Collaborations

The talk in the academic world is on the importance to create collectives of people who are in different fields and disciplines and try to learn from each other. This may sound really obvious, but it has taken a very long time for scholars to get here. Academic endeavor is defined by the strict boundaries set up in the study of the physical and social sciences. The humanities are less strict about this, but they also have their fair share of border patrolling. The idea is to create expertise that can then be utilize to produce wealth, if interested you should read Max Weber.

It is with this in mind, that I have tried to expand my horizons and move away from the self-centered view that my work and my craft is most important and significant alone. I have tried to enter, establish and seek collaborations with people doing amazing food projects. Here I present to you four new collaborations. More information will be coming up, but this is a little taste of things to follow.

Educating Young Minds

Along with the HSMSE Gastronomy class run by a good friend of mine, we are taking 18 high school students to Flying Pigs Farm in upstate New York to participate in the Farm CampThis school group learns about food production through readings and films but also experiences like taste workshops, visits to farms, markets shops around NYC. Part gastronomy class – part cultural sensitization, the aim of the program is to introduce students to good food and “to expose the kids to new tastes and cultures encouraging an open-mindedness, which in theory would extend to all aspects of the students' lives.” experience.

We are going to Farm Camp to learn about the realities of food production and to gain an understanding of the importance of knowing the source of what we eat. We will be in the farm on 5/6 June and you will be able to follow us on twitter by tracking the #GastroCamp or the #FarmCamp tags.

Other twitter feeds to follow are: @FarmCampNY @FlyingPigsFarm I will have a small contribution on smell and the ideas of disgusting, nasty, tasty and gourmet. I have been working on this topic for a while now and I have a piece (in Spanish) on Letras Libres.

If you would like to learn more about the HSMSE Gastronomy class or on the teacher leading the initiative you can contact her check out their facebook page at: HSMSE Gastronomy Eats NYC or email her at jboylan @ hsmse.org She has prepared lesson plans and a syllabus, which she will be happy to share with other educators.

Mexican cheeses
I designed five different vegetarian sandwiches using Mexican cheeses for Aula Chocolate in Mexico City. These sandwiches are created around a traditional Mexican cheese and paired with local ingredients. Here are three that are already for sale:

Chiapas: Queso de Cuadro, berros, aceite de oliva, balsámico y miel.
Chihuahua: Queso Menonita, mostaza de grano y cebollas caramelizadas.
Michoacán: Queso Cotija, compota de sandía y menta fresca.

They are all made with bread baked on-site. The cheeses are produced by artisanal farmers and sourced by Lactography, and information on the makers is included with every sandwich. The purpose of this collaboration is to showcase traditional cheeses and ways to pair them with food and integrated them in a lacto-vegetarian diet. All profits from the sale of the cheese go directly to the makers and affineurs that produce them and age them.

For more information visit: Aula Chocolate or follow @aulachocolate

Cheesemonger certification

The American Cheese Society has been working for the past 10 years on creating a Certification Exam for Cheese Professionals and developing a Body of Knowledge document, which includes guidelines on all the cheese knowledge that someone to be certified should have. The purpose of such certification is to create professionals that are able to speak, promote and better cheese for everyone. I have been invited to be a Subject Matter Expert and hope to bring my expertise of Latin American cheese productions as well as experience as a Cheese Judge in North America to the effort. The first exam is scheduled to take place in early 2012 and you will be hearing more during the annual meeting of the ACS in August.

At this moment, I don’t envision traveling to Canada for the annual meeting, mostly because being a Mexican citizen I am requested by the Canadian government to obtain a visa to enter the country (this was not the case two years ago) and the price of application plus my situation as a full-time student makes the expense to apply for a visa, plus travel, plus enrolling in the conference prohibitive. If you would like to sponsor my participation or know someone that would, I will be forever grateful. I have budget the trip to cost US$1,000 dollars only on fees and travel expenses. I have friends in the Montreal to stay with.

For more information on the annual meeting and other events about the ACS you can follow them at @CheeseSociety

The other event that is taking place that may impact the certification process and which I have been doing some PR is the 2^nd Annual Cheesemonger Invitational, it will be hosted by Adam Moskowitz of Larkin on Friday, 8 July 2011, from 7 to 10 PM in Long Island City, New York. For more info visit Cheese Monger Invitational or follow him at @CMI_2011

Tea and Cheese

Harney and Sons will be hosting a small tasting in its newish SoHo store in New York City, we will be offering their tea-infused cheeses and other American cheeses paired with teas. I will be around to explain cheese tasting and pairings, while Emeric Harney will be explaining teaching people about tea. Cheese is a great gateway for this and should be a fun experience to have the cheesemaker there to explain us on the making of flavored cheeses.

Our tentative date is Thursday, 21 July 2011, from 5 to 8 PM, details to come. You can also find more information following @HarneySoHo and buy tea here.

Other (older) ongoing food collaborations:

Camel milk and cheese project – I am part of the Advisory Board of the What Took You So Long Foundation film project “Respect the Camel” for more info on the film being produced and many camel cheese related events follow them at @wtysl or at WTYSL Foundation.

Judging guidelines – We are looking to develop guidelines for cheese judges. This project is in conjunction with the Guild of Fine Food organizers of the World Cheese Awards and it will involve all the current Supreme International Judges. Follow them at @guildoffinefood and visit them at Fine Food World and for info on the 2011 Awards.

Denomination of Origin – I am continuously helping the Rancho San Josemaria, producers of one of the finest sheep’s milk cheeses in Queretaro, Mexico, to apply for a certificate of trademark in a first step on the long process to have this cheese awarded a DO. Follow them at @QuesosOvejaSJM or visit their site.

Finally, I call them collaborations because I have not been economically remunerated for any work under this scheme. I write this not to brag about my philanthropic spirit, but to differentiate these collectives from the work that I do commercially which includes classes, tastings, trainings, and consultancies. If you have an idea in mind that could impact the way we think about the food that we eat or how we consume it, email it to me and we can set up a collaborative. If you are interested in any of these projects and have an idea also email me or any of the people involved. All inquiries welcome to cheeseconsulting @ gmail.com

Fromage, Cheese, Queso

"Aunque la mayoría de los quesos “famosos” son españoles, ingleses, suizos, italianos o franceses, el queso no es oriundo de Europa: el queso original es árabe."


Here is my newest piece on Mexican cheese in Spanish for Letras Libres - Fromage, Cheese, Queso.

Asociación Mexicana de Queseros

As many of you know, I am involved with various cheese projects in Mexico. The principal one is in Chiapas, where I have been advising for the past four years the Ministry of Agriculture (Secretaria del Campo) on flavor profiles of two of the most famous cheeses. Another one is supporting cheesemakers and affineurs in Queretaro and Michoacan and the last one is to create the first cheese-aging facility in Mexico City along a small educational center. While many have asked me to join efforts and turn my cheese interest into a full time commercial endeavor that is completely involved in selling cheese in Mexico and exporting to the US, Canada and Europe, I have decided to stay out of that game for a while and let others more knowledgeable of marketing start businesses.

However, I do have opinions on the way Mexican cheese should be commercialized, how farmers, cheesemakers, and affineurs should be supported and on legislation that could foster growth in this industry. The industry that I am referring to is the one that produces artisanal cheese based on the protection of Mexican culinary culture. I am less concern about large dairy conglomerates, as they have already found a way to turn profits for their investors. Still, I have not been able to decide the best way to move forward, but I know we need to start an organization that can support Mexican cheesemakers and bring better products to consumers.

A while back, a very enthusiastic french transplant to Mexico proposed me to start the Mexican Cheese Society, modeled after the American version (ACS). A Mexican professor of dairy sciences suggested contacting the Guilde des Fromagers and ask them to start a chapter in Mexico. Finally, an American scholar involved with the ACS proposed to follow the Canadian example and first start state organizations that would support themselves with expertise and lobbying power and then expand to the country, just like the Ontario Cheese Society is now doing it. She offered the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association as the best American example of a powerful and knowledgeable association. I have also looked at the models created by the British, Irish, Australian and New Zealander cheesy enthusiast. They all have great ideas, but in my opinion they are missing something. In essence most of their organizations are trade associations mostly started by cheesemakers to concentrate their efforts on pushing local legislators to gain grants, resources, or to move legislation in benefit of small dairies. Few of these organizations expand their efforts to include distribution companies (food companies), in a push to court an unlikely ally in the race to sell more cheese. The problem with this unlikely pairing is that in most markets, small cheesemakers and food companies are in two different businesses all together. Artisanal cheesemakers are in the business of turning milk into cheese to sustain themselves, their lifestyles, to feed people with good cheese, and some times to produce small profits to their investors. Food companies are in the business of making a profit from transportation, consolidation, distribution, and marketing of food. The difference in business models pits the two camps in a battle where cheesemakers seek to be paid better for quality products and food companies would like to pay less to producers while charging more for processed food to consumers.

I know this reads as a familiar complain against large supermarket chains, food consolidators, investors, and consumers of commercial products. Still, I believe there is something to be said for a different way to organize ourselves and to think about the way we feed ourselves. I am not claiming that I have all the answers or that I do not consume commercial products, benefit from food consolidators, or sometimes shop at supermarket chains. I am instead trying to contribute ideas to a discussion that many times feel stagnant in accusations and apathy to have a conversation about change. Here are two sample articles of what I am talking about, in B. R. Myers' article for The Atlantic the denunciation of foodism is enough to turn you off of ever thinking about the politics of what you eat. In the response from the Village Voice's Robert Sietsema, you are left with accusations that do not help in trying to answer the underlying question of both articles: why are there so many people writing about food? If you add to your reading list this guest post from my friend Jen Boylan for Svelte/Gourmand and this video on TED on a lecture by Carolyn Steele on "How food shapes cities," you may be left with the desire to do something but not know what to do. On my end, I always feel tired and walking over the kitchen to grab a piece of cheese to feed my apathy in trying to think what to do next. I think Jen is in the right direction in trying to engage in the conversation and allowing for the hard questions to be asked by her students. However, not having a group of interested teenagers has turned me to the Internet and to writing this blog. Still, I'm not sure how I contribute and if maybe it is just best to keep eating and worry my pretty-little head with flavor rather than politics. I'll be honest; sometimes I do wish I could become the head cheese buyer for a large store and travel around the world only worried about container measurements and temperature levels, instead of humane animal treatment. Still, I know from talking to the head buyers at Whole Foods, Tesco, Provincial Fine Foods, Murray's Cheese, Sheridan's Cheesemongers, and many other cheese consolidators around the world, that the politics are always present and they not only worry about profit margins but also about the livelihoods of the cheesemakers. Heck, even the dairy buyer for Walt-Mart in Mexico told me during an event in Chiapas that they too were thinking on the best ways to support local cheesemakers, but still needed assurances that their products will be shelf-stable. So, what is there to do?

I think, we still need more transparency about what we eat, where it comes from, and the ways that our choices impact our environment and societies. It is for this reason, that I envision an Asociacion Mexicana de Queseros, not only as a lobby or trade group, but also as an organization that supports educational projects at all levels. In my head, it looks like a research institute investigating and disseminating the best practices to care for animals, and how to produce, market, buy, consume and ultimately enjoy better cheese. My idea is a think thank / consumer organization / center for the distribution of knowledge. This idea already exist around wine, with many enology institutes that produce great scholarship on the many issues relating to wine production and consumption.

The first steps to create a trade organization in Mexico are already underway. I am not longer part of that effort, because I'm still not sure that this is what Mexican cheesemakers need. Still, I am not completely stepping out and rather I am consulting with many cheesemakers in Mexico and around the world on the ways to build a better movement. A movement that supports livelihoods, educates, and also informs consumers of their choices. If you would like to contribute with your ideas, please email me. I will soon present a finalized idea that has input from cheesemakers and academics in Mexico.

Here is other link to a good article on The Atlantic by Josh Viertel on the way we need to lobby for better information: Froot Loops vs. Real Fruit: For Real Change, Don't Look to Obama.

E Gourmet

Lactography is again on the field. Yes, we are teaching about artisanal Mexican cheese at this event. The event is a three weekend affair and we have cheeses from Chiapas, Queretaro and Chihuahua.

Apart from the educational program, in which we teach people how to taste, eat, cook and pair cheese, we are also selling some of the cheeses and providing information about the cheesemakers.

We are looking to raise awareness about the need to support local makers and seeking funds to help cheesemakers purchase new vats and tables for their facilities. We will have pictures on our new facebook page.

If you are in Mexico, please visit our stand and learn more about the awesome cheese produced in Mexico.

Cheese travels

I'm on the middle of a two-week trip to England and France. The primary purpose of the trip was to come judge the World Cheese Awards in Birmingham, England. This is the second time that I judge these awards and happily I was chosen again by the Guild of Fine Foods to be one of the fourteen International Supreme Judges.

The trip has been fantastic, not only because I got this great honor, but also because this was the first time that Mexican cheese participated in the competition.

It was such an experience to see the head global dairy buyers for Whole Foods and Tesco taste Queso de Bola de Ocosingo and give recommendations on how to improve the cheese.

The winner of the awards this year was Cornish Blue, a newish (10 yo in the market) cheese that easily took the top prize for England after a ten year wait.

Cornish Blue was so delicate, the paste so creamy and the veins of blue perfectly covering all the surface of the cheese. The rind looked rugged but gentle, like a beautiful rock that has been carefully washed away by the ocean. The smell was earthy, sweet and mineral. Truly a gorgeous blue cheese.

This year, I championed for the Supreme Judge panel a Camembert with breadcrumbs infused with Calvados. This was a really risky option, because this style of cheese is unique of flavored cheeses and people either hate it or love it. The piece that we tried was a perfect example of raw milk Camembert that was very lightly covered with breadcrumbs and the Calvados making the perfect balance. At the end my cheese divided the Supreme panel in two, with all the British judges hating it and all the rest of the international judges loving it. The South African and Japanese judges loved it so much that it got 5 points from them both.

At the end, I was happy to have chosen such a unique cheese and now understand the privilege of being a judge that mainly works in North America where tradition is being enhanced by innovation and an open palate.

Another great piece of news from the WCA is that my old friend Sarah Bates from Sheridan's Cheesemongers was chosen this year to be the Irish judge. Sarah is cheese royalty, being the daughter of Jeffa Gill maker of Durrus and the woman recognized as the mother of raw milk artisanal cheesemaking in Ireland. Sarah is the manager of Sheridan's in Galway and the number one person responsible for my career in cheese. You can see the video here.



I write from the Eurostar back from Paris to London. I hadn't been in France in eleven years and I found it ever so enchanting, even if a little depressed. Cheese adventures included the obvious trips to local cheese stores and a small tasting of cheeses that don't make it outside of Europe. I will post pictures and names once I get back to NYC and I can upload them from the camera.

The most surprising thing about cheese in France, or at least in the places that I visited in Paris, was the flooding of the market of bad commercial cheese.

I still can't understand why is this so, this being the most obvious place for good quality cheese. After talking to various people about it, including academics, chefs and expats, the only explanation is that the same depression that people have over a financial turn down, racial and ethnic tensions, and growing discontent with the government over proposed neoliberal reforms has made people also apathetic about food.

In bold terms, that quintessential French "joie de vivre" is being diluted. The way that I perceive it is by the selections people make and to me those over what cheese to eat are really important.

This is not a unique French situation, my friend Sarah mentioned the same thing going on in Ireland and just before coming on this trip I had the same feeling in New York. The only difference in the US being that there is truly a food revolution in the midst that I did not see in France, but that it's happening in England.

On other news, i am not smuggling cheese in my bag - yes, you read it well. I am not bringing any cheese back with me from France to England. Partially because nothing was left of the cheese that I bought for the tasting, but also because there is so much cheese waiting in England. Finally, cheese is about sharing for me, and I normally bring cheese back to share with loved ones, but this time I have a gorgeous travel companion who has been eating and enjoying with me.

Expo Chiapas 2010

I will be in Chiapas for this event. This will be the fourth time that I will be judging cheeses from Chiapas. The two cheeses from this state that are going to the World Cheese Awards will not be competing this time to allow other producers to have a shot.

The other cool thing about this Expo is that there are many small producers of artisanal foods from Chiapas and other states of Mexico. The event is really festive and I will be posting pictures that you can access in the feed.

Because the cheesemakers now have a lot of experience doing this type of events, we are also planning a small workshop on marketing and so my sister is coming with me as she has a small catering business and will start commercializing the winning cheeses in Mexico City.

Feria de Fomento Gastronómico Nacional

There is a really interesting group of Mexicans and foreigners living in Mexico City working towards a more sustainable future. They are doing this by supporting local producers, learning how to eat, shop and promote small producers and to recover part of the culinary culture that Mexico is quickly loosing with the commodification of markets. I have come to learn about their work by following other Politics students tweeting about many issues in Mexico, one being good food. They too have a passion for food and politics, I call them the lactographers and along some awesome people around the world we have a vision of eating better, while also helping small producers keep their livelihoods.

It is for this reason, that Lactography goes beyond the blogosphere and the halls of cheese contests to let residents of Mexico city to taste some of the most amazing cheeses being produced in the country during a unique event hosted by a group of students concern on issues of sustainable gastronomy. Lactography will have a small stand with cheeses from Chiapas, Queretaro, Oaxaca, Puebla and Michoacan; showcasing five styles of traditional Mexican cheese.

The event details are:

Cocinando el Futuro de Mexico
Dia: 18 de Noviembre - 11 AM a 6PM
Lugar: Universidad Anáhuac del Sur

If you are in Mexico City, make sure you go and visit. There will be two cheesemongers trained by me (one is my sister, who shares my passion for food) and you will be able to taste, purchase and learn more about our culinary culture.

On our way to Birmingham

That is, Queso de Oveja Semi-maduro (Queretaro), Queso de Bola de Ocosingo (Chiapas), Queso de Cuadro (Chiapas) are going to represented Mexico in the World Cheese Awards in England. This is the first time the judges will be able to taste these cheeses in competition. Most likely this is the first time that samples of the cheeses are making it out of the country. This opportunity is timely as the Mexican Cheese Society (or better the Sociedad de Maestros Queseros Mexicanos) started in Mexico over the summer. We will soon have a website, but for now the five founders (or constituyentes as I like calling us) are working on our own projects supporting Mexican artisanal cheesemakers. Our vision is twofold, on one hand we want to promote, protect, support, and eat artisanal Mexican cheese. We also want to introduce Mexico to the cheese world, by representing Latin American flavor both in North America and in Europe. We are committed to work to conserve Mexican culinary culture and open up the borders for cheese, cheesemakers and cheese-experts.

The World Cheese Awards are this year in Birmingham, England from 23 to 25 November and there will be around 1800+ cheeses from 33 countries with about 150 judges. I am one of those judges, along with great people that have also made cheese their passion. The title of judge is a difficult one, because it conveys an idea of people deciding that a cheese is good or not based on arbitrary values connected to the subjectivity of taste. For that reason, I think most cheese judges would agree that we are taste empresarios. Our job is to taste cheese and decide how that cheese could be better according to what that one particular sample is like. We are not in this business to tell people to stop making cheese (unless you are making cheese-foods), but rather to help cheesemakers achieve a dream. Of course that dream is partially economic success, but I believe there is a way to make this sustainable.

The fact that three Mexican cheeses will be in the competition is a very proud personal moment, not because I have nationalistic feelings about dairy, but because these three cheeses and their cheesemakers have been carefully nurtured by me, to get them to where they are today. The cheesemakers that produced them started with great cheeses and after many consultations about how much whey to extract, the type of rennet to use, salt amounts, and acidification and aging process they have turned to be amazing cheeses that can compete with the ones that I tried in the 2009 WCA. I sponsor them to be in the competition and I hope they do great!

Also to report, I just got back of my first trip to Tabasco, where I judged the 3rd Regional Artisanal Cheese Fair. Tabasco is a small state in the coast of the Gulf of Mexico with a growing cheese culture. Cheesemakers from this state have already gotten a collective trademark for the Queso de Poro de Balancan. This cheese is unique of this state, as it was invented there by a cheesemaker who apparently was looking to make Edam style cheese, but because of the higher temperature and the amount of water in the milk (whey), he ended up with a cheese that is rubbery, salty, and perfect for snacking.

Apologies for the long delay. This statement assumes that your are reading and wondering where I have been. If you are, thanks for following. The absence in this space does not mean that I'm not following cheese. Updates are constant on twitter, even if you don't have an account you can check my feed on this site on the top left-hand side. If you do have an account, follow #quesoMexicano for artisanal Mexican cheese news and #WCA for the awards. Thank you again.

Festival del Queso - Ocosingo 2010

Festival del Queso
Date: 13 -14 August 2010
Place: Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico

I will be judging approximately thirty cheeses and will be giving a speech entitled: Los Quesos Mexicanos Genuinos: La necesidad de una legislacion quesera (Mexican Genuine Cheeses: the need for cheese legislation)

Follow me on twitter @carlosyescas, as I will be micro-blogging from there.

Mexican Adventures in Cheese-buying

These trucks are everywhere in Mexico city every Wednesday and Thursday, when these families come from Oaxaca to sell their products in the city. The quality is good, clean and the prices average. We buy from them Queso de Canasto and sometimes Quesillo. The only problem is that we don't know about the production methods back in the farm. If you are in the city, stop by one of them and try their cheeses, buy a little piece of quesillo, a tlayuda, some chapulines (grasshoppers) and ajos salados (tosted garlic with chilly and salt) to make a salsa for your very Oaxacan quesadillas or Tlayuda as they call it.

Their selection includes: Queso Oaxaca (quesillo), Panela (a feta-like cow's cheese), Menonite, Canasto (farmer's cheese), and Requeson (ricotta-like), Chiapas (Doble Crema de Cuadro), Cotija, Chihuahua (cheddar-type).

Cheese selection @ El Puesto Oaxaqueno - (Col. Napoles, Benito Juarez, Mexico, D.F.)

Mexican Adventures in Cheese-buying

For this first installment from Mexico, I wanted to show you in pictures the terrible selection of cheese at commercial outlets. This, however, it is in no way a representation of the nascent artisanal cheese industry in the country. In the coming days, I will be blogging about cheese produced in Mexico that is of great quality and you should look for.

The two first pictures are the selections from Comercial Mexicana (Col. Mixoac) and the second two are from Walt-Mart Superama (Col. Napoles), while I did find an organic option at the subsidiary of Walt-Mart and a cheese flavored with Nogada, everything is pre-packaged making all their cheese to taste plastic in the outside and impeding any maturation that may have turn both cheeses into very interesting options.

These two commercial outlets cater to the middle and upper middle class in Mexico and therefore seek to offer more "variety." The problem is that most Mexicans are still new to cheese and buy anything that is available even if not of the best quality. For those reading this in the rest of North American, the situation here is similar of that of Canada and the US back in the late 70s and early 80s, when people there started looking for fine food options but the only products available where those produced by conglomerates.

Cheesers in DF are starting to go back to local markets and tianguis to buy from the puestos that source crema and queso from local ranchers in the nearby states.

The last picture is from smaller outlet. El Capricho Gourmet is a little store that I used to consult for, but since has change ownership and its still looking its niche. Their cheese selection is respectable but lacks a knowledgeable monger to care and sell their cheese.

Cheese Solidarity

Since I started using Twitter, I have been following an awesome guy named the @CurdNerd. He is from New Zealand and is living in England and the person behind the #cheesesolidarity hash tag. His concept, as I understand it, is an easy one.

There are very few of us really committed to the idea of artisanal cheese and we should all support each other, but most importantly the small cheese makers. The problem is that because the profit margins are so small, some big players are getting territorial about their turf and markets. Unlike wine, cheese companies/retailers are not directly encouraging cheese connoisseurship. They have instead opted for the middleman model standing between cheese makers and cheese consumers. This is basically my whole problem with the international foodie circuit.

At the same time, some cheese experts are more worried about helping companies sell more cheese and less about helping cheese makers maintain their livelihoods, cultures and life styles. This late capitalist model prefers fancy over local, food as signifier of style rather than culinary cultures and it thrives from corporatization while obscuring craftsmanship.

It has been over a year now since I spoke about this in the 2009 Ontario Cheese Society annual meeting in Toronto, Canada. Back then I was pushing for a North American expertise of cheese. My remarks while welcomed were recieved with hesitation, especially from the big players.

Later in the year in my way to the Canary Islands for the WCA, I had the opportunity to talk to Jaime Montgomery from the now famous English cheddar. He like others and me in the event were worried about the direction that the cheese industry was going and wanted to change the emphasis to the craftmanship. I should point out that this is not just a conversation that existed with cheesers of the Anglo world; Spanish, French and Swiss judges expressed similar worries. Me as the only Latin American and the judge from South Africa were concerned that this marketization would destroy small local cheese farms in our counties. Giving way to a foodie market that rather consumes fancy food from factories bought at high-end markets than local productions from farmers and mongers.

Finally, after a brief conversation with Mateo Kehler, and other members of the American Cheese Society, I realized that the only thing I could do, was to directly link up with cheese makers to learn from them how we could ensure that their livelihoods were maintained for them, their families and their regions.

It is for this reason that I keep helping cheese makers in Chiapas pro bono and this summer I am planning to expand to help cheese makers in other regions of Mexico. I am also hoping to help start the Mexican Cheese Society.

In the mean time, I ask you to email me with suggestions and how to help cheese makers, opening markets, fighting lame legislation, finding funding and expertise, and connecting with cheesers all over the world.

In a sense keep the #cheesesolidarity going!!!

Culinary culture

If you follow me on twitter, you may know that I am fighting a very-familiar battle for cheesers out there. The battle is against big dairy corporations, their lobbyists and elected officials with no backbone. The fight is over pasteurization and this time the battleground is Mexico. However, the fight does not look much different in the rest of North America, Australia or New Zealand for that matter.

My battle is against a law proposed in the Federal Congress by the Ministry of Health that would outlaw cheesemaking using raw milk. The passage of the law would not only criminalize small artisanal producers, it will also constitute an assault to our culinary culture.

Yes, I know that both charges are really strong, but that is exactly what this proposed law (we'll call it NOM 243 by it's filling number) would do. Let me explain why and present the case for raw milk cheeses in an entirely Mexican context. If this sounds familiar to you, but you are not from Mexico or live there, it may be because a very similar situation exists in your country.

Let's start with a basic facts, Mexico did not have cheesemaking or any dairy industry before the colony. It was with the arrival of the Spanish and Italian monks that cheese made it's way to Mexico. This, however, does not mean that cheese is still foreign to Mexican cuisine. What it means is that cheese, like many other food ingredients in Mexican cooking, is a clear representation of a complex, varied, and vibrant culinary culture.

This culture inherits a strong indigenous sense with ingredients like corn, chilies, chocolate, cactuses, tomatoes, and vanilla. It borrows techniques from Spain like salting fish and meat and integrates milk (and it's by-products), bread and most meat into the cuisine. But the story does not end there. Mexican cuisines also learnt and incorporated French sauces, Italian meat curing, Chinese soups and broths, and we also use tahini and pickles from Mexicans whose backgrounds are Lebanese and Jewish. Increasingly our food is also influenced by new immigrants from Haiti, Argentina, Central America, Brazil, Korea and also from the US.

It is exactly within this diversity that Mexican cheese finds its place in our cuisines. Cheese in Mexico is not only a food product, for many is a way of life. Here I am talking of the small artisan producers who produce unique cheeses in all regions of the country. Think for a second of the Menonites of Chihuahua, the small communities (some indigenous peoples included) of Oaxaca and Chiapas who make Quesillo or Queso de Bola or Queso de Cuadro and of small ranchers in Michoacan who turn amazing raw milk into Cotija cheese. Those artisan cheesemakers learnt their craft from their grandparents who in turn learnt from their grandparents. Most of them use raw milk to make their cheeses. They have small herds that are taken care by the immediate family and worry a lot about the well-being of their cattle, their cheese and their customers.

If the proposed law passes, it would criminalize their way of living. Most of them would have to leave cheesemaking as they won't be able to afford pasteurizing machines and will rather sell milk for liquid consumption. Others would defy the law and continue making cheese with raw milk, but their productions will be pushed to the illegal market raising the real risk of having an outbreak of food-related illnesses from dairies that are not carefully inspected and regulated.

That situation already exist in Mexico, as there are laws in place for limiting the use of raw milk, but this law will completely outlaw this practice. Just to be sure, I am not advocating for no regulation. I am arguing that we don't need laws that prohibit completely traditional ways of cheesemaking and that instead we need strong mechanism for monitoring that the raw milk that is used for human consumption is clear and free of pathogens that can affect human health.

In a sense this proposed law is the option to solve a problem on the cheap. By outlawing all production of cheese with raw milk, the government only needs to enforce the law by sanctioning producers who go against the law. While establishing a monitoring system, guidelines, and trainings for dairy producers and cheesemakers, is expensive, labor intense and requires long term planning. Outlawing something from a comfy office in Mexico City is the easy way out.

The project that I am involved with in Chiapas to create a collective trademark for the Queso de Cuadro is the right solution. This project involves producers, farmers, government and academia in finding a way to maintain traditions while ensuring that cheesemaking is safe and clean. It is an initiative that has the backing of many stakeholders, making it a slow process, but at the same time it ensures that the ultimate decision would have the backing of all involved.

So what is it about raw milk? Why are so many of us fanatics of it and what does it have to do with Mexican culinary culture? Before I answer to these questions, let me tell you a short story about one of the cheese judging competitions that I hosted in Chiapas.

In my first trip to Chiapas, I tasted 45 samples of Queso de Cuadro. There were producers from the many regions of the state, and while most cheeses tasted similarly I was able to taste the terroir of the farms where these cheeses were produced. Those from the mountain region were dryer and fattier. The ones from the plains were more lactic (milky) with fresh smell of grass and those from the coast were sweet and aromatic (like tasting flowers). One cheese from the coastal region stood up in smell and flavor. It was sweeter than the others and the smell reminded of ripe fruit instead of flowers. After the competition, I asked the producer of this unique cheese about his herd, the location of his farm, the weather in the region and finally about the feed the cows eat. I was surprise to find out that while his dairy is similar to all other in the region the feed that he gave the cows included a stick of sugar cane in the middle of the day. He said that the cows loved the sugar and produced better milk. He said that he was worried that I was gonna ask him to stop feeding sugar canes to the cows. Instead I was for the first time realizing how much impact feed has on the final flavor of the cheese.

Pasteurization kills harmful bacteria and pathogens in milk, but it also destroys all the complexities in the milk from the various aspects present in the terroir. This means that flavors are more generic and it really doesn’t matter where cheese is made, as no trace of the location where is made is maintained. However, taste alone is not enough to argue that milk should not be pasteurized, especially if there are concerns about the quality of the milk.

Here is exactly, where the minutia of the argument becomes relevant. The solution is to ensure better milk, cleaner and safer techniques, and also to care and be responsible for milk producers’ livelihoods. This is impossible to achieve when the only reasoning behind producing milk is to turn a profit. Milk, while treated as a commodity in economic markets, it is also a food for human consumption. However a lot of people, companies and farmers forget this. They only see dollar/peso sings in the liters/gallons of milk produced and not a food with nutritional value, a story and benefit for our population. Food companies are not in the business of feeding people, they are in the business of making profits with products that we all need daily.

We need to move away form this economic model, which is ending traditional ways of production and hurting our environment. The solution is smaller farms, local consumption and care for the trade of farming. This is why I advocate for raw milk, to support our dairy farmers who are willing to produce good milk for us because they love what they do, not because they want to turn a profit at expense of the animals and the consumers.

If you are interested in learning more about the campaign in Mexico against NOM 243 follow me on twitter (@carlosyescas) and make sure to be ready to talk about raw milk to everyone that needs help understanding why this matters.

For resources in English visit the Alliance for Raw Milk Internationale, they have info about similar movements all around the world.

Adventures in Cheese-buying

Cheese selection @ Supermercado Ley (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico)

Adventures in Cheese-buying

Cheese selection @ Comercial Mexicana (Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico)

Quesillo o Queso de Hebra de Oaxaca

This cheese is most commonly known as queso Oaxaca. It is the only cheese made in Mexico of the Pasta Filata style. The name "de hebra" refers to the long and thin shreds that form long pieces of cheese and are then braided into a small ball and sold fresh.

Traditionally, it was made with raw cow's milk only in the state of Oaxaca, where it is used to make "tlayudas." Now it is produced all over the country and in the US with pasteurized milk. The flavour of the original cheese made with raw milk is tangy almost sour but also slightly sweet. Its aroma is that of fresh milk and most times some left over whey is released when the ball is unbraided.

This cheese became popular for its capacity to melt, but not brown. This makes it the perfect quesadilla cheese, because it allows for the quesadilla to be soft in the center. Also its mild flavour is great for pairing with many different types of salsas.

As of right now, there is no initiative by producers in Oaxaca to seek a DO, which means that you can get excellent quesillo everywhere, but also allows large commercial outfits to make poor examples of it readily available in super markets and major retailers.

If you have the oportunity to travel to Mexico look for pick-up trucks parked in corners of major cities with big banners announcing "Productos Oaxaquenos." There you will find fresh examples that you will need to consume right away. The best age of this cheese is at about day one to day four of being made, and you obviously should look for the hand pulled versions as they are always fresher.

Commercial versions and those made in the US lack moisture and the cheese is gummy. If you don't have the option of buying the real deal. Look for one of the commercial ones that looks more loose and make your own whey and let it sit on it for a day to allow for the wet environment to moist the dry curd.

Quesillo is one of my favourite cheeses and everytime I get to see a good ball I ask for a taste and buy a big chunk. In my local Mexican market they have a good version made with pasteurized milk, the only problem is that I don't know the source of the milk and therefore it is more likely cheap milk from dairy facilities that tend to produce unhealthy milk that must be pasteurized to prevent outbreaks of listeria.

Nevertheless, this is a great cheese style.

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Queso tipo "Manchego" Mexicano

This cheese is very popular in Mexico. Like Quesillo de Oaxaca it is mostly used to melt in quesadillas and in many other Mexican dishes with melted cheese on top. The name is a misuse of the word Manchego, as unlike the original Spanish Manchego, the Mexican version is made with pasteurized cow's milk.

I think of this cheese as a mix of a cheddar and a colby. The texture is normally bouncy, straw color and creamy looking. The smell is sharp, like that of a cheddar, but the flavor is closer to a tangy colby. Good versions of this cheese are creamy and the fat of guersey cows milk make it really nicely rounded. It is great for melting and it would create a gorgeous crust if put in the oven on top of enchiladas.

However, most versions in Mexico are now commercial with little resemblance to those "manchegos" of my childhood. The problem with the commercial versions is that we do not know where the milk comes from and that normally means that the milk needs to be pasteurized to keep it safe.

Since the beginning of the entry of Mexico to the global economy, conglomarates have taken over the dairy industry with large holdings in milk factories in states in central Mexico.

Good substitutes for this cheese are Queso Chihuahua and Queso Menonita. Both these options are produced in the north of the country and are normally produced in smaller farms. Queso Chihuahua is made into big ground that resamble a parmesan, and are covered with cloth and aged between 6 to 8 months.

Queso Menonita is produced by Menonites who settled in the state of Chihuahua and produce blocks of their cheese from their own cows. This religious/ethnic minority established in Mexico fleeing religious intolerance in the US after having migrated from The Netherlands. Their cheese can normally be bought from them in the edges of their farms or in Mexico city where it is common to see men dressed in their traditioanal overalls and cowboy shirts.

If you have the opportunity to travel to Mexico and to buy one of their blocks, it will last about 3 weeks once open and its flavour will transport you to their farms and their simpler way of life.

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Queso is Cheese

Recently someone asked me about a good cheese book. I quickly responded that there are none in Spanish (at least not online or in bookstores in North America). What this means is not that cheese is not consumed or a big part of Latin American cuisines. What it means is that up-to-today book publishers have not seen a market in producing an original work about this food in the Americas. There are a couple of translations of good books produced in Europe and the US, but they only concentrate on what I normally call: The Big World Cheeses.

Those cheeses are the popular cheeses from France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands and England that most people know and have many imitations. Think of Brie, Camembert, Provolone, Mozzarella, Parmesan, Gruyere, Emmental, Manchego, Gouda, and Cheddar.

The lack of specialized cheese books in other languages is common. My friend Svetlana just filled this gap by publishing a compendium in Russian and I know that some of the judges of the World Cheese Awards are thinking of producing similar books in various languages. In my case, I am thinking that it will be great to write such book in Spanish for the Mexican and the Latin American market - so I am looking for a publisher (does anyone know anybody?)

I know that there is a desire for such book as some people involved with the American Cheese Society are looking to start a Mexican chapter of the organization and learn more from the cheesemaking of Mexico. I hope to be more involved with this project over the summer and hopefully get some Mexican cheeses to enter the World Cheese Awards competition this year in London.

But in the mean time, I would like to write here a little bit about Mexican cheeses. I have already written in this space about two of the Mexican cheeses from the southern state of Chiapas. Queso de Cuadro y Queso de Bola are both raw cow's milk double cream cheeses. They are tangy, salty and smooth. Almost like a goat cheese in texture but with the flavor punch of a sharp cheese.

Other cheeses produced in Mexico are: Quesillo from Oaxaca; Cotija of Michoacan; Queso de Poro made in Tabasco; Requeson common in central Mexico; Menonita, Adobado, Botanero y "Manchego" (Mexican Cheedar) from the north, and a stinky washed rind from Baja. Other cheeses made of goat's and sheep's milk are starting to be made in central Mexico, but still are single farms with generic names that could use support to improve on their cheese making techniques and decide on characteristics of their cheese.

In this most recent trip to Mexico, I have had "manchego," cotija and quesillo. In the next posts I will write about them, except for cotija. I have very little knowledge of this cheese, but I have a good friend who wrote a paper for the FAO about it and is doing a PhD on a related topic. I have asked Thomas to write a little post about cotija and I hope this will be the first of many collaborations for this blog.

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Cheese of the Week: Queso de Cuadro

After tasting 50 samples of this cheese. I had to make it the cheese of the week.

This cheese is produce only in Chiapas and it varies from region to region. The cheese is commonly made with raw cows milk and some producers make small batches with pasteurized milk for some specific markets.

I believe the best examples are from the Ocosingo and Costa regions of the state of Chiapas. Those cheese are creamier, more milky and fresh, and overall better in texture. This may be due to the better pasture in those regions and a smaller incidence of cows eating silage.

A recent issue with this cheese is the use of milk from cows eating the infamous "pollinaza" and "gallinaza." Basically chicken feces. The region around Tonala has one of the largest chicken processing plants in the state and therefore produces a lot of "feed."

The producers in this region had started using the feed until the government started monitoring and discourage the use of milk from cows on this diet for the making of raw cheeses. However, some cheesemakers are still using it for pasteurized versions. The Minister of Agriculture of the state promised me that by the end of the year they will have a total ban.

Still the issue of feed for cows is important and I will write about it soon. Michael Pollan's book The Omnivore's Dilema is a good read to learn about feed.

This style is commonly found in in the major cities of Mexico, in Guatemala and in Texas (only the pasteurized version).

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