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The Cheese Insider

I just completed a four-day comprehensive workshop, “The World of Cheese,” at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. The course was presented by the Wisconsin Center for Dairy Research, Department of Food Science, UW Madison and Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board. An all-star lineup of instructors from the dairy world were the speakers, including Dean Sommer, Dr. Mark Johnson, and four other experts from Center for Dairy Research (CDR).

The CDR is located in historic Babcock Hall, and is part of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at the university. CDR is widely recognized as the premier dairy research center in the world, attracting experts from around the globe. Dairy related companies, including cheesemakers, seek the help from CDR to work through issues they may be having, or in new product development.

I feel fortunate to know a few of the food scientists, and I met a number of people for the first time. The moderator/leader of the four-day workshop was Dean Sommer, a Cheese and Food Technologist at CDR. Before joining CDR, Sommer was a plant manager for one of the largest cheese plants in the country. A Wisconsin native, he is someone that works with the cheese and whey industry as a technical resource. He will be returning to Door County this summer to teach a class at the Savory Spoon Cooking School in Ellison Bay. Last year’s class sold out, so if you want to learn some fun facts and learn how cheese is made, this is a class you should attend. The class will take place Aug. 13 at 6 pm. Get more information and sign up by visiting http://www.savoryspoon.com.

Mark Johnson, PhD, is the senior scientist at CDR, and a truly brilliant man when it comes to cheese. He is recognized as one of the top judges at cheese contests throughout the world…he really knows cheese. During the four-day course we must have sampled over 60 cheeses from A to Z, and his expertise in guiding us through this journey was very enlightening. I thought I knew a few things about cheese, but there were times I felt like a complete newcomer. He was joined in some of the tasting sessions by a few of his colleagues at CDR, including Luis Jimenez-Maroto, the Sensory Coordinator.

Jimenez-Maroto and his group of associates focus on the sensory aspects of dairy products, including cheese. Here again I was a bit overwhelmed with looking at just the sensory aspects involved in cheese. Perhaps I will go into some detail about this subject in a future article; it was very helpful for me to understand more about it.

Other subjects we covered during the workshop included: milk microbiology, milk pasteurization, cheese ripening, cheese economics, cheese safety (storing), cheese performance in the kitchen, and one of my favorites, how to pair cheese with beer.

We visited three cheese-making operations: Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese in Waterloo, Klondike Cheese in Monroe, and Chalet Cheese in rural Green County.

My continuing education continues…

Michael C. Thomas

Michael C. Thomas is co-owner of Schoolhouse Artisan Cheese with his wife Janice. With locations in Ellison Bay and Egg Harbor, they aim to bring the best of Wisconsin artisan cheeses to Door County, and with “The Cheese Insider” Michael hopes to bring all things cheese to readers of the Pulse.