Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge

By Gordon Edgar

A dreamy exploration of the magical food we call cheese. Perhaps it is the Dane in me, but I have always said "I have never met a cheese I didn't like." However, this book opened up the vast, wild terrain that is cheese. It has posed a delightful challenge to an already self-proclaimed cheese lover, to take it to the next level. And I am ready and up for the challenge. 

Fortunately, this was not a snobby, "I know so much" foodie book. It wasn't the kind of specialty food book that leaves you at the train station while the author and all the expensive cheese in the world roars by you fast as a speeding bullet. His face laughing at you as he passes, gorging himself on hundred dollar cheese wedges.

No this is a raw, honest, creative and community minded thoughtful book about cheese. He explores his own story of becoming a Cheesemonger right here in San Francisco's wonderful employee-owned co-op called Rainbow Grocery. His story of how punk rock informed his rise in the cheese community. In each chapter, some description of cheese would make my mouth water. 

What I loved about the book was his unabashed explanation of the how, why, who of cheese making. Which brings you to the unsexy underbelly of cheese: mold, bacteria, animal husbandry, local farming (beyond the myth to the reality) and the natural smelly beasts that are behind cheese. I loved this story.

I was personally challenged to just explore and try cheeses. Find a place where the cheesemonger will work with you and let you try a few things before breaking the bank on a wedge of tasty goodness. If I say right now that one of my favorite cheeses is Jarlsberg, I have a long way to go and a lot to explore. But with Gordon as my cheesemonger I feel confident and excited about all the future cheese which will replace that love of Jarlsberg. 

When I say that, its not that it is a snobby thing it is really about the quality of production. If I love a processed cheese like that now,  how much more will I love the real thing! I am including an extensive list of cheese to try for my own record, bear with the indulgence.

If you do try some of these remember that cheese is seasonal so you may have to wait for them.

Black Butte Reserve, Pedrozo Dairy and Cheese Company - Essentially a real aged Gouda. 

Maple Smoked Gouda, Taylor Farms "Look, most smoked Gouda is crap. Those round, sausagey logs you see all over the place? Those are the processed remains of Goudas that didn't work out for whatever reason . . they give smoked cheese a bad name." Pg 43

Hillis Peak, Pholia Farm - Any cheese from this farm is recommended. Pg 59

Ocooch Mountain, Hidden Springs Creamery: "This is one of my favorite cheeses and very few people have heard of it. Ocooch Mountain is a washed-rind, raw milk sheep cheese from Wisconsin. Aged on wooden boards . . .it is nutty, smooth and - if aged long enough - a tad pungent." Pg 60

Hopeful Tomme, Sweet Grass Dairy (grassy and floral, shows off the pasture) Pg 78

Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Uplands Cheese Company - From their website: "producing food slowly, deliberately, ad with pride is a value worth preserving in our hurried, industrialized society." pg 79

Golden Bear Dry Jack, Vella Cheese Company -  Pg 92

Reblochon (can't get this here!)

Serra da Estrela from the Iberian Penninsula (a great cheese gift for someone who has tried all different cheese he says) Pg 102

Blue Stilton, Coston Bassett "Equally classic English cheese as cheddar." Pg 102


Explorateur


Sainte-Maure de Touranie 


Rogue River Blue, Rogue Creamery "Absolutely my favorite American blue cheese" Pg 135


Roquefort "France's first name-controlled cheese; that is, in such a cheese centric culture as France, it was recognized that the name ROquefort was so special that it had to be protected from imitators." Pg 136 Similar cheeses: Ewe's Blue (US), Blue des Basques (France) Best producers of Roquefort: Coulet, Berger, Carles, Papillon (Pg 136)

Montgomery Cheddar (Similar cheese - Keen's Cheddar (UK), Lincolnshire Poacher (UK), Fiscalini Bandage Wrapped Cheddar (US), Flagship Reserve (US), Cabot Clothbound Cheddar made at Jasper Hill Farm (US). Pg 146


Aged Chddar, Widmer's Cheese Cellars (Similar cheese, Grafton Cabbot and Bravo Farms). Pg 146


Franklin's Teleme, Similar to Teleme


Bonne Bouche, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company



Humbolt Fog, Cypress Grove Chevre


Comte (Gruyere de Comte, dimilar to Gruyere)Great cooking cheese! Pg 174

Red Hawk, Cowgirl Creamery

Gran Canaria, Carr Valley Cheese Company


Minuet, Andante Dairly


Monet, Harley Farms (pg 198)


Dante, Wisconsin Sheep Dairly Cooperative


Winnimere, Jasper Hill