Cheese and Social Media

Madame Fromage's iphone

For the last three days, I have been holed up at the Poynter Institute in Florida, studying media trends. I can tell you a lot about Twitter demographics and cool projects at NPR (imagine a Pandora for news), but the question that came to mind as I flew home from Saint Petersburg last night was this:

How has social media affected cheese?

Three years ago when I started blogging, Twitter was still an infant, and the iphone had just been born. Here’s the scene today:

Cheese Apps: Through iphones and ipads, we can access scores of cheese-related apps, from beer-and-wine pairing guides to something called Dairy Ping, which allows users to pick up a jug of milk and locate the farm that produced it, along with sanitation information. Two apps stand out:

Fromage ($2.99) by Steve Welch offers descriptions of 750 cheeses and a function that allows you to keep notes on each one. One drawback: the design is lackluster and there is a lot of scrolling to be done.

Cheese Plate ($2.99) by Chronicle Books is essentially a Janet Fletcher hardcover in app form. The photos are gorgeous, and you can pull up a dozen or so cheese plates by theme, then tap the cheeses to learn more info. Pairing notes, however, are very limited. 

What I’d like to see: regional cheese apps with interactive cheese maps that would guide users to local cheesemakers and cheese counters.

Cheese Tweets: Twitter is alive with cheesemongers, bloggers, and lobbying groups. Here are the folks leading active social media campaigns:

Beecher’s (@BeechersNY, @BeechersSeattle)

Culture Magazine (@culturecheese)

Wisconsin Cheese (@WisconsinCheese)

Blogger Kristen Jackson (@ItsBrieBlog)

Bloggers CheeseandChampagne (@curdwise)

Cheesemonger Tim Gaddis of Star Provisions (@TimTheCheeseMan)

InvestinCheese (@investincheese) delivers daily links and top stories.

What I’d like to see: more news from behind the counter. What cheeses are in stock? What cheeses are in season? Why don’t more cheese counters tweet tasting notes?

~

Feeling lost? Don't panic. Over the next few weeks, I'll try to post more about this phenomenon. Until then, here is your assignment: check out some apps, stalk a monger on Twitter, and let me know if you think social media improves your cheese life. For a quick glimpse of cheese talk on Twitter, check out Trendistic. Surely, we can do better than this!

How to Talk to a Cheesemonger

 

Now, let us talk confessions. Every week, people tell me that they are too intimidated to shop at cheese counters. Because they feel unschooled in the world of dairy, they buy shrink-wrapped wedges from the cold case, carefully avoiding the eyes of the cheesemonger. As one man told me recently, “It’s like dealing with a sommelier. I feel so inadequate!”

Oh, sad day! People, don’t fear the cheesemonger. Fear lawyers and astrologists, yes. But not the cheesemonger, even if he (she?) has a lot of hair on his chest.

Here’s the deal: cheesemongers don’t care about your IQ. They just want to talk cheese. If you ask them, “What’s ripe?” they get very excited. Over the last four months, I’ve interviewed half a dozen cheesemongers, and all of them say the same thing: We love it when customers ask us about cheese.

So, because this is high season at the cheese counter, I’m offering a few tips on how to buy cheese like a seasoned geek.

1.    Pretend the cheesemonger is Yoda. Cheesemongers tend to be wise and gentle creatures. Look for one with hairy ears.

2.    Ask, “So, what’s ripe?” Cheesemongers are guides to the dairy case. They know which cheeses are at their peak and which ones need more time to mature.   

3.   There are several styles of cheese. If you want to feel coolio, remember these: fresh (i.e. ricotta), bloomy (i.e. Brie), washed-rinds (read: stinky and interesting), natural rinds (dense, i.e. Mimolette), and blues.  

4.    If you want to put together a special cheese board but you don’t really know what you want, be up front. Lay out your weaknesses. The cheesemonger is like a guidance counselor that way. She’ll probably ask you what kind of wine you’ll be serving and whether you have an adventurous palate. Pick red or white, then say, “Yes.”

5.    Don’t bring up Jarlsburg. As long as you’re at a cheese counter, be a little more adventurous. 

6.   Most cheese counters offer samples. You should always eat the sample, and quite often the cheesemonger will join you. If you want to be schooled on cheese, furrow your brow and say, “Hmmm…what am I tasting?” Then the cheesemonger will say something like, “Well, I get a little butterscotch on the front end and a hint of pineapple on the finish.” Then you’ll know you are in the presence of a master cheese taster. If the cheesemonger shrugs, shrug back and go somewhere else.

7.   Don’t leave without asking for a pairing suggestion. Cheesemongers tend to be very good cooks, and they spend a lot of time looking at the items on the shelves and daydreaming about dinner. They can point out some really inventive pairings you never would have imagined – like blue cheese and chocolate.

8.   Take a risk. Buy a cheese that has a streak of ash or a funky rind. Even if you have a delicate palate, there are wonderful cheeses out there with very subtle notes (like Pantaleo) that will blow your mind.

9.   Don’t be put off by prices and don’t say, “Give me your cheapest cheddar.” That would be like walking into a wine store and saying, “Where’s your Boone’s Farm?” Cheesemongers tend to favor artisanal cheeses, which are hand-crafted – just like craft beer – and they will cost more than Kraft Singles. Ask for a quarter pound, and think of it as tithing. You’re supporting a small farmer somewhere.

10.   Bring a notebook. Yup, a notebook. You can write down what you sampled, and next time you’re at the counter you can whip it out and say, “Hmmm, I really liked the Brie de Meaux from Ile-de-France,” and off you’ll go, trying the next great cheese. 

Hunter Fike, Cheesemonger

Hometown: Philly

Years at Di Bruno Bros.: 14

Fave cheese of the moment: Anton’s Red Love. It’s a washed-rind, brie-style cheese from Germany, and it’s made by a guy named Anton. He named the cheese after his wife, who is a redhead. Pair it with a Riesling, and you have to spread it on Faragalli’s Bread.

Best utensil behind the counter: My chef knife. A lot of people use a wire to cut cheese, but the chef knife does everything.

Condiment of choice: I’m really into Tait Farm jams...

To read more, please 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 for the store's site (dibruno.blogspot.com) on Wednesdays. I chose each topic myself.