North Merrick, Long Island

His specialty: I deal with a lot of our affinage, especially of the washed rinds. Affinage is essentially cheese care at its highest form.

His cheese of the moment: Muffato, a Northern Italian blue coated in mint, chamomile, and marjoram leaves. At first I thought it was gimmicky, but it’s a nice example of synthesis in a blue. To read more, please click here.

Full disclosure: This post is part of a paid series I write for Di Bruno Bros., one of my fave cheese haunts in Philly. I choose the topic, and the posts run on the store's blog.

Zeke Ferguson: Cheesemonger Illustrated

Hometown: Harveys Lake, Pa.

Years at Di Bruno Bros.: 7

Number of cheese tattoos: Two currently – a Parmigiano stiletto and a label from Montgomery’s Cheddar.   

Fave cheese of the moment: Renata. It’s probably the coolest cheese in the shop right now. Renata is actually a Brown Swiss cow, one of three that cheesemaker Sally Jackson milks at her farm in Oroville, Washington...

To read on, click here.

Full disclosure: This post is part of a series I'm writing for Di Bruno Bros., one of my fave cheese haunts in Philly. The deal is, I get paid to guest-blog on the store's site (dibruno.blogspot.com) on Wednesdays. Woo hoo!