Brush up on your cheese knowledge with a primer about the state that dominates. CHEESE PLEASE We’re called cheeseheads for a reason. better pairing. We’ll memorize what days the outside Europe with a master cheesemaker Reserve, Hook’s 15-Year Cheddar, Marieke Gouda Sure, Wisconsin leads the nation in fresh curds are for sale. We’ll welcome the program with a growing list of 60. and Evalon. cheese production and hauls away so many meatless sacrifices of Lent because it’s an excuse This guide is a primer to the cheeses that are This guide, full of pairing suggestions from medals at cheese competitions that it doesn’t to eat more grilled cheese. the biggest part of the Wisconsin landscape, and the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, can build on even look like a fair fight. None of this is by accident. Wisconsin was the even so are a sliver of what’s made here. your Wisconsin cheese knowledge. And if you But it goes beyond that. It’s who we are. first state to grade its cheese for quality. Specialty cheese makes up 21 percent of the can’t haul this page around with you everywhere, People in Wisconsin have their favorites and Wisconsin is the only state that requires cheese state’s production and creative artisans are WMMB’s “Wisconsin Cheese Cupid” website and we’ll earnestly debate the good or bad about for retail sale to be made by licensed bringing the state attention with award-winners app is available for free and comes in handy crunch in a cheddar or if beer or wine make a cheesemakers. Wisconsin is the only place and newsmakers such as Pleasant Ridge while shopping, www.cheesecupid.com. The perfect pair Red wines White wines Beer & cider Hard liquor What to drink with your Wisconsin cheese. BeaujolaisCabernetChianti MalbecMerlotPinot NoirPort Rosé Syrah TempranilloZinfandelChampagneChardonnayMadeiraPinot GrisRieslingSauvignonAmber blanc Americanale Belgian paleBock lagerale Brown aleCider Fruit beerIndia palePale ale alePilsner Porter Saison Scotchale Sourale aleStout Wheat aleBourbonBrandyRum Scotch Hard Low moisture cheeses. Parmesan Semi-hard Brick Semi-hard or semi-soft cheeses generally have Cheddar a smooth, creamy Colby interior with little or no rind. Gouda Swiss Soft Blue Not the same as a fresh cheese (such as a chevre) Limburger soft and semi-soft Mozzarella cheeses have a high moisture content and Muenster can be mild tasting. 10 popular Wisconsin cheese styles Blue Brick Cheddar Colby Gouda The cheese that is supposed to be Like Bucky Badger or bubblers, brick The most ubiquitous cheese in the A Wisconsin original, created in Colby, A Dutch cheese named for the city of moldy turns that way due to the cheese is a Wisconsin original. It was U.S. and in Wisconsin, but one that’s Wisconsin in 1885. It’s considered a its origin, where it’s pronounced introduction of mold during the make created by Swiss immigrant John moved way beyond the mass- cousin to cheddar but the make closer to “how-da” than the “goo-da” process. The result is flavor, color and Jossi in 1877. It comes in the shape of produced burger-topper. It can be process varies slightly and also pronunciation here. The cheese is a versatile cheese that can pair well a brick but also takes its name from bandage-wrapped, cave-aged or even results in tiny holes. Colby often aged from 2 months to 5 years and with everything from meat to fruit the way it is traditionally made – aged for 20 years. The color comes comes in a “Longhorn” cylinder that develops crystals like cheddars do. Its and chocolate. using bricks to press out moisture from annatto, a natural coloring. is cut into half moons. wax rind is inedible. from the cheese. Flavor: Tangy, earthy and in some Flavor: A young cheddar starts Flavor: Sweet and mild, like a young Flavor: A buttery, nutty cheese that cases, creamy. Flavor: Mild, sweet and nutty. It gets creamy, mild and nutty, and gets cheddar. becomes almost caramel-like as it more pungent as it ages. crumbly, sharper and even crunchy as ages. it ages, thanks to the presence of calcium lactate crystals. LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES • Carr Valley • Forgotten Valley • Bleu Mont Dairy • Deer Creek • Babcock Hall Dairy Plant • Roth Cheese • Klondike Cheese Co. • Hook’s Cheese Co. • Hook’s Cheese Co. • Carr Valley Cheese Co. • Hook’s Cheese Co. • Widmer’s Cheese Cellars • Maple Leaf Cheese • Widmer’s Cheese Cellars • Holland’s Family Cheese Limburger Mozzarella Muenster Parmesan Swiss Famous for its smell, this “stinky It’s the top-produced cheese in Notable for its dark coating that This hard cheese of Italian origin is United by holes, there is actually a cheese” is traditionally eaten with a Wisconsin – just think of all those comes from the natural dye annatto, best known as an accompaniment to great variety to Swiss cheese – slice of raw onion between two slices pizzas everywhere. Besides what it’s a soft, mellow cheese not to be salads, pastas or soups but can also cheeses from Switzerland and of dark rye bread. Chalet Cheese goes on pizza, mozzarella is also confused with the French Munster. be a snacking cheese. In Europe, true Swiss-style cheeses made here. Green Cooperative in Monroe makes turned into string cheese or made It’s been made in Wisconsin since the Parmigiano Reggiano is strictly County is a U.S. epicenter for Swiss, almost all the Limburger cheese and served fresh and soft. It’s a late 1800s and earned its 15 minutes regulated in how it’s made. In baby Swiss, sweet Swiss, Emmentaler sold in the U.S. popular choice for home cooks to try of fame in 2013 when an Illinois man Wisconsin, cheese makers produce and Gruyere-inspired cheese such as their hand at cheese making. was accused of stealing 200,000 Parmesan known as American Grana. Roth’s Gran Cru. Flavor: The aroma belies the fact pounds of it. that Limburger is actually a Flavor: Salty, milky, mild. Flavor: Nutty, sweet, buttery and it Flavor: Creamy, sweet, nutty and somewhat mild cheese though it Flavor: Mild and creamy. gets stronger as it ages. varies depending on the kind. definitely has an earthy, Generally, the larger the holes, the mushroomy taste. stronger the flavor. LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES LOCAL FAVORITES • Chalet Cheese Cooperative • Cedar Grove • Decatur Dairy • BelGioioso Cheese Inc. • Deppeler’s • Cesare’s Cheese • Edelweiss Creamery • Hook’s Cheese Co. • Edelweiss Creamery • Crave Brothers Farmstead • Silver-Lewis Cooperative • Sartori Company • Roth Cheese NOTE: Local favorites sugggested by Jane Burns; Jeanne Carpenter of Metcalfe’s Market; and Ken Monteleone of Fromagination Cheese curds are 600 di¦erent Joe Widmer of The average The World Wisconsin Some cheese is aged Cheese Monroe High School’s growing in popularity. varieties of Widmer’s American Champion- ranks No. 1 in actual caves; other tastes best if nickname, the Cheese- Data from market cheese are Cheese Cellars consumes 34 ship Cheese in the U.S. caves are man-made it is set out makers, might be unusual researcher IRI says made in uses the same pounds of cheese Contest is in milking into the ground and at least a but it’s not unique. retail sales grew 17.3 Wisconsin, bricks his annually, a March 7-9 at goats, with some commercial half hour Monroe also shares the percent in 2015, and more than any grandfather growth of 43 Monona 44,000. “caves” are coolers before name with a high school menu mentions were other state or used to make percent over the Terrace. with temperature and serving. in Tillamook, Oregon, up 13 percent. nation. brick cheese. past 25 years. humidity adjusted for home of the well-known aging cheese. Tillamook Cheddar. SOURCES: Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, JANE BURNS, JASON KLEIN – State Journal Wisconsin DATCP, Jeanne Carpenter, Ken Monteleone Photos by STEVE APPS – State Journal We are located at the Emmi Roth Cheese Factory in Monroe Wisconsin. Our address is: Our hours are: 657 Second Street Monday-Friday: 9:00am-6:00pm Monroe, Wisconsin 53566 Saturday: 9:00am-5:00pm Tel: 608-328-3355 Sunday: 10:00am-5:00pm Email: [email protected]@alpanddellcheese We are closed on New Year’s Day, Easter “Best Places to visit in Wisconsin” by Best of the Midwest Travel Guide..