There are plenty of engaging artisanal and farmstead cheeses out there and more people are discovering the real variety coming from not just around the world, but within their own states and counties. Good cheeses are like a well-crafted street drug; it leaves you lucid and it only takes a taste before you find yourself clawing for more. A good goat's milk trip is hard to shake and it's not uncommon to rip into the next piece you get with all the desire and fury of an Anne Rice protagonist.
Yet, too many of us get stuck in a rindy rut. Once you've discovered the bliss of Bayley Hazen Blue or excavated your way through the strata of a wedge of Humboldt Fog then why be adventurous with other cheeses when these pioneers of American cheese are so dependable?
I called up a few cheesemongers and chipped away at their curd nerd knowledge asking them about some of their favorite cheeses that other people weren't buying or had no idea existed.
Doralice Handal, owner of The Cheese Shop in Healdsburg, California, had only too much to say about a few certain cheeses. Handal took over the shop seven years ago when the previous owner sold it. Through entrepreneurial panache and a keen eye for expanding cheese into a variety of new markets such as wholesaling to wineries and hotels, getting a wine license, and engaging locals and tourists through events and tastings The Cheese Shop has cultured itself as the cheese center of California wine country.
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