Author Archive
Workshops 2013: Magical Microbiolgical Mystery Tour
This is a lecture
May 6 (Monday), 2013 from 11am to 3pm
Location: Pineland Farms Creamery, New Gloucester, ME
DIRECTIONS (link to PDF document):
http://www.pinelandfarms.org/pdf/Pineland-Farms-Campus-Map.pdf
Building # 19 on the map.
Have you ever wondered what turns a bland lump of salty curd into the amazing diversity of flavors, aromas, and appearances exhibited by the hundreds (if not thousands) of cheese varieties? More often than not these characteristics are initiated and controlled by organisms populating the surfaces of each cheese. Given that, how much do we know about what is happening on the cheese rind? Not much, it turns out. Cheesemakers *think* they know what happens when this mold is added, or a cheese is put into that cave, but microbiologists at Harvard’s FAS Center of Systems Biology have been testing these assumptions and finding that the cheese surface is a much more diverse environment than we could ever have imagined, involving some “usual suspects” as well as utterly alien influences.
This year the Guild has been able to schedule a member of the FAS lab, Benjamine Wolfe (who has worked with the Cheese Nun to figure out the secret lives of Geotrichum candidum) to visit Maine and update us on their research and findings as part of our May meeting to help us better understand our own aging situation, causes, and effects.
COST: This lecture is FREE to Maine Cheese Guild members. Non-members will pay $25 at the door, and their lecture fee will include membership in the Maine Cheese Guild.
One Day HACCP Course in Maine
This course is geared towards those who are interested in creating a product that would be USDA or FDA inspected and thus need to be compliant with the written food safety guidelines those entities require (or will require in the case of the FDA). This one day course will cover how to analyze food safety risks and food safety hazards. Participants will learn about HACCP plans v. risk based plans and how to use the best of both to create a culture of food safety. The course costs $125 during pre-registration (up to 5 days before course date) and $145 at the door.
The course will take place on Wednesday April 24 from 9-5 at the Androscoggin Chamber of Commerce on 415 Lisbon St., in Lewiston. Registration and payment information is available at www.dirigoqualitymeats.com
Michele Pfannenstiel DVM
Dirigo Quality Meats
908-907-7798
michele@dirigoqualitymeats.com
www.dirigoqualitymeats.com
Meeting: April 8 at Silvery Moon, Westbrook
Our April meeting was hosted by Silvery Moon Creamery at Smiling Hill Farm at 781 County Road (Route 22) in Westbrook on Monday, April 8th between 10am and 2pm.
We focused on Marketing issues at this meeting, and welcomed representatives from Native Maine Produce to the meeting to discuss what they look for in cheeses to distribute, how they handle those cheeses, and the various ways they’re able to market them to a wide or select set of customers.
Workshops 2013: Washed Rind Cheeses
This is a Hands-on Two Day Workshop
March 31- April 1 (Sunday/Monday), 2013 from 9am to 5pm
Location: State of Maine Cheese Co., Route 1, Rockport
Noted cheese maker and expert teacher Margaret Morris of Glengarry Fine Cheeses in eastern Ontario will be in Maine to teach a class on Washed Rind cheese types: production methods and aging techniques.
Space will be limited to this hands-on two day workshop: the first 15 students who send a deposit into our Guild Treasurer will be guaranteed a spot. Additional students may choose to be placed on the waiting list in which case they will need to be prepared to join the class with a few days notice in case of any cancellations.
Production and technology associated with washed rind cheese making
Day 1:
-to make a St. Paulin style washed rind cheese from cow’s milk.
-selecting lactic culture strains to produce the most diverse flavour profile, the influence of acidity on fine cheese
-discussing the aspects of acidity development during Cheesemaking and post cheese making
-moulding, washing, and aging St. Paulin
-selecting and discussing ripening cultures and their role in washed rind technology
-washing cheese rinds, demonstrating the technique used at Glengarry Fine cheese, discussing the types of rind curing methods and aging conditions required to produce washed rinds.
-discussing how to implement the procedure of St. Paulin recipe to a sheep’s milk cheese within the frame work of a cow’s milk recipe
Day 2:
-to make a Reblochon style washed rind cheese from cow or goat’s milk (due to availability)
-washing cheese rinds, demonstrating the technique used at Glengarry Fine cheese, discussing the types of rind curing methods and aging conditions required to produce washed rinds.
-question and answer session on cheese improvements from cheesemaker’s samples of cheese , evaluation of attendee’s cheese.
COST: $200 for Guild members, $225 for non-members (price includes a one year membership to the Guild)
Send your $100 deposit (checks can be made out to the “Maine Cheese Guild”) to guarantee a spot to:
The Maine Cheese Guild
c/o Mark Whitney, Treasurer
Pineland Farms
32 Farm View Drive
New Gloucester, Maine 04260
Welcome To The Maine Ag Trade Show!
2013 Maine Dairy Princesses with Cheese Guild President Eric Rector at the beginning of the 2013 Maine Agricultural Trade Show in Augusta.
Governor Paul LePage addresses the Ag Commissioner’s Luncheon at the trade show.
The Maine Cheese Guild booth in the main hall.
A Curd Walks Into A Bar…
Is the concept of the “Cheese Bar” the next big thing on the American culinary scene? Or a unique “only in NYC” phenomenon…? When you figure that in any restaurant these days cheese is almost ubiquitous on menus from the grated Parmesan in an Italian salad dressing to the cheesecake or ricotta-filled sweet on the dessert menu, why NOT a restaurant where cheese is the star? And who better to do it, featuring their own “geeky irreverence” than the Murray’s Cheese group? Frankly, if they can make a good Welsh Rarebit, they will be able to mint money, or “cheddar” as some of the kids like to call it these days…
Greek Yogurt Galore
The New York Times reports on the astounding growth of the production of Greek-style yogurt in the US, which has dominated New York State dairy in the last few years, and now is set to take over Idaho as a new Chobani plant opens in Twin Falls. This new plant is expected to serve the entire West Coast to help satisfy our sudden appetite for this thick dairy treat, including in forms never before seen, like tube yogurt, and packaging that includes separated mix-ins.
Meanwhile one of Maine’s dairy processing plants (the Bangor Garelick/Hood plant) is shutting down and Maine dairy farmers continue to struggle to receive a sustainable price under the current federal pricing structure…
Evidence of the World’s Oldest Cheese?
The scientific journal Nature has published a study of the residues left in very old pottery shards that happen to form pots with holes in them. These porous pots could have been used for a great many tasks, but one that’s always been listed is for cheese making. This study shows the presence of milk fats in the pots, which appears to strongly corroborate that hypothesis. The linked article (on the BBC web site) has lots more info on the ideas surrounding how ancient cheese making skills are, and how they might have been developed.
Meeting — Maine Agricultural Trade Show
Our meeting was held at the Maine Agricultural Trade Show at the Augusta Civic Center on Tuesday, January 8th, 2013 at 10:00am in the Waldo room. We had a very good discussion about workshops, the results of which you can see now posted on the Home page of our web site.
