Up North Cheese Finds!

Dec. 11, 2015

It’s a fact; we love cheese. Recent USDA figures show U.S. cheese consumption at an all-time high, up 42 percent over the past two decades. Modern Farmer notes the top selling cheeses in the United States are mozzarella and cheddar, with the average American consuming 10 pounds of each per year. Cheese is also one of the fastest-moving playgrounds for dedicated foodies and boutique farmers; there are now nearly 70 artisanal cheese producers in Michigan, and dozens of cheese shops, including several great ones right here in northern Michigan. We chatted with a few of our local cheese folks who shared some of their best holiday cheese tips just for you.

Leelanau Cheese est. 1995
3324 S. West Bay Shore Drive, Suttons
Bay leelanaucheese.com — (231) 271-2600

Leelanau Cheese’s story reads like a delightful European folk tale. Anne and John Hoyt met in the pastoral hills of Switzerland where she, a French native, was shepherding cows and he was an apprentice cheesemaker from Detroit. They married in 1986 and 10 years later the couple relocated to Michigan and founded their own creamery and specialty cheese company, crafting cheeses from fresh local cow’s milk that included no color or preservatives. Today, Leelanau Cheese is feted by everyone from foodie locals to chef Mario Batali, who told Bon Appétit magazine that Leelanau Cheese’s raclette is a must-have for the wood oven-fired pizza he makes at his getaway house Up North.

Best Selling Cheeses: “We only make two kinds of cheese: Swiss raclette and fromage blanc,” explained Anne Hoyt. They’re renowned for both, especially the raclette, and they even sell raclette grills for an authentic cheese experience.

Holiday Cheese Tip: Hoyt suggests Christmas dinner is best kept simple. “We always have either fondue or raclette dinner with cornichons and potatoes,” she said. “You are not kept in the kitchen for hours, away from visiting friends and family; you just add a baguette and beverages. It’s nice to have an easy, delicious meal in the middle of the chaos of the holidays.”

Petoskey Cheese est. 2015
437 E. Mitchell Street, Petoskey
petoskeycheese.com — (231) 753-2805

Recent Columbia College graduate Katie Potts returned to her hometown of Petoskey to open Petoskey Cheese earlier this year. After working as a cheesemonger for Chicago cheese destination Pastoral, Potts said, “I fell in love with cheese and actually kind of got obsessed with it — cutting it, making cheese pairings, everything.” Potts’ Midwestern diet once had her believing good cheese was Cracker Barrel brand, but her time at Pastoral enlightened her and she delved into the origins of cheese and its flavor profiles. Don’t be surprised if you get a complimentary history of your cheese selection as you’re buying.

Petoskey Cheese carries between 40 and 60 imported and domestic cheeses at its downtown location.

Best Selling Cheeses: Prairie Breeze, a cow’s milk cheddar from Iowa, and Euphoria, a sheep’s milk Gouda from Holland. “The cheddar melts really well and the Gouda is caramelly with a hint of salt; it’s a really good, and very different, snacking cheese,” Potts said.

Holiday Cheese Tip: “If you have a lot of leftover bits of cheese of all different kinds, you can make a fromage fort,” Potts suggested. “Put the cheese into a blender with half as much room temperature butter and blend it on pulse until the whole thing is butter consistency; this makes such a great spread for bread or crackers.”

Manny’s Specialty Cheese est. 2013
1132 E. 8th Street, Traverse City
facebook.com/MannysSpecialtyCheeseTC — (231) 929-2809

People often say Manny Gualco really “knows his bries from his blues,” but that’s only the beginning at this passionately run shop on 8th Street. A California transplant to his wife’s hometown of Traverse City, Gualco once trekked through jobs in furniture sales and mortgages before becoming a top cheesemonger at West Coast foodie haven Nugget Markets. His own cheese shop offers nearly 130 varieties of cheese, plus all the trimmings, from meats and olives to dried fruits, nuts and jellies. “We really have everything you’d ever need to go with cheese,” explained cheesemonger Ed Sanchez. “And we listen to what people are looking for to help inspire what we carry. Once you find us, we’re like a hidden gem.”

Best Selling Cheeses: “The Delice De Bourgogne, a triple-cream brie that’s superrich and velvety, and Roomano Pradera, which is a Gouda-style hard cheese that’s caramelly and nutty and pairs really well with cider,” Sanchez said.

Holiday Cheese Tip: When you’re bringing a cheese plate to a party, keep everyone in mind; include some simple cheeses, as well as the more complex ones, and don’t forget the little extras. “Think about the accompaniments to the cheese as much as the cheese itself,” Sanchez said. “Include some charcuterie, nuts, honey or fresh fruit on the plate.”

The Cheese Lady est. 2014
600 W. Front Street, Traverse City
thecheeselady.net — (231)-421-9600

Originally from Grand Rapids, Tina Zinn had always thought she would retire in Traverse City, but her plan to move north was accelerated upon discovering the wonders of cheese. “I love to cook, and went to culinary school, so to me cheese was an important recipe element; I was never really a cheese board type of person,” Zinn explained, “but when I started going to one of the Cheese Lady shops, I found 140 different kinds of cheese and I was blown away!” She brought that enthusiasm to her own Cheese Lady franchise, where she and her team of cheesemongers pride themselves on educating people about cheese. “Customers tell us their cheese-related stories all the time and we help them find the cheeses they remember,” Zinn said.

Best Selling Cheeses: Fromager d’Affinois (“It’s a beautiful French double-cream brie, sweet and so full of flavor it’s almost like a triple-cream”) and Prima Donna, a nutty aged Gouda-style cheese from the Netherlands. “That one is everyone’s favorite,” Zinn added.

Holiday Cheese Tip: “Cranberry cheese always goes well with the holidays,” Zinn said. Zinn’s daughter, cheesemonger Kim Fish, passed along a handy way to remember what to buy when preparing a cheese board or canapé tray: “Something old, something new, something goat and something blue!”

Boss Mouse est. 2012
Kingsley
bossmousecheese.com

Michigan native Sue Kurta’s first experience with cheesemaking was as a hobbyist, but it wasn’t long before the power of cheese took hold, pulling her to cheesemaking workshops and an apprenticeship on the East Coast. She returned to Kingsley and began making her own cheese on a historic 1867 Centennial Farm, combining traditional cheesemaking techniques with modernized recipes. The result is a small, but impressive, selection of aged cheeses, plus Boss Mouse’s popular smoked butter, which is hand-cut and wrapped with a twohour applewood cold smoke on every batch, making it a chef favorite. Plus, Boss Mouse’s Cheese of the Month club lets you sample additional cheeses as Kurta crafts them.

Best Selling Cheeses: “The sweet Swiss is by far our best-selling cheese,” Kurta said. “I can’t really explain why; it just turns out beautifully in this part of Michigan!” Montasio is Boss Mouse’s other top pick. “Especially the rosemary montasio,” she added.

“The rosemary looks like pine needles and it’s a very holiday cheese.”

Holiday Cheese Tip: “Cheese is something that appeals to everyone at your holiday table, but often people will buy the same kind of cheese every single year,” Kurta said. “I’d encourage people to try all different kinds of cheese; get suggestions from your local cheese shops and pick some that are more unusual.”