Meet Your Monger: Gunnar

You lived in Scotland while you were completing your Master’s degree. What do you miss the most about the UK?!

I definitely miss the “Tesco Meal Deal.” You can’t beat a chicken, butter and cheese sandwich, hot chips, and a drink for $3.

What’s your current favorite sandwich in the shop?

I love the turkey chutney, and I think adding greens and bacon is an exceptional choice. It reminds me of Thanksgiving, and tis the season, right?

If you had to pick a current favorite pantry or retail item we sell, what are you most excited about?

I’ve been really excited about our Tuscan white bean and kale soup. It’s so delicious and not super heavy. I'm always incredibly satisfied and never too full after.

You’re a new member of our community here, and we’re so excited to have you. What do you like to do when you’re not slanging sandwiches and selling cheese?

I love hitting up the Paperback Exchange, spending afternoons reading and writing, or hanging out in my Sky Chair with a glass of wine.

Meet Your Monger: Isaiah

How did you come to work at the Cheese Shop

 Friend of a friend, restaurants. 

Cake or pie?

French Silk Pie! 

What is the proper way to eat a hamburger?

Hold it by the butt and don’t set it down, ever! 

You've cooked in some great Minneapolis restaurants—what's something that would surprise most people about restaurant kitchens? //or// what's an easy way to level up home cooking?

Level up home cooking by using a       thermometer, and buying local organic   produce.

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

No. 

What do you think is a more cringe-worthy food trend: snackle boxes or butter boards?

Butter Board. 

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Ribeye Cheese Steaks

Sometimes the heart wants, what the heart wants, and it just so happened that I had a massive craving for a cheese steak this week. The universe was completely in my favor, because I have access to some of the best ribeye in the Twin Cities and a vast selection of phenomenal cheese. There was just no way I wasn’t going to make this come to fruition for myself. 

I’d like to be clear, this isn’t a “Philly Cheese Steak.” I’m not going to pretend I’m using an Amoroso roll, or that I work at Pat’s or Geno’s, but that doesn’t mean I’m not completely inspired by this icon of a sandwich. 

Ribeye is the traditional cut of choice, and normally (depending who you ask) it’s topped with caramelized onions and provolone (also cheeze whiz is a contender). 

I did my own slight twist on this American classic.  I used Peterson Farms ribeye, thinly sliced Ogleshield, and grated fontina that I made into a traditional cheese sauce.

Ogleshield, and a English-style raclette, is perfect for this sandwich because of its melting qualities and delicious richness. Add yourself a side of our house made tots, and we’re talking game over, never look back, that’s it, just go home, bye. It’s perfect for game day, an easy week night meal, or you could just follow in my footsteps and cave into your cravings just because you can. You don’t have much to lose. 

Ingredients:

(Serves 2) 

10-12 oz thinly sliced Peterson Farms ribeye steak 

1/2 medium sweet onion, sliced

1/2 green bell pepper, sliced 

1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 

2 hoagie rolls (or baguette, toasted)

1/2 lb Fontina cheese, grated 

.25 lb Ogleshield

1 cup milk 

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons butter 

1/2 tbsp kosher salt 

1/2 tbsp black pepper 

3-4 tablespoons of EVOO 

Directions:

1. Cook your peppers and onions in a sauté pan over medium heat with a tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Cook until caramelized, and set aside.

2. In order to get your steak cut as thinly as possible, it’s helpful if you put it on a sheet tray in the freezer for 15-20 minutes before you slice it.

3. While your steak is chillin’ out, make your cheese sauce in a small saucepan. Over medium high heat, melt your butter. Whisk in the flour and slowly whisk in the milk. Add in the cheese, and whisk until melted. Set aside.

4. Take your thinly sliced steak and season with salt and pepper. Heat a tablespoon of evoo in a large griddle or pan over medium high heat. Spread your steak out in an even layer, allowing as much surface area as possible. It should only take a minute or two to cook

5. Time to assemble your cheesesteak! Divide your steak in your pan into two even portions. Top your individual portions with your pepper and onion mixture, and cover each with slices of Ogleshield. Let melt, and using a large spatula, put each into your roll of choice. They should be packed full of goodness! Slather that thing in your homemade cheese sauce.

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Duck Breast

Duck, duck, grey duck? (Not in this kitchen.) Duck is my favorite protein of all time. I’ve been fortunate—spoiled, really—to have worked in fantastic restaurants where I had access to beautiful birds. Duck is uniquely rich and complex—there's just nothing quite like it. Cooking duck at home is always a daunting prospect, we hear this from customers all the time. Achieving that perfect crispy-yet-rare balance is easier than you think.

Lucky for you and me, our Culinary Director, Scott, is here to assist this week. He's spent decades working in some of the country's finest kitchens, where he's prepared more duck breast than he probably cares to remember. He took some time out of his busy schedule this afternoon to school me on cooking my favorite protein. Merci, Chef! (He will 100% hate this shout out, but he deserves it.)

This recipe began, like most, with inspiration from a single ingredient. Earlier this week, the Kamā line of Jordanian spices arrived in the shop, and my eyes shot out of my head Looney Tunes-style. The unassuming jars hold some of the loveliest spices I've had the pleasure to taste, all sourced from independent Jordanian farmers. This recipe features the za'atar and the tahiniyeh, both excellent additions to any pantry.

Ingredients (one serving):

1 whole duck breast, scored, patted very dry and seasoned with salt and pepper. 

1/2 cup full fat Greek yogurt 

0.5 lb slender carrots (or thick carrots, halved lengthwise), peeled
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon fine sea salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground Za’atar seasoning

For the Tahini Glaze: 

⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup tahiniyeh (or another tahini)
3 to 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, to taste
3 tablespoons maple syrup
¼teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste

Directions for the Duck:

1. Preheat oven to 375. Place duck skin side down in a cold pan. Let skin begin to render and brown over medium-low heat, 5-8 minutes. Once nice and crisped, flip the breast over and move pan to the oven for another 6 minutes for medium rare. Let duck rest while you make the carrots. When ready, flip the duck skin side down, and slice. Salt as desired.

Directions for carrots: 

1. Increase the oven to 425 degrees. Place sliced carrots (quarter and halved) on a large rimmed baking sheet and toss with the oil, salt, and pepper. Roast carrots for 15 minutes, then turn them and continue roasting until they are golden at the edges and tender.

2.  While the carrots are roasting, make the glaze: In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, tahini, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, maple syrup, za’atar, salt and 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Whisk in 1 to 2 more tablespoons water until you have a thick but pourable sauce. Taste and add more salt or lemon juice, or both, if you like. 

1. Once the carrots have finished roasting, gently toss in the tahini sauce. Garnish with a heavy hand of za’atar seasoning. Plate as you like next to the duck and a smear of yogurt. and enjoy!

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: White Beans

I just returned home from an extended trip overseas with my family to Scotland, which was unbelievably beautiful and fulfilling. We ate our way through the countryside and all over the islands, enjoying every rich bite of culture and history. The trip was amazing, but when I returned home earlier this week after a long day of travel, all I wanted was a taste of home. 

This lemony bean salad is comforting, easy, and packed full of big, bold flavors. Just pop your beans on the stove for a couple hours, and the rest comes together in moments. 

This recipe also features one of my favorite ingredients from the Cheese Shop, haricot tarbais (although you can easily used canned cannelloni, too.) Haricot Tarbais are heirloom beans from France with sweet, milky flesh and thin skin. Certified as beans grown the traditional way in a specific region, these beans are the ideal choice for cassoulet. Tarbais beans are also perfect for salads, such as this one.  It feels good to be home and enjoy something that always brings me total satisfaction. 

Pour yourself your favorite glass of white wine or a crisp beer, and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1 lb. Haricot Tarbais beans (can sub 2 cans of rinsed Northern or Cannellini beans)

1 bunch rainbow Swiss Chard 

1/4 cup olive oil

1 lemon, halved 

1 small yellow onion, sliced 

2 tablespoons salted capers (rinsed)

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 anchovy filets

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves 

1/2 cup parsley

Pecorino or Parm to garnish 

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. If you use haricot tarbais beans, they need to be cooked first. Put the beans in a big pot with the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook partially-covered for about an hour, up to 2, until the beans are tender. Add salt to taste during the last 30 minutes of cooking.

2. Heat the olive oil in a pan, add your garlic and onion. Swirl until the garlic starts to “pop” and add your anchovies and capers.

3. Add your beans, and let simmer for 8-10 minutes.

4. Tear or cut the chard off the stem and rip into large pieces. Add the chard to the beans.

5. Move to a large serving platter and top with mint and parsley. Shave as much cheese as you like! Squeeze the lemon over the whole dish.

Rogue River Blue

by Austin Coe Butler

In the autumn, cool, Pacific air pours into the Rogue River Valley. After a dry summer, rain falls like a benediction. The landscape, parched and increasingly blacked by wildfires, brims again with green, and a kind of second spring unfurls. It is at this moment that the cows at Rogue River Creamery dine on fresh, green pasturage again and Rogue River Blue is made.

Rogue River Blue is about as big a deal as there is in the contemporary world of cheese. It was awarded the prestigious title of “the best cheese in the world” after winning the 2019/2020 World Champion Cheese Contest. Rogue River Blue winning first place was remarkable for many reasons, but most notably it was the first time an American cheese had ever won this global award. Thirty, maybe even only twenty, years ago, it could be argued that Europe was producing “better” cheeses than the United States. But, speaking plainly, the US is now producing some of the best cheeses in the world, cheeses on par with European merits of excellence.

But you can’t eat a title, and they don’t make cheese taste better. I invite you to put that title aside and instead taste it for yourself, enjoy it for what it is, and learn about what makes this cheese phenomenal and inspire excitement.

Rogue River Creamery is located in Central Point, Ore., just north of Medford in the rugged Rogue River Valley. It was originally founded by Tom Vella as Vella Cheese Company. Tom ran the creamery until his death at the age of 100 and his son, Ig (Ignazio) took over. David Gremmels frequented the creamery often. He had a long history in specialty foods and had plans to open a wine bar in Ashland, Ore. He knew he wanted to serve Ig’s cheese, and when he approached Ig about the business, he realized how much he and Ig had in common, how much respect they had for artisan producers and products. A deal was struck that David and his partner, Cary Bryant, would take over the creamery with the understanding that the Vella family cheeses would continue to be produced according to tradition. They shook on it, and in 2002 David and Cary took over the creamery. That same year, the first batch of Rogue River Blue was made.

Rogue River Blue is made with that rich, autumnal cow’s milk precipitated by the first rains. This milk is special because it has equal parts butter fat and protein. Once the cheese is made, it spends its first 30 days in a cellar designed to mimic the Combalou caves where Roquefort is aged, 98% humidity at 50º Fahrenheit. It is then moved to a different cellar where it is inoculated with Penicilium roqueforti (blue mold) at three months and aged a further eight to ten months before being wrapped in Syrah leaves from neighboring Cowhorn vineyard, which have been macerated in pear eau de vie. Rogue River Blue is produced seasonally and the voracious demand for it means its availability is limited. It is released on the autumnal equinox of each year (September 22nd this year, September 23 in 2023 for those of you already planning ahead) and is usually sold out by Christmas.

Rogue River Blue’s flavor is phenomenal. Flavor conveys in an instant what words can only do at length. There is the sweetness of pears poached in port, salty, smokey, and meaty flavors like bacon or guanciale, and a gentle yet piquant blue tingle reminiscent of Roquefort. You’ll find that depending on where you eat from this cheese, near the rind, the center, or elsewhere, different flavors will wane and come to the fore. I’d encourage you to try the leaf, too, which David and his team painstakingly pick in June and July. It lends the cheese a lovely balanced vegetal and fruity flavor. The texture is rich and fudgy, and studded with many different types of fine crystals like calcium lactate, tyrosine, and brushite, all of which are flavorless but add to the textural experience.

This cheese can be savored on its own, but if you’re looking for a pairing, try it on an Effie’s oatcake with a pear gastrique, or on a rosemary cracker. For beverage pairings, enjoy Rogue River Blue alongside a glass of Villainie or Gewürtztramminer. Naturally, Syrah or an Oregon Pinot Noir is a welcomed accompaniment. This cheese can hold its own against stronger beverages like Basel Hayden’s bourbon, Dampfwerk’s pear brandy, or, a personal favorite, the French desert wine Banyuls.

We have six wheels of Rogue River Blue, and this is the only time of year this cheese is available, when the autumn rains return to the Rogue River Valley and the cows are grazing on the preternaturally green grass to make next year’s batch of Rogue River Blue. Stop into the shop this week and buy a wedge. Whether it’s to see what all the hype is about or enjoy an old favorite, you’ll leave with a great American blue cheese.

Gruyere Alpage

Désalpes et le Gruyère d’Alpage Chenau!

by Austin Coe Butler

Last weekend, one of the most singular and exciting events in the world happened in the Alps—a celebration known as Désaples in Switzerland. After a grueling summer of labor and isolation, shepherds descended with their cows from the mountains to the safety of the valleys in the time honored tradition of pastoral transhumance. Pastoral transhumance is the seasonal, rotational grazing of animals, and shepherds around the world from the Basque Country to Mongolia and even Wisconsin follow this ancient practice. But in the Alps, there is a heightened drama and revelry brought to the event. Farmers march their animals into the remote heart of Alps like Hannibal to make cheese for the summer. On their descent, they are fêted by entire towns and villages.

Dèsalpes is not just a gastronomic celebration where cheese is a gustatory pleasure, but a communal event where cheese is at the heart of culture, society, and economy. The shepherds and townspeople are dressed in Tracht, traditional clothing like Dirndl and Lederhosen, while the cows are crowned with plumes of feather grasses, antlers made of fir branches streamed with ribbons, and wreaths of bright, brilliant marigolds bearing massive, clangorous bells. The bells sound less like cowbells and more like the belfries of a town all ringing out in celebration. Cows that have produced the most milk are honored with the largest bells and most magnificent crowns. Cows are also adorned with religious iconography, consecrating milk as a primordial liquid like so many other religions and civilizations. The crowds cheer and applaud the farmers and cows like returning seafarers, and this last moment of the summer becomes a celebration of food and drink, community and tradition, which by night turns raucous with dancing and carousing. I’ve written before of the time I watched this procession in Piedmont (known in Italian as the Tranzhumanza), but I am often reminded of the German woman standing next to me who whispered in wonderment, “Unglaublich, unglaublich…. Incredible, unbelievable…”

Our current wheel of Gruyère Alpage comes from Chenau. Alpage, which refers both to the high altitude pastures and the diversity of grasses and wildflowers the animals graze on, signifies that this Gruyère was made during the summer months at a high altitude from the milk of cows who ate wild forage. Chenau overlooks the Col de Lys, and Guedères, where last year’s Gruyère Alpage was made, is just one valley over, a few miles away as the crow flies. Father and son, Pierre and Christian Boschung move to five different chalets throughout the summer, ascending to a peak elevation of 5,500 feet(!) elevation before descending at the beginning of autumn. These chalets are spartan in their amenities. High above the cloud line, they are removed from the world, like Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain. There is no cell service, no electricity, so a small generator is lugged up the mountain for essential tasks like milking. Pierre and Christian conduct the grueling work of making Gruyère by hand in a cauldron over wood fire like the old gruyiers of the 13th century as their aprons, smudged with soot from leaning into the cauldron to stir and cut, attest. The wheels are brought to Fromage Gruyère S.A., the only remaining affineur of Gruyere in Fribourg, where Gruyère was born..

Whereas the Guedères Alpage was marked by a fruity, alpine strawberry aroma, the Chenau Alpage has more savory, cured meat notes like sugar cured bacon with a subtle smokiness. At times it is reminiscent of Parmigiano Reggiano with its tyrosine crunch and brothy savoriness.

Come celebrate Désalpes and the fruits of the summer at the shop with us and a hearty wedge of Gruyère Alpage from Chenau this weekend!

Basque Cheese Blowout

by Austin Coe Butler

I’ve written previously about Ossau-Iraty and the Euskadi, or Basque, people’s incomparable relationship with their local breeds of sheep. Millenia ago, when the Basque arrived in Europe before any other living European ethnicity, they entwined their fate with their sheep by choosing to live the timeworn way of the shepherd, feeding, housing, and caring for their sheep while the sheep provide them with milk, meat, and wool. Instead of keeping their sheep in barns, the Basque keep their sheep in their homes. Traditional Basque homes are three stories with the sheep living on the ground floor heating the shepherds and their families on the upper stories. In Euskada, the Basque language, there is no distinction between speaking about locally made cheese and sheep’s milk cheese; they are both ardi-gasna. It’s from this culture that Ossau-Iraty, the staff favorite sheep’s milk cheese, comes. I’m thrilled to introduce two more sheep’s milk cheeses from the Basque Country that have recently arrived in our case: Tommette Brebis, from Onetik, the Basque cooperative that makes Chebris, a customer favorite, and Tomme Brûlée, from Beillevaire.

Tommette Brebis, literally “little wheel of sheep’s milk cheese,” is a mild, adorable cheese weighing in at a little over a pound. At just two months of age, it is the youngest of our Basque cheeses and has an appropriately gentle, buttery paste with the delicate brightness of lemon curd and the richness of buttered popcorn. The small “tommette” format (think P’tit Basque) is common in Basque cheese markets as sheep produce very little milk and as a result shepherds with smaller herds make these daily, practical tommettes. You’ll often see these tommettes coated in Espelette pepper or smoked.

Tomme Brûlée is another small sheep’s milk tomme with a twist. After several months of aging, the affineurs at Beillevaire step in to brûlée the rind of this cheese, giving it a striking mottled appearance like the side of a brook trout. While I suspect this brûléeing is more for visual appeal, some people swear they can taste a broiled marshmallow or burnt caramel sweetness to it. Tomme Brûlée has rich notes of coconut milk and lime zest, more of that sheep’s milk tang than the Tommette Brebis.

Our wheels of Ossau-Iraty are tasting phenomenal right now. In addition to their classic rich, roasted chestnut savoriness and sweetness, these wheels have a delightful blueberry fruitiness.

Basque sheep cheeses are united by a remarkable creaminess. There’s none of the gritty, granular, or gamey qualities you can sometimes get in sheep’s milk cheese that can turn people away. If you’re new to the world of sheep’s milk cheeses or a long-time fan, this weekend to try these three Basque cheeses, some of the best sheep’s milk cheeses in the world!

Cook Like A Cheesemonger: Sheet Pan Chicken

I’d happily invite you to ask anyone in the Cheese Shop about my particular passion for perfectly roasted poultry, and I’m honestly surprised that I haven’t posted a crispy pan-seared duck breast, or a spatchcocked bird yet. (Don’t even get me started on wings, ok!)

Having a meal come together all in one swift, satisfying, delicious motion is exactly what you need when you don’t feel like stressing about what you’re going to put on the table. Crispy roast chicken with caramelized smashed potatoes and gremolata will make your dreams come true, and your dinner won’t only be a massive flavor bomb, but also incredibly stress free. This recipe is inspired by Alison Roman, who has made countless sheet tray dinners look exceptionally beautiful. 

It truly really shines because of the hand ground spices. Coriander seeds, peppercorn, and fennel add such a fantastic depth of flavor. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle, or a designated spice grinder, you can always fall back on a F44 homemade spice rub! Any will do! 

This meal is full of protein and makes fantastic leftovers. (Although, there weren’t any…) Have a delicious week, friends! 

Ingredients: 

1 whole 3-4 lb chicken, broken down into 8 pieces. 

1 lb. Bag of baby gold potatoes

1 head of garlic, peeled and smashed 

1 lemon, sliced into rounds 

1 tbls of coriander seeds

1 tbls of black pepper seeds

2 tbls whole fennel seed

4 cloves of garlic 

Gremolata:

1 bunch of parsley

1 clove garlic, grated

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest 

1/2 cup EVOO

Salt 

Directions: 

1. Make your rub! Toast all the coriander, black pepper, and fennel on the stove until fragrant. Grind in your mortar and pestle until broken down (or in a food processor, blender if need be) and add your garlic and smash into a smooth paste, adding the evoo. Rub all over your chicken, place in a bowl, and let marinate for at least one hour.

2. Wash and boil your potatoes until they are fork tender. Using a glass cup, smash them flat and arrange on a parchment lined tray with your lemon slices. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil, and add your chicken, arranging on top.

3. Salt the chicken, and let come to room temp for 15 minutes.

4. Bake in a preheated oven (425 F) for 45-55 minutes. Top with gremolata and enjoy!

Gremolata: 

1. Finely chop your parsley, zest your lemon.

2. Grate your garlic clove, and mix in your olive oil and lemon juice/zest. Add salt and pepper.

Cheese Profile: Capriole Dairy

By Austin Coe Butler

It’s remarkable that you can walk into an American grocery store and buy goat cheese. Until even just recently, you wouldn’t be able to find chèvre in a Cub or artisanal goat’s cheeses made here in the US in a shop like ours. And much of this is owed to the hard work of a few people who started to make goat cheeses back in the 70s.

Enter the American “Goat Ladies.”

The “Goat Ladies” refers to a group of women who came to goat cheese making usually by traveling abroad to western Europe or were inspired by the back to the land movement. Mary Keehn of Cyprus Grove, Laura Chenel, Allison Hooper of Vermont Creamery, Chantal Plasse, Paula Lambert, and Judy Schad of Capriole all are included in this movement of “Goat Ladies.” These women learned from and inspired each other at a time when travel to France or knowledge of goat’s cheesemaking and herd management wasn’t widely available. In 1976 Shad was a PhD candidate in Renaissance Literature at the University of Louisville when she and her husband, Larry, in search of a more sustainable life (and more room to garden), moved their kids to the small town of Greenville, Indiana. On their new farm overlooking the Ohio River, Judy had plenty of room to grow vegetables and acres of flower gardens. She also kept a few goats, but her kids weren’t fond of goat milk. And just like cheesemakers for centuries, Judy fell into cheesemaking out of abundance and necessity.

Now, over thirty years since founding Capriole in 1988, Judy and her team make almost a dozen bright, playful cheeses. We carry two of them, the stunning ash-ripened Sofia and Wabash Cannonball, and both abound with bright, citrusy goat zing. If you’ve come to the counter, odds are we’ve sent you home with a piece of Sofia, or you were captivated by the brainy sphere of a Wabash Cannonball. Sofia is inspired by classic Loire Valley goat’s cheeses and is a gorgeous ingot of goat’s cheese with an ash rind and another layer of ash running horizontally through it, creating a striking visual contrast and appeal against the bone white goat cheese. Wabash Cannonballs, with their brainy, geotrich appearance, are singular in their appearance and have also been dusted in ash.

Ash is common in cheeses like Valençay and Morbier. It has been used for centuries and was likely first used as a way to protect the rind of cheese from insects or prevent the premature formation of a rind, as in Morbier. For fresh goat cheeses in particular, which tend to be lactic set cheeses, their delicate, crumbly texture is too fragile for common preservation techniques like washing, brushing, or oiling to be applied. Particularly in the Loire Valley, which is regarded as region producing some of the best goat’s cheeses, an abundance of grape vine clippings that were incinerated provided a the cinders, although nowadays cheesemakers use food grade vegetable ash or activate charcoal is used.

While the use of ash may have began as a preservation method though, overtime it was found to encourage beneficial surface mold to bloom and ripen the cheese. Ashing makes the surface of goat’s cheese less acidic (more basic), which creates an ideal environment for beneficial molds like Penicilium candidum and Geotrichum to bloom and thrive, and these molds have a big impact on flavor. Those beautiful, gooey cream lines on your piece of Sofia or Wabash Cannonball that run and drip from a baguette or cracker? All the result of molds and bacteria breaking down the proteins in cheese through their metabolism. Without them, these cheeses would be much more similar to the cakey, crumbly chèvre that tops your salads or beets.

Judy and her team no longer manage the goats. Judy still keeps some of her favorites around. Now all the time that went into managing the herd and its health goes into the cheese! Capriole is a clever play on the Latin capra, or goat, and also the leap or caper performed in classical dance or horseback riding. These leaps are also seen in these playful, gregarious goats gamboling across the fields and jumping off one another and into trees. It’s a reminder that, in Clifton Fadiman’s words, cheese is “milk’s leap at immortality.”